Muskogee to Olema
Derek Homsberg
smoke marijuana in
Muskogee," he stopped. He made some sort of explanation/apology. Never did
sing the song. I explained to my friend that he would have been booed if
he'd sung all the lyrics. At least I would have booed, or I would have
yelled out something about Hippies from Olema. It's ironic that Dylan and
Haggard are sharing the stage because back in the day, Haggard stood for
everything that Dylan (or at least his audience) hated. Anyway,
reconciliation is a good thing. Earlier in the show, Haggard sang a song
that seemed to be anti-Iraq war. Below are the lyrics
to Okie from Muskogee and Hippie from Olema.
OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE
Merle Haggard
We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee
We don't take no trips on LSD
We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street
We like living right and being free.
We don't make a party out of loving
But we like holding hands and pitching woo.
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy
Like the hippies out in san francisco do.
And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave old glory down at the courthouse
And white lightning's still the biggest thrill of all.
Boots are still in style manly footwear,
Beads and roman sandals won't be seen.
Football's still the roughest thing on the campus
And the kids there still respect the college dean.
And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee
I swear even squares can have a ball.
We still wave old glory down at the courthouse
And white lightning's still the biggest thrill of all,
And white lightning's still the biggest thrill of all.
HIPPIE FROM OLEMA
by Jesse Colin Young
Well I'm proud to be a hippie from Olema
Where we're friendly to squares and all the straights
We still take in strangers if they're ragged [but see last verse below]
We can't think of anyone to hate
We don't watch commercials in Olema
And we don't buy the plastic crap they sell
We still wear our hair long like folks used to
And we bathe often therefore we don't smell
And I'm proud to be a hippie from Olema
Where we're friendly to squares and all the straights
We still take in strangers if they're ragged
We can't think of anyone to to hate
We don't throw our beer cans on the highway
We don't slight a man because he's black
We don't spill our oil out in the ocean
'Cause we love birds and fish too much for that
And I'm proud to be a hippie from Olema
Where we're friendly to squares and all the straights
We still take in strangers if they're haggard
In Olema, California, Planet Earth
Joe
> by Jesse Colin Young
Jesse didn't write that. It was by Banana (Lowell Levinger), who also
played with the Youngbloods.
Banana has recently been playing in a bluegrass band - The Papermill Creek
Rounders - along with David Nelson, as they sing Hippie From Olema.
You'll be able to hear Banana sing it when the Rounders play for free
on 4/13 at Iron Springs Brewery, in Fairfax, California.
Off-hand, I'd guess that Fairfax is 13 miles east of Olema. And, it still
gets a big laugh from the hometown crowd.
Joe
Derek Homsberg
I knew that if I wrote that someone would correct me! Thanks. I saw the
Youngbloods many times back in the 60s and I remember Banana. I saw the
Youngbloods once at the Avalon Ballroom on the same bill with Sparrow, which
became Steppenwolf. Once at the park across from the Berkeley Community
Theater. Once or twice at Golden Gate Park. I just wore out Earth Music.
I saw Jesse at McCabes in LA a few months ago. He lives in Hawaii now.
Unfortunately, that wonderful voice is no more. It's painful to listen to
him now, but he still knows how to rock!
I could not find Hippie from Olema lyrics anywhere on the net, so I
transcribed it myself off of a CDR of mp3s that someone sent me awhile ago.
Joe
> I saw Jesse at McCabes in LA a few months ago. He lives in Hawaii now.
> Unfortunately, that wonderful voice is no more. It's painful to listen to
> him now, but he still knows how to rock!
I've been a fan of Jesse Colin Young since his first solo acoustic "Soul
of a City Boy" album, and I think Jesse's voice is just beautiful. Still.
I live in Marin, and have been seeing him (and Banana) play for decades.
Since moving to Hawaii after the Mt Vision fire in 1996, he comes back
here about once a year, and I've seen most of those local gigs, and have
no idea what you're refering to, regards his voice. It's not shot. But,
sadly, Dylan's is. Maybe you caught him at the end of a tour? Or, he had a
cold that night?
I'm also a big fan of the David Nelson Band (www.nelsonband.com), and
with Nelson playing these days with Banana, that's how come I've heard
Hippie From Olema, live, recently. And, living right down the road from
there, I'm laughing just thinking of the song. It's still like that here.
I don't have any Youngbloods to trade. Do you? Or, Jesse solo? If so, I
got plenty, including lots of Dylan DVDs. I'm jo...@foxvalley.net
Joe
Mr. Rick
I hit a few homers off woo.
jessk...@lyc0s.c0m
> Haggard at one point began to sing Okie from Muskogee, but after "We don't
> smoke marijuana in
> Muskogee," he stopped. He made some sort of explanation/apology. Never did
> sing the song. I explained to my friend that he would have been booed if
> he'd sung all the lyrics.
I have a copy of a show Merle did in Los Vegas not too many years ago
where, after a heckler yells it, he has the band and audience sing the
line "WHY NOT?!" after every line in "Muskogee", as in:
> We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee
WHY NOT?
> We don't take no trips on LSD
WHY NOT?
> We don't burn our draft cards down on Main Street
WHY NOT?
> We like living right and being free.
I think Merle's always had a strange love/hate relationship with this
song, which (according to legend) came from a line someone yelled out on
his tour bus when a joint was being passed around and someone looked out
the window at the "Welcome" sign and yelled out "Hey, we don't smoke
marijuana in Muskogee...".
I always like Phil Ochs' rather straight take on it from his Carnegie
Hall album...
Harry
respect old Jimmy Dean".It was on PBS not too long before "Blue Eyes
Cryin' in the Rain",around the time of "Shotgun Willie".