About The Song
Charlie Daniels wished he would have rearranged the lyrics from the start. In the original version of โLong Haired Country Boy,โ a cut from the bandโs 1974 album, Fire on the Mountain, he makes reference to getting โstoned in the morningโ and โdrunk in the afternoonโ in the very first verse. With a Christian background, he soon felt the song didnโt quite suit his beliefs.
โI did that very tongue-in-cheek,โ he told Songfacts in 2007 of the original lyrics, โbut things got so serious.โ
It was then 1974, and a hotbed culture of drug use permeated much of rock โn roll culture, as well as that of country music. โAnd things have gotten so serious, and itโs such a big problem with drugs and alcohol with kids, and it just went against my Christian feelings to actually do anything that somebody could construe with being promoting that lifestyle, or those things, the alcohol and drugs,โ he further explained. โAnd yet the song was such a big part of our repertoire and was always just a popular song for us to do.โ
He later began swapping out those drug references with โI get up in the morning / I get down in the afternoon.โ It means โthe same thing,โ he noted. He then actually removed the song from their sets altogether. โI did quit doing it for a while. I just quit doing it at all. People kept wanting it, and I felt I could put it back in, so I changed the line. I wish I had done that to start with.โ
โLong Haired Country Boyโ means much more than a fleeting drug reference. โPreacher man talkinโ on TV / Puttinโ down the rock โn roll / Wants me to send a donation / โCause heโs worried about my soul,โ Daniels remarks on the second verse, referencing the growing claims of rock and roll music as โthe devilโs music.โ
โHe said, โJesus walked on the waterโ / And I know that itโs true,โ he continues. โBut sometimes I think that preacher man / Would like to do a little walkinโ too.โ
The song depicts themes of self-assurance and disregarding outside opinions. โIf you donโt like me, we donโt need to have any trouble, we donโt need to be going upside each otherโs head or anything. Just leave me alone, just walk around me. Maybe you donโt like the way my hair looks,โ he observed of the message, โmaybe you donโt like the way I eat my soup, or whatever it is that you donโt like about me, it doesnโt make any difference to me. I donโt care. If you donโt like me itโs okay.โ
While not inspired by any one experience, Daniels took his emotions at the time and fused it into a plaintive mid-tempo track. โIt was just kind of the way I was feeling at the time. I remember [writing] the song. I sat down, and my wife Hazel was doing something in the kitchen,โ he recalled. โI was sitting there with my guitar, and I started doing this song. I said, โWhat do you think it is?โโ
And the rest is history.
โLong Haired Country Boyโ was initially released as a radio single in 1974. Six years later, it was re-released and became a moderate hit, achieving a No. 27 place finish on Billboardโs Hot Country Songs.
Video
Lyrics
people say i’m no good crazy as a loon
cause i get stoned in the mornin’
i get drunk in the afternoon
kinda like my old blue tick hound i like to lay around in the shade
and i ain’t got no money but i damn sure got it made
cause i ain’t askin nobody for nothing
if i can’t get it on my own
if you don’t like the way i’m livin
you just leave this long haired country boy alone
preacher man on the tv puttin down the rock and roll,
wants me to send a donation cuzz hes worried about my soul
he said Jesus walked on the water, and i know that its true
but sometimes i think that preacher man would like 2 do a little walkin to
cuzz i aint askin nobody for nothin
if i cant get it on my own
if you dont like the way im livin
you just leave this long haired country boy alone
a poor girl wants to marry
and a rich girl wants to flirt
a rich man goes to college
and a poor man goes to work
a drunkard wants another drink of wine
and a polictian wants your vote
i don’t want much of nothing at all but i will take another toke
cause i ain’t askin nobody for nothing
if i can’t get it on my own
if you don’t like the way i’m livin
you just leave this long haired country boy alone