Music Break: Steve Earle – “Hillbilly Highway”

August 25, 2012 Jaye Ryan Uncategorized 57

Steve Earle - Telling Our People's History

These last 30 years, the (Dis) United States has experienced some interesting internal migrations: Black African Americans are leaving depressed, violent Northern cities to return to the South. Likewise, many Midwestern, Eastern White Americans have moved to the South – the Sun Belt – in hopes of finding a nicer climate, more conservative politics or they are just trying to get away from Black criminals, crazy Lib/Min homosexual politics/culture in “Blue States”. Many are looking to find…. Mayberry, NC – “Andy, Barney, Opie”.

The OD comments section is filled with White Southerners complaining about “Yankee transplants”, these proud sons and daughters of the South oppose a second Northern/”Yankee” invasion of their beloved Southland. OK, there are always going to be some conflicts between different types of White Indo European people.

But, Whites in the South should study some fairly resent history and understand that there was a similar internal migration of poor Whites from the South to Northern Industrial cities during World War I and especially during and after World War II. Poor Whites in the South moved north to cities like Detroit in search of good paying industrial jobs and a better life and I think fair people would say that local Whites in Northern industrial cities tried to help their White kinsmen from the South.

Steve Earle – the Texas born and raised C&W/folk musician sings about this mass migration of poor Southern Whites moving north in search of a better life:

HillBilly Highway (click link to hear Steve Earle perform the song live)

“My grandaddy was a miner, but he finally saw the light
He didn’t have much, just a beat-up truck and a dream about a better life
Grandmama cried when she waved goodbye, never heard such a lonesome sound
Pretty soon the dirt road turned into blacktop, Detroit City bound
Down that hillbilly highway
That hillbilly highway
Hillbilly highway
Goes on and on

He worked and saved his money so that one day he might send
My old man off to college, to use his brains and not his hands
Grandmama cried when she waved goodbye, never heard such a lonesome sound
But daddy had himself a good job in Houston, one more rollin’ down

Down that hillbilly highway
That hillbilly highway
Hillbilly highway
Goes on and on

Grandaddy rolled over in his grave the day that I quit school
I just sat around the house playin’ my guitar, Daddy said I was a fool
My mama cried when I said goodbye, I never heard such a lonesome sound
Now I’m standin’ on this highway and if you’re going my way
You know where I’m bound “

(Source: http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/earle-steve/hillbilly-highway-2169.html)

7 Comments

  1. Wayne says:
    August 27, 2012 at 4:39 am (Edit)
    How about the group “Alabama”? They have slew of awesome South-centric songs such as Tennessee River, Mountain Music, Dixieland Delight, Song of the South, High Cotton to name a few.

    Jack Ryan replies:

    Agreed. “Alabama” has had a “slew of awesome South centric songs”. But tell me this.

    Did this band get the permission of the Alabama House of Representatives to be the official “Alabama” band? What would prevent some homosexual, communist, race mixing, New World Order band from naming themselves “Tennessee”?

  2. Vendikar wrote: “Dolly Parton is definitely country, but she also has a huge GAY fan base, and a gay Jew named Sandy Gallin (a male) was her manager for a long time. He also managed Michael Jackson and Bar-bra Streisand. (…) I quit listening very much to country radio a long time ago so I don’t know who’s big right now.”

    Yes, that’s southern culture alright, and I also quit listening to their “pop” long ago.

    Uncle Dave Macon was good, long ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnldWstoqvU and I listened to that kind of real music a lot, when it was still on the radio a lot, when I was young.

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