Conservatives—by the very definition of the term—tend to resist change. Moreover, the older you get, the more this tendency to resist change grows. I am no exception.
I am 60 years old now—61 next March. At this point in my life, I have had about all the change I can stand. I especially hate all the technological changes that I am forced to deal with—not to mention the insane cultural and political changes that are exploding all around me. Unfortunately, in the coming years, I am—and you are—probably going to be forced through the most drastic, hellish changes ever in our country's social, cultural, technological, political, and economic structures.
Oh, I wish I could go back to the 1970s—the last time that Americans were truly free (in my opinion). But I can't. I'm stuck in these dark decadent days, and there is nothing I can do about it.
So, I wrote a song about the troubles of my soul—as an old conservative/libertarian man living in times that are rapidly changing and shifting in the authoritarian direction. Perhaps you might be able to relate to the lyrics.
I call the song Old Man Conservative Blues. I wrote most of the words myself, but I borrowed a few lines from two of my musical heroes—Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams Jr:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbWWFIG_UMg
I'm 60 years old now
And I think I've lived too long
Most everything I see in the world
I think that it's wrong
The times they are a'changin'
And I don't like it at all
I want to go back in time
I want so-called progress to stall
Everyone thinks they're so smart
But I think they're so dumb
Their ignorance and their sameness
They make my soul feel so numb
They say you gotta change with the times
Don't get stuck all alone
But I refuse to do that
'cus then I'd be just a zombie clone
I like the old
I hate the new
I'm out'a time
I'm getting screwed
I gotta be me
I don't wanna be you
I wanna hide in my cave
To get away from you
Oh, you give me
A bad case of the blues
Yeah, I've got the old man conservative blues
Big government, big business
Technology everywhere
Brainwashing the masses
Like a history nobody cares
Good's gone forever
Logic and language are lost
Nature is corrupted
The stars are all blocked out
People afraid to be honest
You all lie all the time
Everyone walkin' on egg shells
Freedom's loss is a crime
Talkin' and tweetin' all day long
To nobody but yourself
Hypnotized by that black mirror
But it's dragging you to Hell
I like the old
I hate the new
I'm out'a time
I'm getting screwed
I gotta be me
I don't wanna be you
I wanna hide in my cave
To get away from you
'cus you give me
A bad case of the blues
I've got the old man conservative blues
[lines from Waylon Jennings' Slow Movin' Outlaw:]
The land where I travel
Once fashioned in beauty
Now stands with scars on her face
The wide-open spaces
Are closing in quickly
With the weight of the whole human race
And it's not that I blame them
For claiming her bounty
I just wish they'd taken it slow
'cus where has a slow-movin'
Once quick-draw outlaw got to go?
The whiskey that once settled the dust
And tasted so fine
Now it only tastes of pain
The women that warmed you
You once thought so pretty
Now they just look old and grey
Things are all changing
The world's rearranging
A time that will soon be no more
Where has a slow-movin'
Once quick-draw outlaw got to go?
[lines from Hank Williams Jr's Dinosaur:]
Hey, can't you see I'm a dinosaur
I should'a done out a long time before
Lord help me, I'm a dinosaur
Hand me my hat
Excuse me, ma'am
But where's the door?
Yeah, I've got the old man conservative blues
Check out Waylon Jennings' Slow Movin' Outlaw (from 1974):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycOUJ6k3AEA
Check out Hank Williams Jr's Dinosaur (from 1980):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAD8eGhQUXU
The writer and singer can be contacted at: [email protected].
