PopTodd Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Of course, it was written from the POV of a character that Newman invented: a Georgian who witnessed Huey Long berated on the Dick Cavett Show back in the 1960's:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nGw_vAnqPI&feature=related But damn, if it isn't a brilliant song. Paints the "redneck" of the title as not wholly unsympathetic, while also saying something about segregation and racism, not only in the south, but also in the north. WARNING: May contain language (and ideas) that some people find offensive. But it's Randy Newman, so what did you expect — Disney?(oh yeah... :shrug: ) So yeah, to the topic title:Do you think that any MAINSTREAM ARTIST could get away with writing/performing a song like this today? Or has political correctness effectively censored this type of expression? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I think folks get away with all kinds of crap all the time. This is a great song. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 A mainstream artist on a major label?Without causing a furror?Would the label even let them release it?! Really? I don't think that even Randy could get away with releasing something like this today.At least not on a label. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
howdjadoo Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Does this one count? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 A mainstream artist on a major label?Without causing a furror?Would the label even let them release it?! Really? I don't think that even Randy could get away with releasing something like this today.At least not on a label.I donno....Short People caused a pretty big furor and was a big hit single. Randy's recent stuff is pretty pointed too. I don't believe the Redneck song was a single so it didn't get alot of radio play anyway. Isn't he still on a pretty major label? Don't his last comple albums have some fairly critical songs on them. I have them both and they both contain some fairly pointed stuff on them. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Does this one count? And how about Cee-Lo Green having a genuine hit single with Fuck You? LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted June 8, 2011 Author Share Posted June 8, 2011 And how about Cee-Lo Green having a genuine hit single with Fuck You? LouieBGreat song.But that is just a word. While, "Rednecks" has a whole tangled mass of emotions, psychology, and social fabric holding it together.There is a difference there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Doug C Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 It wasn't today but in 2006, Steve Earle covered 'Rednecks' on the Newman tribute album "Sail Away". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
howdjadoo Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Oh yeah a hudge R.Newman fan overhere ever since "Let's drop the big bomp now" Thought it was about MAJOR ARTIST and not about one of the "Beautiful Losers" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Magnetized Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I'm a lifelong diehard Randy fan and have been lucky enough to see him perform live many times over the years, starting back in the 80s, and most recently just a few months ago in Charlottesville, VA. I think he's a genius--great satire, made palatable by beautiful/hummable/soaring music. There's a cognitive dissonance in much of Randy's best work, including famous songs like "Sail Away" and lesser-known, more recent great songs like "This is My Country" from his album Bad Love. Randy himself acknowledges that it's hard to "get" satire when you're driving down the road at 60 MPH. There's been a lot of critical analysis over the years about the way his songs are written from the point of view of "the unreliable narrator": an often reprehensible character who draws you in to his twisted world view and has you singing along to heinous sentiments. (This much is akin to Borat getting the crowd to sing along to the chorus of "Throw the Jew down the well. . . ") Greil Marcus wrote famously about this in his essay on Randy in "Mystery Train": "He uses the familiarity of the music to set us in the moods and situations the music automatically calls up; we respond in predictable ways to the music, and as we do, Newman's words and his singing pull us in other directions, or shift the story just enough to make it new." Randy still performs Rednecks, but he sets it up a bit more with an explanation of where it's coming from. It is still shocking to audiences who sometimes know him as that Toy Story guy. The stupid kerfuffle over "Short People" back in 1997 was absolutely nuts--that was Randy's one big hit song, and since it reached a larger audience people actually took the song at face value instead of recognizing that it was a (fairly tame) parody of prejudice itself. So, to the point of the topic of this thread--Could anyone get away with this today?--I don't think Randy "got away with it" either. The vast majority of people don't know his sharpest, most brilliant songs. No diss to Steve Earle and Cee Lo, but saying fuck in a song is not remotely the same thing as what Randy Newman does in such a stunning, original way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I agree with all of that....This is My Country is a pretty devistating song really and pretty current. I particularly agree that he didn't get away with it. LoueiB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Randy has a new (brilliant) submission to this topic: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 I stand corrected.Great tune, as usual. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mpolak21 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 I stand corrected.Great tune, as usual. He's a treasure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lammycat Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Cop Killer? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spongebob Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 "The Ruling Class"-Loose Fur Not many songs have Jesus smoking crack and shooting smack. The religious right has pretty thin skin, and I don't remember any huge uproar other than a fan walking out of a show in NC. The "bible belt" at that..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IRememberDBoon Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 "The Ruling Class"-Loose Fur Not many songs have Jesus smoking crack and shooting smack. The religious right has pretty thin skin, and I don't remember any huge uproar other than a fan walking out of a show in NC. The "bible belt" at that..... BWAH I was right there when that happened. Funny stuff Cee Lo is a true artist and great musician. His solo albums even before Gnarls are super allsome and every song is great. So fun and funky Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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