jomel77 - Uneasy Rider
jomel77
Jul 10, 2024 08:26pm
<p><strong>Uneasy Rider</strong>" is a 1973 song written and performed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">American</a> singer and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-instrumentalist" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">multi-instrumentalist</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Daniels" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charlie Daniels</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uneasy_Rider#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><sup>[3]</sup></a> It consists of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">narrative</a> spoken over a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">guitar</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melody" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">melody</a> and is sometimes considered a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelty_song" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">novelty song</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uneasy_Rider#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><sup>[4]</sup></a> It was released as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_(music)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">single</a> and appeared on Daniels' <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Album" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">album</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_in_the_Rock_(album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Honey in the Rock</em></a>,<em> </em>which is also sometimes known as <em>Uneasy Rider</em>.</p><p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narration" target="_blank">narrator-</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protagonist" target="_blank">protagonist</a> of "Uneasy Rider" is a long-haired <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">marijuana</a> smoker driving a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chevrolet</a> with a "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_sign" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">peace sign</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_alloy_wheel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mag wheels</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manual_transmission" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">four on the floor</a>." The song is a spoken-word description of an interlude in a trip from a non-specified location in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Southern United States</a> to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles,_California" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Los Angeles, California</a>. When one of the narrator's tires goes flat in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson,_Mississippi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jackson, Mississippi</a>, he stops at a "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Redneck</a>" bar and calls a gas station to come to repair it. He is alone at first, to his relief, but several local residents soon arrive and question his manners, physical appearance, and choice of vehicle. In order to extricate himself from a potential physical altercation, the narrator accuses one man of being a federal agent working undercover to infiltrate the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ku Klux Klan</a>, who removes <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">George Wallace</a> bumper stickers, voted for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_McGovern" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">George McGovern</a>, and has a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Communist</a> flag on his garage wall. As the others begin to believe the narrator's story, the man defends himself by saying he has lived in Jackson all of his life, has no garage, is a faithful <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptist" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Baptist</a>, and adheres to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the teachings of "Brother John Birch"</a>. The distraction lasts long enough for the narrator to escape, just as his tire is repaired. After chasing the rednecks around with his car for a short time, he speeds away quickly and resumes his journey to Los Angeles; already on a northward track to Arkansas, he decides on the fly to reroute through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha,_Nebraska" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Omaha, Nebraska</a>.</p><p>The lyrics reflect cultural divisions in the Southern United States in the early 1970s between the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterculture_of_the_1960s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">counterculture of the 1960s</a> and more traditional Southern culture. Unlike with most country music of the time, Daniels' protagonist is a member of the counterculture.</p><p>The song's title, which does not appear in the lyrics, is a play on the film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Rider" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Easy Rider</em></a>, which follows two counterculture motorcyclists on a journey in the opposite direction, from Los Angeles to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans,_Louisiana" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New Orleans, Louisiana</a>, and eventually to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Florida</a>.</p><p>Daniels' counterculture attitude was consistent with that of others in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlaw_country" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">outlaw country</a> music movement but is in contrast to his later <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_politics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">right-wing</a> attitudes expressed in songs such as 1989's "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Man_(Charlie_Daniels_song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Simple Man</a>".</p>