In 1982, Hank Williams, Jr. released a song called “A Country Boy Can Survive”. Angry, resentful, and proud, it delineated what the musician believed were fundamental differences between people in the country and those in the city. The lyrics describe the city as place where his condescending urban friend is killed by a mugger and the country as more polite and plain-spoken culture of respect and self-reliance.
Mr. Williams’ pride in his his ability to survive in the country and his fear of a violent city resonates. It became an anthem of sorts, the sound track of a time when the interests of the city and the country split and the divide became wider. Today the city and the country are bitterly opposed, socially, economically, and politically. Depending on where you find yourself, the other is the problem.
And yet, something about this doesn’t quite line up for me.
Strictly speaking, I am a “country boy”. I grew up thousands of miles away from any real city. At times the nearest neighbor was miles away. The cacophony of natural silence without cars, trucks, and jet planes could sometimes overwhelm.
But I still lived in the city. Books, movies, and music I consumed all came from the city, as did the cars I drove, the clothes I wore, and the materials to build my home; even the food in local grocery stores was processed and shipped from the city. As I walked through mountain passes or viewed a Technicolor wilderness, my dreams included the city streets both good and bad of London, New York, Paris, and Los Angeles.
As an adult I have lived and worked in cities around the world. In urban areas, I see the same violence I knew in the country, as well as the same kindness and grace. ‘City boys’ can be self-reliant and kind. ‘Country boys’ can be helpless and rude. And vice-versa.
In our dreams we all live in the same city. Different neighborhoods, perhaps, but not far apart…not really.
I am a ‘country boy’. I am a ‘city boy’ too. Any difference between them is an illusion that feeds on anger and fear. My family never really left the city and I never left the wilderness.
Keep chasing lights.
