Here’s a poem I wrote followed by some videos of Country singers performing the songs mentioned:
When They Dared to be Southern
I had dream that felt so real,
That led me somewhere in Mississippi,
Floating on a boat and walking a road
Past antebellum homes, stately and pretty.
An unknown narrator gave me direction,
Leading me from one singer to another,
And I asked them what they thought
About their songs when they were younger.
Kathy Mattea once sang a song,
“My Southern Soldier Boy”
I asked if she’d sing it now,
She said she would if it brought joy.
I went on to meet Johnny Cash,
Who sang, “God Bless Robert E. Lee”
And then sang, “Johnny Yuma,”
Who was a rebel just like me.
Waylon Jennings once sang
“I Am a Rebel Soldier,”
But I wonder if he ever sang it,
When he was much older.
Lady Antebellum,
Became just Lady A,
Dixie Chics, now just Chics,
Watched audiences fade away.
Artists once sang of Dixie and the South,
But now in fear they cower,
Politically correct but historically ignorant,
Allowing their music to lose power.