Thank You Willie Nelson

For those of you who missed it, on Valentine's Day Willie Nelson released a new single as an "itunes exclusive." The single, titled "Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other," is a ballad to "queer" cowboys (his word, not mine) that I never thought I'd hear, and certainly not sung on the airwaves by Willie Nelson. It's actually a great story -- apparently the man who wrote the song, Ned Sublette, had always imagined Willie Nelson singing it -- and word is Willie's been singing it privately for years, but didn't think that it was ready for prime time (or, more accurately, didn't think that prime time was ready for it!). But now, with Brokeback Mountain, gay cowboys are all the rage, so ... well, WHY NOT?! The chorus -- which even my 12-year-old very hip son agreed was "catchy" -- goes "Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other / What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?" And a friend who lives in Tennessee tells me it's tearing up the airwaves there -- both as music and as fodder for the talk radio crowd. (For an article from the Dallas Morning News about the song, go to http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/ent/columnists/mtarradell/stories/DN-cowboysong_0214gl.ART.State.Edition2.e368707.html.) So kudos to Willie Nelson. I hope I'm still breaking new ground and making big such waves when I'm his age!