Coward of the County

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"Coward of the County " is a 1980 song performed by Kenny Rogers, and co-written by Roger Bowling and Billy Ed Wheeler. The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard's Hot Country Singles chart, No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 1 on the UK pop charts.

Contents 1 Song plot 1.1 "Coward of the County": The movie 2 Controversy over the Gatlins 3 Succession 4 References

[edit] Song plot

A story-song, "Coward of the County" tells the story of a young man named Tommy. When Tommy is 10 years old, his father is sentenced to death, probably after a fatal fight. Tommy and his uncle (portrayed by Rogers in the role of narrator) come to see him for the last time, and Tommy's father makes him promise not to fight when provoked if at all possible, and that to "turn the other cheek" is not automatically a sign of weakness. This earns Tommy a reputation as the "Coward of the County" (as the song's title states) as he never stands up for himself.

Tommy is in love with a girl named Becky, who loves him despite his unwillingness to fight. One day, while Tommy is out working, the three "Gatlin boys" — the villains of the piece — attack and presumably rape Becky. When Tommy returns home and finds Becky hurt, he is forced to choose between upholding his promise to his father or avenging the crime that is committed against the love of his life.

In the climax of the story, Tommy goes to the local bar where the Gatlin boys hang out. At first, it appears that Tommy will uphold his promise after being laughed at by the Gatlin boys as he turns towards the door (after "one of them walked up and met him halfway 'cross the floor"). However, he has done so in order to lock it, and there is deathly silence in the bar at the realization of what this implies, before "20 years of crawlin'" ends in an explosive fight that leaves all three Gatlin boys unconscious or worse on the barroom floor. Tommy then addresses the shade of his dead father, saying that while he did his best to avoid trouble, he hopes the dead man's ghost understands that "Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man."

[edit] "Coward of the County": The movie

The song inspired a 1981 television movie of the same name, set in Georgia during World War II. The film starred: Rogers himself as Reverend Matt Spencer (the narrator); Frederick Lehne as his troubled nephew Tommy Spencer; and Largo Woodruff as Becky. The movie added several characters never mentioned in the song, including: Car-Wash (Noble Willingham); Violet (Ann-Alicia); and Lem Gatlin, father of the "Gatlin Boys" (brothers Jimmy, Paul and Luke).

[edit] Controversy over the Gatlins

It has been claimed that the "Gatlin boys" in the song are a reference to The Gatlin Brothers, against whom songwriter Roger Bowling had a bias.^[1]. However, in "The Billboard Book of Number One Country Singles," Rogers stated that he did not realize the connection, and that had he done so, he would have asked for the name to have been changed. Larry Gatlin also gave the song a positive review ("It's a good song").^[2]

The Gatlin Brothers went on to tour as a support act for Rogers on his 1980 tour, and provided backing vocals to his 1984 single, "Buried Treasure."

[edit] Succession

Preceded by "Happy Birthday Darlin'" by Conway Twitty	Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single January 5-January 19, 1980 by Kenny Rogers	Succeeded by "I'll Be Coming Back For More" by T.G. Sheppard
Preceded by "The Special AKA Live!" by The Specials	UK number one single February 10, 1980	Succeeded by "Atomic" by Blondie

[edit] References