Any crowd's approving reactions to songs like "Rednecks" (about the moral haughtiness of Northern liberals sung from the standpoint of a Southern racist) or "A Piece of the Pie" (a lazy, pessimistic observation of class inequality in America) are slightly embarrassing.
Being a redneck isn't about looking a certain way or having a particular accent.
True, Ada wrote, June Shannon yells things like "Shake your butt, baby" during her daughter's performances, but concluded that criticism of Alana's mother is more about elitest disdain for a 300-pound self-described "redneck" than real concern about the quality of her parenting.
That's where you and I come in, because Mitchell wrote two songs, among her greatest works, about her "redneck on a Grecian isle": "California" and "Carey".
Should I really be laughing at the gaggle of proto-KKK rednecks complaining about the eye-holes in their hoods (it was a really a funny scene)?
"I think the exchange between Irving Howe and Ralph Ellison is along those lines: Ralph Ellison said something nice about living in the South, and Irving Howe said, 'Why would you want to live in such an evil place?' Because all he was thinking about was rednecks.
"Me and my brothers used to go around here carrying big sticks, like in 'Walking Tall,' " he said, referring to the 1973 redneck action flick about a Southern sheriff who carried a baseball bat.
We learn about "Redneck durian," an uncommon devotion to chicken livers and how to most properly use the word "grubbin'".
That job was so disturbing when I look back on it; a bunch of redneck dudes talking about pussy 24/7 and then ganging up on the few chicks that worked there pretending like they were these huge sluts.
Redneck life is about being prepared and capable for what comes at you, not looking any particular way.
