Willie Nelson has generally stood behind progressive, populist causes and is someone most people can agree on when it comes to music, country fans or not. Except for that song with the jingoistic Toby Keith, I can’t fault him for much. True to his “outlaw” moniker, he released a song on Valentines Day on the iTunes music store, going against the grain of country music.

The song was written in 1981 by songwriter Ned Sublette. The release of Brokeback Mountain provided the perfect opportunity to release it. A clip can be found here.

Lyrics:
“There’s many a strange impulse out on the plains of West Texas;
There’s many a young boy who feels things he can’t comprehend.
Well a small town don’t like it when somebody falls between sexes,
No, small town don’t like it when a cowboy has feelings for men.

Well I believe in my soul that inside every man there’s the feminine,
And inside every lady there’s a deep manly voice loud and clear.
Well, a cowboy may brag about things that he’s done with his women,
But the ones who brag loudest are the ones that are most likely queer.

Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other,
Say, what do you think all them saddles and boots was about?
And there’s many a cowboy who don’t understand
the way that he feels for his brother,
And inside every cowboy there’s a lady that’d love to slip out.

And there’s always somebody who says what the others just whisper,
And mostly that someone’s the first one to get shot down dead.
So when you talk to a cowboy don’t treat him like he was a sister,
You can’t fuck with the lady that’s sleepin’ in each cowboy’s head.

Cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other,
What did you think all them saddles and boots was about?
And there’s many a cowboy who don’t understand
the way that he feels for his brother,
Inside every lady there’s a cowboy that wants to slip out. And inside
every cowboy there’s a lady that’d love to slip out.”

How do you like that one, conservative country-music fans?