Tyler Farr Says You’re a Pansy If You’re Offended By His Drunk Driving References
Tyler Farr is not one to shy away from saying something controversial in his songs, and I’m not talking about political messages or salty language. His 2013 single “Redneck Crazy” was considered a stalker song by many for including verbiage about driving his truck onto his ex’s lawn and whipping beer cans in her direction. Despite a theme that some saw as reprehensible, the song did quite well, hitting platinum status and peaking at #2 on the charts. For all intents and purposes, “Redneck Crazy” is Tyler Farr’s signature song.
The Chapel Hill, TN product has just released a new record called Suffer In Peace through Columbia Nashville, and it includes a duet with Jason Aldean that’s sure to be tapped as a single. In the first verse of “Damn Good Friends,” Tyler Farr (or the songwriters Brent Anderson, Chris DuBois, and Neil Medley) seem to admit to a little bit of drunk driving.
“You’re drivin’ back home down 246
You almost hit a deer and you end up in a ditch
You can’t pull forward and you can’t back out
You’re sittin’ there thinkin’ whatcha gonna do now
You’d be a little nervous if a cop showed up
‘Cause you drank a little maybe just a little too much
Waitin’ on a tow truck takes too long
It’s two in the mornin’”¦ who you gonna call?
“Friends”¦ damn good friends…”
Okay, maybe not the message your preacher or the local MADD affiliate would prefer you hear, but it’s not something overly offensive or necessarily condoning drunk driving. It does mention it though, and is yet another piece of evidence in an elongated trend in country music to give tacit approval to the illegal and dangerous behavior. Tyler Farr’s “Redneck Crazy” is not too far off this trend either, nor was Farr’s duet buddy Jason Aldean when in the super hit “Dirt Road Anthem” he famously said,
“Yeah I’m chillin’ on a dirt road
Laid back swervin’ like I’m George Jones
Smoke rollin’ out the window
An ice cold beer sittin’ in the console”
So yeah, a lot of modern country music artists like to sing about drinking and driving, and it’s probably not hard to see the knuckleheads who listen to this music emulating some of what they hear in certain circumstances. After all, that’s what modern country is all about: selling a lifestyle.
But Tyler has put his foot down about “Damn Good Friends” and it’s potential to be interpreted as a drunk driving song. And then he elected to stick that same foot squarely in his mouth.
“It’s not driving drunk,” Tyler first told Rolling Stone about the song.
Wait a second. So you’re saying a song with lyrics that go, “You’d be a little nervous if a cop showed up, ’cause you drank a little, maybe just a little too much” is not about driving drunk? I’m behind Tyler in saying let’s not make too much of this song, but now he’s trying to lie to us. We read the lyrics. We understand what they say and mean. So what is he trying to get away with here?
Then Tyler Farr goes on,
“Shit, I mean we all were in high school, we all drove. I drove with a pony keg in the bed in my truck with a damn hose through the sliding [window].”
Okay so what the hell is going on here now? First Tyler Farr tells us this song isn’t about driving drunk. Then in the same breath, he’s telling us we “all” drove drunk in high school, and gives his own anecdotal account of drinking from an open container while driving during his high school years. All of a sudden we’ve escalated from a rather subtle and semi-harmless lyric in a song to saying “Hey, if you’re in high school, go ahead and suck one down while you’re behind the wheel. We all did it.”
And then Tyler Farr keeps digging his hole even deeper if you can believe it, by impugning people who may have a problem with his drunk driving lyrics (that he’s completely forgotten now aren’t about drunk driving).
“Today is so censored, and you wonder why kids turned out pansies. Because everybody’s a winner. He got sixth place? Tell him to run faster. You have to learn from your mistakes nowadays you’re not allowed to make mistakes to learn from.”
Well there you go. We should probably allow high schoolers to drive drunk so they can learn from their mistakes. Tyler Farr seems like a great guy to be doling out parenting advice or to be in a position to critique your parenting skills. I’m sure the families of the 10,076 people who died in drunk driving accidents in the United States in 2013, including 1,149 children, and the 290,000 injured would disagree, especially when the vast majority of those accidents involved drunk drivers below the age of 24.
See, now Tyler Farr has taken a mostly harmless lyric, and made me have to cite drunk driving statistics just to shut him up and actually make him think about the flippant and irresponsible comments coming out of his boneheaded mouth.
He’s right that many American’s drive drunk when in high school, and drive drunk now. Some may be inspired to do so by the words of a modern day country song. And yes, legendary country artists like George Jones and many others drove drunk too, and some even sang about it. But they were also open and honest about their demons, and were also apologetic, contrite, and embarrassed by their actions and sang not just of the party aspect, but of the consequences. Tyler Farr tries to do this in “Damn Good Friends,” but ends up swerving all over the place and plowing into the ditch.
That’s the difference between country stars of yesterday and today. Tyler uses his drunk driving to let you know just what a badass he is and how you’re a “pansy” for having a problem with it.
This dude couldn’t come across as any more unlikable. The whole Rolling Stone interview was all about him showing off, and portraying himself as a badass so people buy into the persona of his music, of which he only co-wrote three of the eleven songs on his new record. It’s a shame that many of the mainstream country artists who actually offer a little bit of contrast from Bro-Country and the Sam Hunt stuff feel the need to convey these bellicose personas.
I take only tacit exception with the opening verse of Tyler Farr’s “Damn Good Friends.” But his explanation is about as offensive as they come.
May 14, 2015 @ 6:25 pm
I wish country musicians would become part of the solution , instead of the problem. It’s no secret that country music fans like to drink. I’ve seen it at shows from Toby Keith to Kenny Chesney to Brad Paisley. It’s all about partying and getting as drunk or drunker than the drunkest drunk there. It’s part of the reason why I’ve strayed away from the amphitheater concerts that I used to attend. As for Tyler Farr, the guy is clearly a scumbag who wants cred. Hopefully he dies out quick
May 15, 2015 @ 3:41 pm
Tyler’s a best friend of crude immoral Jason Aldean what do u expect.
May 15, 2015 @ 4:30 pm
Yeah since country fans already like to drink they sure as hell don’t need more encouragement in songs to drink more or drive drunk. This song says “hey high school kids it’s OK to drive drunk and if you crash just call your friends and hope they show up before the cops” (if you’re still alive, thank God and swear you’ll never do it again – the right thing to do would’ve been to at least add those lyrics).
May 14, 2015 @ 6:25 pm
Here’s what I know about Tyler Farr from when I saw him live last week: He wears camo skinny jeans and covers classic rock instead of singing his own songs or y’know, covering country songs. He’s the pussy.
May 14, 2015 @ 6:29 pm
He’s covering his ass by saying it’s not driving drunk. He’s really talking about driving buzzed more likely which is just as dangerous because you get behind the wheel thinking you have it all under control when you just as likely may not have it under control.
But hell, George Jones sung about driving home drunk from the bar, why can’t these guys sing about driving home drunk and running into a ditch?
Oh wait, George Jones didn’t really glorify it and his songs about it illustrated the sad state of mind you’d have to be in to do such a thing.
May 14, 2015 @ 6:33 pm
He seems like a real dickhead. Especially after telling someone on Twitter, that posted about how bad he was live, to “go throw up on yourself” and told another person that said he sucked “I hope you OD on Michelob Ultra”. His “burns” are as immature as his song material.
May 14, 2015 @ 6:34 pm
I’ve heard this guy talk on the radio before. I actually found him to be really funny. I can’t stand his singing style but found him to be somewhat a normal guy. One line that made me laugh at the time was that when he was speaking publicly his management team cringed because they had no idea what would come out of his mouth. I can imagine that in the background there was a face palm.
I do also have to add that after the Virginia university rape story and multiple other embellishments by the Rolling Stone on other stories that I have lost respect totally for that publication.
That being said the song is garbage, hate his voice, the writing is horrid and he should have listened to the Tracy Lawrence version to see how it’s done.
May 14, 2015 @ 6:43 pm
George Jones sang about drunk driving regularly. “I lay my head on the wheel, and the horn begins honking, the whole neighborhood knows I’m home drunk again” Hellbound Glory sing hello 5.0, a song about drunk driving. I know its not politically correct, but I would hate to see political correctness rear its ugly head in country or even in this blog. I have no problem with this song’s subject matter. if you do, you should rethink your views on Jones and countless other true country.
May 14, 2015 @ 7:20 pm
I covered this in the article. Like I said, I really don’t take exception to the song. It’s when he tried to say it wasn’t about drunk driving, and then starts impugning people who may be offended by it. That’s when I found his words offensive. Saying basically that everyone drives drunk in high school and it’s no big deal is a little different then Hellbound Glory singing about going to jail for driving drunk. Both the Hellbound Glory and George Jones songs you cited include the dark side of driving drunk. To Tyler Farr, you wax out, call your buddy, and the party keeps on rolling. There’s never a dark side.
May 14, 2015 @ 8:37 pm
My point was simply that as a people, we Americans seem to be offended by every little thing someone says or does. So, basically, every piece of art now needs to be watered down so as not to offend someone? i’m not arguing with you, just clarifying. There are plenty of true country songs that celebrate rather than point out the dark side of drinkin n drivin. About half of Moe Bandy/Joe Stampley’s collaborative efforts, for instance.
May 14, 2015 @ 8:52 pm
Dude. He said he wasn’t offended by the song.
May 14, 2015 @ 9:06 pm
wasn’t trying to imply that he was. Never was calling Trigger out on anything, just used “you” generically, speaking to anyone with nothing better to do than read these comments ( not judging, I too apparantly have nothing better to do). I have never heard of Tyler Fair before today, I’m more of an old schooler, but don’t see a lot of difference between the content and classic country.
May 14, 2015 @ 9:35 pm
I agree. And I agree with Tyler Farr that we shouldn’t be so uptight. But if you lie about what’s going on in your song, and then basically condone high schoolers drunk driving, you’re a complete moron.
And for all the folks wanting to compare this to George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, or whomever else, show me where they tried to pass off one of their drunk driving songs as not being so. Then it’s a worthy comparison.
May 22, 2015 @ 4:19 pm
Nobody is going to win one of these arguments. Country singers have always sung about drinking. Sometimes they’re lamenting it, sometimes they’re celebrating it–and sometimes the words say they’re celebrating it, but the tone and mood say that deep down, maybe they’re really lamenting it.
I was thinking about Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley, too. Their records were a riot. But they were clearly playing characters. When they sang, “I threw my boss out a window and got fired from my last job/ I hot-wired a city truck and turned it over in the mayor’s yard/ I beat my brother-in-law- half to death/ Lost 20 bucks on his football picks”, that was so over-the-top that it was clearly comical. I don’t think we ever felt that they actually did those things or would be condoning such activities.
May 15, 2015 @ 11:21 am
Going hand in hand with that dark side is the fact that the songs by George Jones and Hellhound Glory actually exist in the real world and convey more emotions than the endless party. George Jones and Johnny Paycheck sang songs about real people, or at the very least people that could exist just as easily as they did. Tyler Farr and his generation of country stars sing about cartoon characters with Looney Tunes affectations. As someone who didn’t try the sauce until he was of legal age, has a blatant distaste for it, and has had alcohol cause great pain in his family with both people that were and weren’t old enough to drink, I take GREAT offense at Farr’s idiotic statements. “Everybody does it” my ass. That’s basically a straw man argument, and will probably be the next excuse these interlopers use to defend their pop music if the “evolution” angle ever wears off.
May 15, 2015 @ 4:40 pm
How many years ago did George record those songs? Did he say it’s OK for high school kids to drink and drive? DUI laws have evolved and country music must evolve. 😉
May 14, 2015 @ 6:43 pm
Some of his music not that bad. He’s a pretty good singer.
May 15, 2015 @ 6:25 am
I have to ask….are you European?
May 15, 2015 @ 10:18 am
Do you mean to imply that Europeans have bad taste when it comes to country music? 🙂 This music came straight from the dark lord’s behind. I am from Norway.
May 15, 2015 @ 4:15 pm
Why! no I am not. I am from America. No I don’t have bad taste in country music. No Tyler Farr is not my favorite singer. My range in country music is from 1985-2000.
May 14, 2015 @ 6:58 pm
A friend of mine in high school drove drunk once and never made it home. I guess I’m supposed to believe he died because he was a pansy?
May 15, 2015 @ 5:58 am
Nah, man! He died because he wasn’t a pansy!
Doesn’t that make you feel way better?!
/sarcasm.
May 14, 2015 @ 7:11 pm
As for his signature song “redneck crazy,” the writers actually wrote that to be recorded by a female artist FWIW.
May 14, 2015 @ 7:33 pm
This reminds me of a couple years back when I gave Easton Corbin’ “All Over The Road” a fierce thrashing because its lyrics made dangerous, irresponsible excuses for distracted driving that are no different from those actually under the influence make……………..and I was shocked and bewildered by how many chose to lap that single up and shower it with critical acclaim while I placed it on my “Ten Worst Singles of 2013” list.
Even in spite of all that, I certainly not once heard Easton Corbin make such startling comments like Tyler Farr has in this interview.
What a shame that he is doing his level best to make me refuse to like him. Because, truth be told, his new album is half-decent. If you pretend “C.O.U.N.T.R.Y”, “Why We Live Here” and “Better In Boots” don’t exist, it’s a considerably respectable listen. “I Don’t Even Want This Beer”, the title track and “Poor Boy” especially stand out.
May 15, 2015 @ 1:46 am
“All Over The Road” is a song about getting a blowjob while driving. Who hasn’t gotten a blowjob while driving? It’s not a great idea but I’d never compare it to drunk driving….there is no comparison there..
May 15, 2015 @ 6:00 am
Getting head while driving is way more dangerous than driving at .09%…
May 15, 2015 @ 9:44 am
With Tyler Farr, I think it’s more likely he would be giving and not getting.
May 15, 2015 @ 12:00 pm
Not if you are a great driver haha
May 14, 2015 @ 7:35 pm
This is a blunder of epic proportions that very well SHOULD haunt him for years to come.
May 14, 2015 @ 7:40 pm
Can we quit referring to, pounding brews with yer bros in the next room while people write songs for you, as “Co-Writing”?
May 14, 2015 @ 8:18 pm
You can’t learn from your mistake if you’ve already died as a result of it. And what’s this about kids growing up to be pansies? Seems to me people are more reckless than ever. People like Tyler Farr are the reason why. He’s saying he wants kids to drive drunk. He must not know somebody who died from that. I really hope this guy doesn’t have kids. I would feel sorry for them.
May 14, 2015 @ 8:40 pm
…and hey. By the time you’re old enough to drink legally – maybe start leaving the high school references behind. Once you’ve broken 30…maybe think about being finished with those references…
May 15, 2015 @ 2:42 am
Unless it’s a case of having grown older, but not up…
May 14, 2015 @ 8:44 pm
First, let me be very clear about 3 things: 1. Trigger, I understand you run a country music site. Nothing more, nothing less. And I love your site for that. 2. I hate tyler Farr. 3. I don’t support legit drunk driving.
That having been said, I can’t believe you pulled your stats, verbatim, from madd’s website. They have an agenda and will do anything to achieve it. Those 10+k deaths were not due to “drunk” driving. They were due to “alcohol-related” driving. That’s not just a difference of semantics, but a difference of the lion’s share of their total deaths.
For example, a death due to “drunk” driving would necessarily require the person who caused the accident to be at, or above, 0.08 BAC. Where as, an “alcohol-related” fatality only requires that someone involved in an accident, even in a tertiary manner, had a BAC above 0.00. Let’s say two 100% sober drivers are in an accident, but one of the passengers had drank 2 beers and someone dies-MADD counts that death. Seriously. Any reasonable person could deduce the painfully obvious fact that “drunk” driving had precisely dick to do with any of those deaths.
I don’t trust a word that MADD puts out. They’re just the worst. That doesn’t mean I condone driving drunk, just that I hate MADD. And tyler farr’s an idiot. And I love your country music site!
May 14, 2015 @ 9:32 pm
Hey, I’m pissed I had to cite MADD stats too, and I said as much. But as flippant as Tyler Farr was with the issue, I think he needed to look at some “sobering” numbers…so to speak.
And yes, it is semantics. Thousands of people die from drunk driving.
And again, the point of this is not the drunk driving reference. It was what was said afterward. I thought I went out of my way to be clear about that, but that seems to be the big takeaway for some. Oh well.
May 15, 2015 @ 6:35 am
I’m not defending MADD, but your explanation of how the stats are compiled is false and inaccurate. MADD gets their stats from law enforcement sources and never in my 25 years on the job have I ever seen the cause of an accident be contributed to alcohol because a passenger was drunk. Also, .08 is a presumptive level of intoxication. That doesn’t mean someone below that level is not “drunk.” You really should know what you’re talking about before you get on the internet and pretend that you do.
May 15, 2015 @ 4:37 pm
It also doesn’t mean that someone above that level is drunk, though.
Like you’re saying, people have different tolerance levels. A 200 pound man at .1 will likely be less intoxicated than a 120 woman at .06, but one will get a DUI and the other is legally in the clear.
None of this is to excuse drunk drivers, because every last one is a selfish fucking idiot, but I just really, really hate those intellectually dishonest pricks at MADD.
May 15, 2015 @ 6:02 am
MADD really should change their name back to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
May 17, 2015 @ 10:27 am
Who cares about how they get their statistics.
MADD has saved countless lives, injuries and damage, with the changes they’ve brought about regarding the law on drunk driving, and people’s awareness of how wrong it is to drive drunk.
May 14, 2015 @ 9:42 pm
Nothing says badass like standing on a four wheeler looking out at the horizon.
If so, I wish I could pull off the same look on my John Deere lawnmower.
May 15, 2015 @ 1:23 am
I believe in you! I’m sure the look would be just as epic on a lawnmower.
May 15, 2015 @ 5:46 am
LOL! I know, right?? He must be plotting how he and Duck Dynasty and Colt Ford are going to TP another chicks house.
May 14, 2015 @ 10:32 pm
That picture at the top is funny as hell. Haha. I hope the jackass fell off.
May 14, 2015 @ 10:49 pm
I get so tired of hearing guys like this basically say “well everybody does it.” I don’t get offended by much, but that just straight up pisses me off. I never drank in high school, and still don’t to this day at age 25. That’s my biggest problem with mainstream country, this whole notion that you HAVE to have alcohol to have a good time. Me and my friends never drink, but we have fun anyway. I guess we’re just a bunch of nobodies to tyler and the rest of the country establishment.
May 15, 2015 @ 6:55 am
I get tired of hearing the world say “well everybody does it” to justify their immoral actions.
May 15, 2015 @ 2:02 pm
Amen, I agree wholeheartedly, I am 22 and never drank and never will. I have seen too many people mess their lives up with it. I can go out with friends and still have a good time without alcohol! Props to you and your friends!!
May 15, 2015 @ 12:40 am
More trend-chasing straw-grasping bad-ass posing . The kinda thing kiddie country fans eat up non-stop and can’t seem to get their fill of . Pander-on ….
May 15, 2015 @ 12:54 am
There are several distinctions between George Jones’ references to driving under the influence and the song Farr is trying to make money off of. For one, the protagonists in Jones’ DUI songs (for lack of a better term) are hapless characters on a downward spiral; that ache is what he’s singing about. They are not characters you’d want to emulate, and in fact his protagonists are providing a cautionary tale. They are warning us about something. Farr’s protagonist is trying to make over-indulgence look good. I’m sure the song’s protagonist is just a poser who drinks because some marketing guru told the songwriters that that was the demographic they should shoot for.
For another thing, our awareness about the dangers of driving while impaired has risen quite a bit since Jones was writing his songs. We know better now. Thanks to outfits like MADD (and yeah, they have an “agenda,” namely reducing the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities; it is quite noble as agendas go…) we now know a lot more about the societal costs of drinking and driving. We also know that education has an impact. Farr is basically telling high school kids to break the law by doing something that we know is dangerous. Why doesn’t he advocate for cocaine or meth while he’s at it?
Lastly, the major distinction between Jones and Farr was that Jones was a genuine badass and Farr is, to use his word, a pansy.
May 15, 2015 @ 2:46 am
You know the “PC” ( and better written) version of this is that Alan Jackson /George Strait pairing on DESIGNATED DRINKER ~ sure, it admits to over imbibing in adult beverages, but has a “damn good friend” around to keep him out from behind the wheel~ and from losing his hat, too…
May 15, 2015 @ 8:32 pm
Not only that, but the dude in that song wasn’t partying, either.
Great tune, BTW. It’s actually my favorite song from that particular Alan Jackson album.
May 15, 2015 @ 2:51 am
Oh cool, in the song they’re going to beat up the ex boyfriend, too.
Of course Tyler is going to use his friends to back him up. He’s not a fucking pansy or anything, no siree.
May 15, 2015 @ 5:06 am
That RS article is quite pro-Tyler Farr, but it does offer this gem that I’m sure everyone on this site will love: “Suffer in Peace opens with the infectious, Hank Jr.-like anthem ‘C.O.U.N.T.R.Y.’ ”” and its unfortunate reference to ‘truck nuts'” That’s a new one for the bro-country checklist.
May 15, 2015 @ 5:12 am
‘Everybody’ got their ass wooped by their mama with a switch.
‘Everybody’ stole candy bars from the corner grocery.
‘Everybody’ snuck and drank all the beer they could as soon as they got out of mama and daddy’s eyesight.
All great song fodder. But difficult to justify in conversation–least of all by the likes of a Tyler Farr.
More sing-y sing-y. Less talk-y talk-y.
May 15, 2015 @ 5:29 am
How the hell does he get to the “pansy” and censoring conclusion and everyone getting trophies?? Nobody’s censoring your dumbass music, dumbass, but plenty of us wish they would.
This guy has been a tool from the very beginning. Most lesser tools I just ignore, but he especially annoys the hell out of me. COMPLETE lack of self-awareness.
May 15, 2015 @ 5:43 am
By the way, Tracy Lawrence already did this song (Find Out Who Your Friends Are) and did it much better.
May 15, 2015 @ 6:08 am
I agree with WEs Tracy Lawrence has already done this and does it better. But I mean Tracy>>>>>Tyler so what would you expect.
May 15, 2015 @ 6:17 am
I just think it’s weird he uses this as his platform to launch into why kids are pussies these days, especially when he says the part about everybody winning a trophy. That’s an argument for another occasion, tyler. Giving a kid a participation trophy is not even close to the same thing as letting your child sneak around with alcohol and drive under the influence.
He was probably one of those kids in high school whose parents let him drink, and he thought all those weird kids who didn’t drink yet were losers.
May 15, 2015 @ 7:22 am
I’m not offended by the subject matter of the song, I wish it carried a bit more regret which is what a lot of the George Jones songs or other Country songs that had similar lyrics. I think that is the one point that a lot of people are annoyed about modern Country music is that the songs show all these great party times, but none of the regret that often follows those good times/bad decisions/whatever.
That said, Tyler Farr comes off terribly in that interview. I would expect those quotes from an older artist or just an older person. Tyler Farr is 31 years old. That’s a bit young to go on a crotchety rant about younger generations if you ask me. Furthermore, the most ironic part of the whole interview is Tyler Farr basically insulted his own fan base. Hate to break it to ya Tyler, but those “pansy kids” you whine about, are probably Luke Bryan/FGL fans and guess what fan bases generally overlap with your own?
I defended Tyler Farr a few weeks ago here after hearing “Suffer In Peace” and “A Guy Walks Into A Bar” as not terrible modern Country songs. I am now regretting that choice….
May 15, 2015 @ 9:32 am
Same here.
May 15, 2015 @ 7:29 am
I should also note that I am not surprised that Tyler Farr is a bit of an idiot/is a total jackass. His best friend is Jason Aldean who routinely comes off the same way. Sometimes the friends you keep say everything you need to know about one’s personality….
May 15, 2015 @ 8:09 am
I watched a promotional video for him around the time of the release of Redneck Crazy. He was listing all the things that make him get his “pissed off on.” Then, sounding like every wife beater who ever lived, he said “I don’t want to be this way. These things make me this way.”
May 15, 2015 @ 9:46 am
The one where he shot a machine gun or blew something up to “relieve stress” from things such as smart cars?? .
May 15, 2015 @ 10:17 am
That’s the one.
May 15, 2015 @ 6:25 pm
Raylan Givens said it best: “If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you’re the asshole.”
May 15, 2015 @ 8:17 am
Hate him or not, the title track to this album is must hear material
May 15, 2015 @ 8:45 am
If some arse wants to think I’m a pansy because I don’t agree with him dismissing drunk driving, fuck him! Better a live pansy than a dead drink driver (or a dead victim of a drunk driver)!
May 15, 2015 @ 9:57 am
Drunk driving makes you an outlaw. Outlaws have always been dangerous, selfish, unaware, unpredictable, injurious, socially unacceptable, and sometimes even murderous. Because they’re outlaws. Thing is, country music worships the outlaw… including many in the past who were likely every bit as depraved and unaware as Farr sounds today. I know this conversation means well, but part of me wants to say, “thou dost protest too much.” Country music lovers criticizing one of the form’s imperfect foundations through the lens of modern sensibilities creates a bit of awkwardness.
May 15, 2015 @ 10:49 am
In country music, what makes you an Outlaw is fighting for your creative freedom from the country music oligarchy. Tyler Farr is no Outlaw. Neither is he an Outlaw on the street. He’s just a guy that justifies his drunk driving by saying everybody does it.
May 15, 2015 @ 4:39 pm
Yeah exactly, driving drunk doesn’t make you a country outlaw by any means.
May 15, 2015 @ 12:21 pm
Dumba@%!
I really want the chance to show these modern country tough guy’s that they are pussy.
May 15, 2015 @ 1:09 pm
Tyler Farr is such a pansy that he still needs his mama to open his Coors Light for him and poor it into his sippy cup. When will we be rid of all these self-proclaimed “outlaws”? Trigger, I give it to you man – you laid down the explicit definition of a true Outlaw:
“In country music, what makes you an Outlaw is fighting for your creative freedom from the country music oligarchy.”
You get the vocab award of the day for using “oligarchy” so appropriately as well.
How does it take a handful of people to keep writing this crap? And hey, does somebody in this song writing clique have a foot fetish or something? I swear I’m as tired of hearing “pretty little bare feet” as much as I am bikini tops, daisy dukes, tan-lines and tailgates.
May 15, 2015 @ 2:14 pm
Even the best of us have been stupid enough to drive drunk. What makes all these losers so silly, is that they think singing about it makes them sound countrified & bad-A.
They think driving drunk is a country thing. In a way, this is just another checklist song.
“Those city-boy pansies never drive drunk like us “country”-boys do!”
May 16, 2015 @ 10:27 am
If you go to a wide open spaces state, you’ll find out it actually is a country thing. Not so much the act of doing it as a cultural justification of it, born of the facts that distances are great, cabs are zero, and sometimes the guy’s not trying to be tough he’s just driving 15 miles home in his truck alone. Designated driving is a bigger challenge the greater the distances. So it’s often as big a piece of rural life as a reservoir or a tank top… just a much more dangerous one.
May 16, 2015 @ 12:00 pm
You seem to have missed my point JC.
First, I was born, raised, and reside in a rural state, so you can save that lecture for somebody else.
Second, I was speaking specifically about these poser “Country” singers, like Farr, who sing about things that they believe are tenets of countriness, things that they perceive as behaviors that make them country in a cultural sense.
Yes, for real country people, driving drunk can be an unfortunate coincidence of geography, but that’s irrelevant to my point, and driving drunk is still stupid.
May 16, 2015 @ 1:58 pm
Sorry didn’t mean to lecture. Just trying to point out that there is a connection between drunk driving and young men that is different in rural areas and can help explain why it shows up in country music… sometimes in ways less pejorative than most people think appropriate.
May 18, 2015 @ 9:56 pm
I bet you were a big fan of Justin Moore’s song “Bait a Hook,” weren’t you? Gosh, that was one of the most annoying songs I’ve ever heard.
May 19, 2015 @ 5:37 am
I hate Justin Moore. But maybe I’m missing your point A.D. What does Justin Moore have to do with anything I’ve said here?
May 19, 2015 @ 6:22 am
You mentioned checklist songs of things that these singers seem to think makes someone country and “Bait a Hook” is the most blatant offender I can think of.
From what I remember of the song, it goes something like “I hear he drives a Prius cause he’s in to being green, he can’t even bait a hook, he can’t even skin a buck, he don’t know who Jack Daniels is” etc. As if country folks somehow invented any of that or are the only ones to do it, thusly making you “country” if you subscribe. Or, if you happen to care about the environment and don’t have a huge ass truck you’re somehow less of a man. I always took particular issue with the Jack Daniels comment as it’s patently ignorant and foolish, and all I hear is “he’s not an alcoholic and we’re shaming him for it.”
I’d say that is relevant to what you were saying unless I missed YOUR point myself.
May 19, 2015 @ 10:29 am
By the way Clint, I’m curious what you think of this pairing: https://www.facebook.com/clint.black/photos/a.10152247738277213.1073741826.252013042212/10152793345167213/?type=1&theater
I know this isn’t on topic, but I have no other way to contact you. You should be able to see the picture and read the caption even if you don’t have a Facebook. Personally, I wasn’t expecting this at all… like in a million years at all. However, I’m ecstatic to see two of my all-time favorite country music acts work together.
May 15, 2015 @ 4:16 pm
Why did his label allow these drunk driving lyrics? Where’s the gatekeeping? This is a lame rip off of Find Out Who Your Friends Are, a much better song. The singing sounds like crap. Farr must have the same vocal coach as Brantley Gilbert. “1 2 3 rough grunt! Imagine you’re taking a monster dump if it helps.”
May 16, 2015 @ 5:51 am
Eh, the labels don’t really care. All they care about is making $$$, nothing more and nothing less.
I honestly don’t think the lyrics to this song would have been a big deal if Farr hadnt doubled down on them in the worst way possible. He could have easily “escaped” any potential controversy, but just saying he doesnt condone drinking and driving and that it’s a stupid action by people with lowered inhibitions and that the song is built more around the idea that friends will come pick you up, etc.
Instead, Farr doubled down on them and “offended” more people with his stupid comments.
You would think that Music Row, when cranking out the assembly line of guys with 5 o’clock shadows and marginal vocal ability would have them take a class or two on how to navigate the media and avoid portraying themselves in a negative light.
Whoever Farr’s “handler” is, needs to be fired because just as an outsider, it’s clear that Farr and his management team have no clue what the hell they are doing.
May 15, 2015 @ 8:03 pm
Keep in mind now, all this is coming from the same dude who called Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine,” and I quote, “countrier than a squirrel turd.” He’s not exactly Rhodes Scholar material.
May 16, 2015 @ 3:55 am
I noticed the line when first listening to and reviewing the CD, but I didn’t really think too much about it because, as you said, in terms of the rest of the song, it’s actually semi-harmless. His defense though is pretty ludicrous and makes him come across as every bit of the douche I thought he was with “Redneck Crazy.”
May 16, 2015 @ 6:49 am
Wikipedia says this guy is a classically trained opera singer and that his mother married one of George Jones’ band members: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Farr#Biography
May 17, 2015 @ 10:43 pm
“Opera” if he didn’t keep it up it doesn’t have it anymore.
May 19, 2015 @ 1:02 pm
Wiki can be edited by anyone. Just thought I’d remind everyone. 🙂
May 16, 2015 @ 10:41 am
The guy sounds like a real drool-cup. Is he seriously suggesting that driving while drinking prevents “pansy” behavior? The glorification of binge drinking is a huge problem in country music, witness those insane outdoor summer mega-shows with the deaths and the rapes. A-holes like this clown are the problem.
February 3, 2016 @ 8:50 am
We just produced a two-hour show with every song a drinking or drunk song. The original plan was to have fun with the theme but as we began to create the show’s playlist, we realized that it’s not funny anymore. Drinking and getting drunk has been a theme in country music for many decades but what was different with country and drinking in the 60’s and 70’s that the drinking was most often the result of a loss of a wife, lover or dog. The drinker was a victim. Not saying that was a good excuse for getting drunk. Today’s country songs are about glamorizing drinking and the target demo is skewing younger. You have to read (sing) between the lines to realize that there is drinking while driving. After all, what do you suppose is “that good stuff” under the seat of Luke Bryan’s pickup truck?
Tyler Farr is an example of the problem in today’s country writer’s focus on booze. Obviously Farr doesn’t seem to have a problem with thousands of mothers, fathers and kids and other innocents killed or maimed every year by drunk drivers. To follow Tyler’s thinking, if you have a problem with that, you’re a “pansy.”
Farr is an example of the quest for “cool” and the resultant revenue derived from mushy young minds attracted by the country party image. I wonder if his “pansy” attitude would change if his mom, sister or child were killed by a drunk driver.
I’m no saint. In the past, I drove drunk. I got away with it. I should have been jailed and lost my license. I was stupid and I could have killed someone. It was wrong then. It’s still wrong. Just because it sounds cool in a country song, it’s still wrong. Tyler Farr is wrong. I hope that his mushy minded fans who may think he’s cool, don’t kill themselves or worse, someone else.
September 26, 2017 @ 9:13 pm
I feel like this blog was written just to gain publicity. The title says it all. That song is about your ride or die friends. For sure drunk diving is dangerous and stupid. The song talks about how even during times when you’re a fool, true friends will be there for you. The second verse talks about love life problems, same thing, your ride or die friends will have your back. So all the self righteous people out there, stop taking yourself too seriously, you aren’t perfect, get back down to earth.