Listening post: 'Way Out Here'

I heard Josh Thompson's ballad on the radio yesterday and can't quite get it out of my head. Here's the music video.



Clearly, "Way Out Here" occupies the same musical-cultural niche as "Country Boy Can Survive." For me, it brings up feelings similar to those evoked when I hear "Close to the Land" and "This is My Home."

Thompson's refrain, "John Wayne, Johnny Cash and John Deere" is bound to resonate with certain Americans, but (like racing stock cars or pickin' punkins) those images are easily romanticized.

I contend that these lines are a better measure of a listener's roots:

The dogs run loose.
We smoke, we chew.
We fry everything.

If that makes you smile, you get it.