The silliest song ever written

It's funny every time I hear it.

For the lyrics, click here

The performer whose version of this song is sung on this video is David Allan Coe, a singer who is known for a lot of, shall we say, less-than-family friendly songs (even the titles to many of his tunes could not be shown on television or said on the radio - even in this day and age). But at least we have to give him this much - he reformed himself after being released from prison, and made a life for himself as a performer - all based on self-promotion, gratuitous name dropping, some real flashes of brilliance and genuine musicality, humor, and the creation of a mysterious persona.

His built-in account of how the song was written is (like many of Coe's lyrics) a concocted story. But in fairness, he made the song a hit, and his version is probably the funniest.

But if you'd like to see and hear the song's author, the late Steve Goodman, perform it as he originally wrote it (which he indeed wrote as the definitive spoof of country music), click here.

Goodman, in spite of this utterly silly parody song, also wrote beautiful haunting ballads that really capture American life. My good buddy Fr. David Juhl considers Goodman's melancholy train song The City of New Orleans (famously sung by Arlo Guthrie) to be one of the greatest something or others. I can't pull up the quote because Juhl's blog doesn't have a search thingie. Oh well, suffice it to say, Steve Goodman was a brilliant songwriter and poet who, as is evidenced by this uproariously funny piece of satire, did not take himself too seriously.

Anyway, once this song gets in your head... well, y'all have been warned.