Uneasy Rider

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For other uses, see Uneasy Rider (disambiguation).
"Uneasy Rider"
Honey in the Rock
B-side"Funky Junky"
ReleasedJune 1973
Genre
Length5:18
LabelKama Sutra 576
(U.S. 7" single)
Songwriter(s)Charlie Daniels
Producer(s)Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels singles chronology
"Great Big Bunches of Love"
(1972) 		"Uneasy Rider"
(1973) 		"Whiskey"
(1974)

"Uneasy Rider" is a 1973 song written and performed by American singer and multi-instrumentalist Charlie Daniels.[3] It consists of a narrative spoken over a guitar melody, and is sometimes considered a novelty song.[4] It was released as a single and appeared on Daniels' album Honey in the Rock which is also sometimes known as Uneasy Rider.

Plot

The

Baptist, and adheres to the teachings of "Brother John Birch". 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 Omaha, Nebraska
.

Cultural references

The lyrics reflect cultural divisions in the Southern United States in the early 1970s between the counterculture of the 1960s and more traditional Southern culture. Unlike with most country music of the time, Daniels' protagonist is a member of the counterculture.

The song's title, which does not appear in the lyrics, is a play on the film

New Orleans, Louisiana and eventually to Florida
.

Daniels' counterculture attitude was consistent with that of others in the outlaw country music movement but is in contrast to his later right-wing attitudes expressed in songs such as 1989's "Simple Man".

Chart performance

Chart (1973) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks 67
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] 9
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 69
Canadian RPM Top Singles 18

Uneasy Rider '88

"Uneasy Rider '88"
The Charlie Daniels Band
from the album Homesick Heroes
ReleasedNovember 1988
RecordedMay 4, 1988
Length4:26
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Charlie Daniels
Tom Crain
Taz DiGregorio
Charlie Hayward
Jack Gavin
Producer(s)James Stroud

The

Houston, Texas
.

Content

Two Southern men decide to travel to

Houston, Texas
. The narrator reacts violently to sexual harassment from a cross-dressing customer, which instigates a fight with the locals.

His friend joins in, and learns during the fight that the good-looking gal he had been dancing with was also a crossdresser, much to his disgust. The narrator and his friend struggle to leave the bar amid the fight, get into their vehicle, and speed away—and get pulled over by the same police officer who stopped them earlier. They end up in a county jail where the narrator swears off drinking and partying, and resolving to go "back where the women are women and the men are men."

Notes

  1. ^ Barber, James (July 6, 2020). "7 Patriotic Classics from Country Rock Legend Charlie Daniels". Military.com. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  2. ^ Friskics-Warren, Bill (July 6, 2020). "Charlie Daniels, Fiddling Force in Country and Rock, Dies at 83". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-12-17.
  3. ^ Later releases from Charlie Daniels are credited to "the Charlie Daniels Band" including compilations featuring "Uneasy Rider" but the single and the album were originally credited to "Charlie Daniels."
  4. ^ Otfinoski, Steve, The Golden Age of Novelty Songs, Billboard Books, New York, NY, 2000 p.163
  5. ISBN 0-89820-089-X

External links
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