The Highwaymen & Hank VS. The Here and Now

I found this on Charlie G’s page. It’s about as poignant and true as it gets. Sure, these old farts are straining to harmonize and the whole thing seems a little contrived, but the verses are so true it hurts.

Charlie G. pointed out in the comments of my last blog that the Grand Ole Opry sold out years ago and that we should get over it. It’s true, the Opry did sell out long ago, and he might have a point that we shouldn’t spend all of our time bitching about this and that, and spend more time celebrating and promoting what is good about the underground/outlaw country movement.

But I must be indulged, at least for today. Because tonight none other than Jessica Simpson is taking the stage at the Opry mother church; that hallowed ground, that majestic WSM microphone that looks so eloquent in that video above.

I’m not going to roast her. We all know she doesn’t belong there. And I have FAITH that when history looks back on this day, they will see it as a tarnish on the history of the Grand Ole Opry. I know other ‘pop’ stars have played there before. But never one so fresh to the country scene, so obviously a product of slick marketing and packaging.

Mike Curb and Garth Brooks, those are worth adversaries. Jessica Simpson is not. She doesn’t even belong in the country music picture.

Just like that song says above, I got no question that Hank Williams is looking down at all of us with our Reinstate Hank banners, and our tributes, and smiling.

Willie, Waylon, Cash, & Kristofferson.

The song remains the same. The torch is passed from one generation of Outlaws to the next, bearing the soul of Hank, and with it the sacrifice and the injustice it carries. We will bear it forever if necessary, until that shining day when it can be laid to rest in it’s rightful place in the mother church of country music: The Grand Ole Opry.

Let Jessica Simpson have her day, and I hope her and the Opry enjoy it. Because even if we lose every battle, I have no doubt we will win the war. This is their high water mark. This is the beginning of the end. It’s a house of cards, built on lies, charades and facades. We will point to this day in the future and say “That’s when they crossed the line. That’s when it all began to unravel for them. When their greed removed all sense of decency.”

I have no doubt.

The Outlaws Will Rise again.

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