Crazy Fingers

My Youngbloods CDs came yesterday. The two songs below, “Okie From Muskogee” (Merle Haggard) and “Hippie From Olema” (The Youngbloods) came up in a discussion on The Well about the new senator from Oklahoma. Nobody could remember the lyrics to “Hippie From Olema” so I bought the disk, Good and Dusty, and another Youngbloods disk, High on a Ridgetop, as well.

(”Coburn also faced bad publicity from a 14-year-old lawsuit in which a woman accused the Muskogee doctor of sterilizing her without her permission. Coburn said the lawsuit, which was dropped, had no merit. He also vehemently denied improperly filing for Medicaid reimbursement.” … “Asked about his opposition to the death penalty, the former three-term congressman said he favored executions for ‘abortionists’ and anyone who takes life. At one town hall meeting, he said he had heard lesbianism was so rampant in area schools that girls could only go to the bathroom one at a time.” … “He called legislators in Oklahoma City ‘crapheads.’ … “‘My desire is not to be a U.S. senator,’ he said. ‘My desire is to change the Senate.’” Source.)

I had fun at the gym singing both songs while I was on the elliptical next to my cynical, progressive and very built friend Paul. He thought it was funny. The uptight queen next to us was getting visibly irritated, and that made it even more fun!

Read the lyrics. You’ll see why Senator Coburn (gag) reminds us of “Okie from Muskogee.” Obviously, “Hippie from Olema” is a parody of the other song.

Okie from Muskogee

We don’t smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
We don’t take our trips on LSD
We don’t burn our draft cards down on Main Street;
We like livin’ right, and bein’ free.

I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all

We don’t make a party out of lovin’;
We like holdin’ hands and pitchin’ woo;
We don’t let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.

And I’m proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin’s still the biggest thrill of all.

Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear;
Beads and Roman sandals won’t be seen.
Football’s still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids here still respect the college dean.

We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.

Hippie from Olema

well i’m proud to be a hippie from olema
where we’re friendly to the squares and all the straights
we still take in strangers if they’re ragged
we can’t think of anyone to hate

we don’t watch commercials in olema
we don’t buy the plastic crap they sell
we still wear our hair long like folks used to
and we bathe often, therefore we don’t smell

well i’m proud to be a hippie from olema
where we’re friendly to the squares and all the straights
we still take in strangers if they’re ragged
we can’t think of anyone to hate

we don’t throw our beer cans on the highway
we don’t slide a man because he’s black
we don’t spill our oil out in the ocean
’cause we love birds and fish too much for that

and i’m proud to be a hippie from olema
where we’re friendly to the squares and all the straights
we still take in strangers if they’re Haggard
in olema, california, planet earth