Country icon Willie Nelson sings gay cowboy song

Wed Feb 15, 2006 12:21 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It turns out the makers of "Brokeback Mountain" are not the only ones who think "Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other" -- country music icon Willie Nelson has recorded a song with that title.
With lyrics like "What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?" the song may raise the hackles of those who see cowboys as the iconic American heterosexual male.
The song was written more than 20 years ago by songwriter Ned Sublette but was largely unknown until Nelson, who contributed a song to the "Brokeback Mountain" soundtrack, decided to release it this week for download on iTunes.
"The song's been in the closet for 20 years," Nelson said in a statement. "The timing's right for it to come out."
Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain," the story of two ranch hands in Wyoming who fall in love, has won a string of awards and is a front-runner for the best film Oscar next month.
Nelson, whose hits include "Always on My Mind" and "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys," sings in the new song: "A small town don't like it when a cowboy has feelings for men," and "I believe to my soul that inside every man there's the feminine."
Another verse goes as follows: "The cowboy may brag about things that he's done with his woman. But the ones who brag loudest are the ones who are most likely queer."
The Dallas Morning News said the song had a personal connection for Nelson because his longtime tour manager, David Anderson, revealed his homosexuality to Nelson two years ago.
source: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=musicNews&storyID=2006-02-15T172018Z_01_N15209036_RTRIDST_0_MUSIC-LEISURE-COWBOYS-DC.XML
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Willie Nelson's Gay Cowboy

February 14, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET

(Nashville, Tennessee) Willie Nelson is strummin' the love of gay cowboys in his newest recording. The country music star on Tuesday released "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond Of Each Other)".
The song debuted on Howard Stern's satellite radio show.
“There’s many a strange impulse out on the plains of West Texas,” Nelson sings.
“There’s many a young boy who feels things he don’t comprehend. Well, the small town don’t like it when somebody falls between sexes. No, the small town don’t like it when a cowboy has feelings for men.”
"Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond Of Each Other)" isn't available in record stores, but it can be downloaded as an MP3 from Apple’s iTunes music Web site.
Whether it will get airplay on the nation's country stations remains to be seen. Frequently the stations have shied away from controversial songs - even by singers of the caliber of Nelson.
iTunes says a video for the song should be available in the spring. Last weekend about two dozen dancers turned out at Dallas' gay cowboy bar, the Round Up Saloon, to shoot the video.
"Since everyone is talking about the acclaimed film Brokeback Mountain and its Academy Award nominations, Valentine's Day seemed like the right time to let [the song] be heard," Nelson's publicist said.
Nelson also contributed a song to the soundtrack of the film with his rendition of "He Was A Friend Of Mine".
But "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond Of Each Other)" actually predates the movie. It was written in 1981 by Texas-born, NYC resident musician/songwriter Ned Sublette.
Sublette, 54, says the song is based on his own experiences growing up in the small town of Portales, N.M. He says he gave Nelson a cassette of the song and "Willie took if from there".
The song was originally recorded by the gay group Pansy Division in 1995 for their album Pileup.

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