I have no idea why I was forced to listen to this song this weekend but my ears were raped by these twisted lyrics sung by Kenny Rogers.
Everyone considered him the coward of the county.
He’d never stood one single time to prove the county wrong.
His mama named him Tommy, the folks just called him Yellow,
But something always told me they were readin’ Tommy wrong.He was only ten years old when his daddy died in prison.
I looked after Tommy cause he was my brothers son.
I still recall the final words my brother said to Tommy:
Son, my life is over, but yours is just begun.Promise me, son, not to do the things I’ve done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
It won’t mean you’re weak if you turn the other cheek.
I hope youre old enough to understand:
Son, you don’t have to fight to be a man.There’s someone for everyone and Tommy’s love was Becky.
In her arms he didn’t have to prove he was a man.
One day while he was workin the Gatlin boys came callin’.
They took turns at Becky…. there was three of them!Tommy opened up the door and saw his Becky cryin’.
The torn dress, the shattered look was more than he could stand.
He reached above the fireplace and took down his Daddy’s picture.
As his tears fell on his Daddy’s face, he heard these words again:Promise me, son, not to do the things I’ve done.
Walk away from trouble if you can.
It won’t mean you’re weak if you turn the other cheek.
I hope youre old enough to understand:
Son, you don’t have to fight to be a man.The Gatlin boys just laughed at him when he walked into the barroom.
One of them got up and met him halfway cross the floor.
When tommy turned around they said, “Hey look! Ole Yellows leavin’.”
But you coulda heard a pin drop when Tommy stopped and blocked the door.Twenty years of crawlin’ was bottled up inside him.
He wasn’t holdin’ nothin’ back; he let em have it all.
When Tommy left the barroom not a Gatlin boy was standin.
He said, this ones for Becky, as he watched the last one fall.
And I heard him say,“I promised you, dad, not to do the things you done.
I walk away from trouble when I can.
Now please dont think I’m weak, I didn’t turn the other cheek,
And Papa, I sure hope you understand:
Sometimes you gotta fight when you’re a man.Everyone considered him the coward of the county.
Someone had the bright idea to make this song into a movie. Here’s a direct quote from imdb.com, “Plot Outline: A life-long yellow-belly who made a deathbed promise to his father to be a pacifist seeks bloody revenge on the men who gang raped his wife.”
Nothing like an uplifting “gang-rape” song. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the moral of the story.
What the fuck is Kenny Rogers trying to tell us?
If anyone does have an answer, please leave a comment.
