I've come up with a groundbreaking concept to save songwriters valuable space in their "how country I am" songs for more redneck imagery. Instead of mentioning Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Merle (does he even have a last name?) and that other guy individually by name, one can simply say "The Highwaymen." I just learned of this 80's and 90's supergroup/time-saving-wonder recently. This is unfortunate because it would have left more room in my earlier rural anthems for extra lines about bench seats and loving America. From this point forward, "The Highwaymen" will be the standard for namedropping. You're welcome, underlings. Now excuse me while I whip this thing out.*Not actually written by John Rich.
Not sure this is a good idea. A lot of people remember Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, but do many people really care about "the Highwaymen?" They had one good album - the first one, with "Highwayman" on it - , but then the others kinda sucked. Plus I thought it was Kris Kristoferson and not Merle (Haggard, Travis or whatever) who was in that group. Normally, I admire John Rich and his songwriting tips because they offer good ways to dumb your writing down enough so that the typical moron who listens to country music can understand. Lets face it - country music is music for dumb people - and I admit I admire "John Rich" for embracing this fact and not trying to pretend that country is anything other than what it is. But in this case I think the "highwayman" reference is too obscure for the airheads and jesus nuts that like country music.
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