The Cross and the Jukebox: Good Ole Boys Like Me
— Friday, February 4th, 2011 —
Many people think “good ole boy” is an insult. Pundits on television denounce the “good ole boy system” in the United States Congress. A gossip in your workplace might say another employee is “just a good ole boy,” meaning a buffoon. But in a southern rural context, “good ole boy” means none of those things. It typically means a salt-of-the-earth man who’s trying to do right by his family, his work, and his community.
On this week’s episode of “The Cross and the Jukebox,” I take a look at this idea in light of the Christian gospel as we listen to Don Williams’s classic old song “Good Ole Boys Like Me.”
I think at the root of Williams’s song is both an appreciation and a fear of southern folk religion, a folk religion that is Christ-haunted but not quite Christian. As Walker Percy put it, in his monumental work Signposts in a Strange Land, the religion of the South is more Stoic than Christian. Percy noted how “curiously foreign” the Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, the doctrine of the Body of Christ sound to the southern culture he knew.
“The South’s virtues were the broadsword virtues of the clan as were her vices, too—the hubris of noblesse gone arrogant,” Percy wrote. “The Southern gentleman did live in a Christian edifice, but he lived there in the strange fashion Chesterton spoke of, that of a man who will neither go inside nor put it entirely behind him but stands forever grumbling on the porch.”
Listen to “Good Ole Boys” and then join me for a discussion of why it’s so hard, for all of us, to see past our Stoicism to the gospel that addresses sinners like those Williams Boys (Hank and Tennessee) and us.
I was driving home yesterday thinking about The Cross and the Jukebox, and wondering when/if you will do a Don Williams song. His music was a big part of my childhood and young adulthood. Thanks.
When you first started this series I wondered if you would cover this song. So glad I didn’t have to make a request! Thank you again for a digging so deeply into these topics and giving my dad and I so much to discuss.
How about Alan Jackson’s Where I Come From?
I find “Good Ole Boys Like Me” to be the saddest of songs. The author longs for the days of his youth when hope and certainty were present. As a boy he was comforted by being “washed in the blood”. Unfortunately the hope of Christianity never materialized in his adult life. This is the despair you hear in the music. A son of the South taught himself to “talk like the man on the six o’clock news”. He even moved away and made it big. Yet in the midst of success he longs for the days of childhood where hope was a part of his life. The question “What do you do with a good ole boy like me?” is a powerful one. What hope is there for him? He tried Jesus and Jesus didn’t work. This is the kind of cultural Christianity 2 Timothy 3:5 warned us about (”having a form of godliness but denying its power.”). This verse describes the South, both yesterday and today, as well as many so called pastors, leaders, and believers. Their faith is indeed stoic, even deistic. Faith is a mere moral philosophy. A transforming relationship with Christ is simply language they use rather than words they embody. This song is built upon the worst kind of despair! He speaks of a Christ able to bring hope to a child but powerless to save a grown man. So what does one do for a good ole boy beyond the saving power of Christ? You preach the living Gospel boldly to him in hopes of shocking his soul with the Truth. The Christ of the Bible is able to save all men. Cultural Christianity’s christ only brings smiles to children.
I’ll admit that I never heard of this song before, and when I read the blog title I was thinking, instinctively, that this was possibly the theme song from the “Dukes of Hazzard” (I’ve grown up with a very homogenized view of the south, as you can tell.)
But after hearing the broadcast I found the song to be rich with imagery and message, and I really appreciate the unraveling of the story behind this song. Something I think that could have made an interesting addition, in terms of a person’s roots, would have been to tie in the theme of adoption, particularly Abraham drawn out of his Ur roots by God and adopted as the father of Israel.
My brother suggested both “The Cross and the Jukebox” and your “Moore to the Point” preaching. I am glad he did and have been enjoying them both. With the popularity of “The Cross and the Jukebox” you will need to add a separate suggestions section. I would leave to hear you go through Woody Gutheries “Jesus Christ” or anything by Alfred Karnes.
Thanks for the great messages and making them a pleasure to listen too.
Don Williams always struck me as a very laid-back, likeable and unoffensive sort of guy. Having listened to these lyrics closer than I ever have before, however, it makes me realize that there’s a lot of content to them that many folks probably never comprehended when this was a top single. It’s actually a very sad song, even resigned and fatalistic. But it’s intelligent and reflective, far beyond the stereotypical country song. It actually applies to people beyond the South, as Midwesterners share some of the same traits that Dr. Moore talked about. But admittedly, as I heard Dr. Moore speak, I could not help but realize that I know little or nothing about the true South. There may be ways that it’s altogether different than what I grew up with. What I do see in common is an escape from the rural North - beautiful but also severely limited in some ways, including employment, culture, and comprehension of the Christian faith.
I stumbled on this site searching on google “the meaning of the lyrics to Good Old Boys Like Me.” I discovered country music in the late seventies. As a northerner this song really had a big impact on me. I really enjoyed your lecture on this. One thing you might realize is The Good Old Boy isn’t Don Williams at all he jus delivered the message. Bob McDill is the writer of this song. He has written countless hits but this one was always my favorite no other county song has had quite the impact that Good Old Boys Like Me has had.