Rural Faggot

A portion of the song can be listened to online here:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.indigogirls.com/media/images/discographyandlyrics/otherrecordings/250prom.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.indigogirls.com/discographyandlyrics/otherrecordings/prom.html&h=250&w=250&sz=43&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=K9TTYct1ZoNUQM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Damy%2Bray%2Brural%2Bfaggot%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN


There are times in life when you hear a song and are instantly captivated, because it speaks to a part of your heart and soul, that's the way I instantly felt about Amy Ray's Rural Faggot which is included on her solo album "Prom." The song which describes the reality of living in a rural area and watching the coming of age of young gay men within the horrors of extreme homophobia speaks to me on many levels, most literally it reminds me of my own experiences of high school in semi-rural Oregon, and what it meant to be a dyke, and even more specifically what it meant for my gay male friends. Listening to this song takes me back to all those scary, dangerous, and haunting memories of a place, where gay bashing is seen as fun, and a game, but it takes me somewhere beautiful. There is something about the country that is truly captivating, and this song brings me back to that place and all the things I loved about it despite the danger and hate. Rural Faggot is a powerful mediated text because of the way it embodies the coming of age narratives of a young rural gay man, a story rarely told within the media which so frequently shapes queerness as a urban phenomenon.

Lyrics:
AMY RAY
Rural Faggot

You ride your John Deere down to the pond
Just to watch me struggle along.
You say you got your daddy's seed in you
And you think you're bored with anything there is to do with me.

You wipe your hands across your bare chest
And rub your fingers through your crew cut hair.
“Expelled from school,” you tell me with a grin,
“I copped a feel from an ex-girlfriend.”

I know you want to break the rules-
We were made by nature's fools.
And so you ride all day long, all by yourself,
‘Til you feel strong-

Strong enough to stay
Strong enough to be
Standing in the way
Of everything I see.

You wanna know why I had to go
Down to the baseball park to see you blow it.
All the balls just fall from your hands,
And your daddy asks me, When is he gonna be a man?”

I know you want to change the truth-
We were made by nature's fools.
So you ride all night long
With your boys in those muscle cars.
And you go down to the city
And laugh at the faggots
Until the girls look pretty and until you feel strong-

Strong enough to stay
Strong enough to be
Standing in the way
Of everything that you could see.

I'm just a magnet for the rural faggots.
They come and knock on my door
Just to find they're running out of time
To figure out what they come here for.

I know you want to know the truth
And I'm the dyke who will give it to you.
By this time next year
you'll know you're queer
It'll all be okay
It'll all be clear
And you'll run away from home
But not to be alone
And you'll go down to the city
Where the boys are pretty

And where you feel strong
Strong enough to stay
Strong enough to be
A country boy who's gay.