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| "Uneasy Rider" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byCharlie Daniels | ||||
| from the albumHoney in the Rock | ||||
| B-side | "Funky Junky" | |||
| Released | June 1973 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:18 | |||
| Label | Kama Sutra 576 (U.S. 7" single) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Charlie Daniels | |||
| Producer(s) | Charlie Daniels | |||
| Charlie Daniels singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Uneasy Rider" is a 1973 song written and performed byAmerican singer andmulti-instrumentalistCharlie Daniels.[3] It consists of anarrative spoken over aguitarmelody, and is sometimes considered anovelty song.[4] It was released as asingle and appeared on Daniels'albumHoney in the Rock which is also sometimes known asUneasy Rider.
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Thenarratorprotagonist of "Uneasy Rider" is a long-hairedmarijuana smoker driving aChevrolet with a "peace sign,mag wheels, andfour on the floor." The song is a spoken-word description of an interlude in a trip from a non-specified location in theSouthern United States toLos Angeles, California. When one of the narrator's tires goes flat inJackson, Mississippi, he stops at a "Redneck" bar and calls a gas station to come repair it. He is alone at first, to his relief, but several local residents soon arrive and question his manners, physical appearance, and choice of vehicle. In order to extricate himself from a potential physical altercation, the narrator accuses one man of being a federal agent working undercover to infiltrate theKu Klux Klan, who removesGeorge Wallace bumper stickers, voted forGeorge McGovern, and has aCommunist flag on his garage wall. As the others begin to believe the narrator's story, the man defends himself by saying he has lived in Jackson all of his life, has no garage, is a faithfulBaptist, and adheres tothe teachings of "Brother John Birch". The distraction lasts long enough for the narrator to escape just as his tire is repaired. After chasing the rednecks around with his car for a short time, he speeds away quickly and resumes his journey to Los Angeles; already on a northward track to Arkansas, he decides on the fly to reroute throughOmaha, Nebraska.
The lyrics reflect the cultural divisions in the Southern United States in the early 1970s between thecounterculture of the 1960s and more traditionalSouthern culture. Unlike most country music of the time, Daniels' protagonist is a member of the counterculture.
The song's title, which does not appear in the lyrics, is a play on the title of the 1969 filmEasy Rider, which follows two counterculture motorcyclists on a journey in the opposite direction, from Los Angeles toNew Orleans, Louisiana, culminating in the sudden, violent deaths of the two bikers at the hands of twoshotgun-wielding Southerners.
Daniels' counterculture attitude was consistent with that of others in theoutlaw country music movement but is in contrast to his laterright-wing attitudes expressed in songs such as 1989's "Simple Man".
| Chart (1973) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S.Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks | 67 |
| U.S.Billboard Hot 100[5] | 9 |
| CanadianRPM Country Tracks | 69 |
| CanadianRPM Top Singles | 18 |
| "Uneasy Rider '88" | |
|---|---|
| Single byThe Charlie Daniels Band | |
| from the albumHomesick Heroes | |
| Released | November 1988 |
| Recorded | May 4, 1988 |
| Length | 4:26 |
| Label | Epic |
| Songwriter(s) | Charlie Daniels Tom Crain Taz DiGregorio Charlie Hayward Jack Gavin |
| Producer(s) | James Stroud |
TheCharlie Daniels Band's 1988 albumHomesick Heroes featured the single "Uneasy Rider '88" that was musically and thematically similar to "Uneasy Rider" but with a story set in agay bar inHouston, Texas.
Two Southern men decide to travel toNew Orleans to party, but on the way get pulled over by a police officer for speeding. They decide to stop at the Cloud 9 Bar and Grill inHouston, Texas. The narrator reacts violently to sexual harassment from a cross-dressing customer, which instigates a fight with the locals.
His friend joins in, and learns during the fight that the good-looking gal he had been dancing with was also a crossdresser, much to his disgust. The narrator and his friend struggle to leave the bar amid the fight, get into their vehicle, and speed away—and get pulled over by the same police officer who stopped them earlier. They end up in a county jail where the narrator swears off drinking and partying, and resolving to go "back where the women are women and the men are men."