6/13/06 Songwriter Responds to Dixie Chicks 'Lubbock or Leave It' (Pens 'Trouble In The Henhouse')

KCBD TV ^ | 6/13/06

[hispanarepublicana]

6/13/06
Songwriter Responds to Dixie Chicks 'Lubbock or Leave It'
 

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It's no secret the Dixie Chicks have ruffled some tail feathers since their 2003 comment about President Bush. And their latest album 'Taking the Long Way' is targeting Lubbock.

You'll recall some radio stations in Lubbock still aren't playing the chicks or their new song, 'Lubbock or Leave It.' Now one singer, songwriter is putting his reaction to the song to music.

Billy Briggs is a Lubbock native who now lives in the Dallas area. After reading the lyrics to 'Lubbock or Leave It', he joked with his brothers about writing a response song.

He said attacking the president is one thing, but attacking lLubbock is another altogether! That joke turned into about two weeks of late night work, and the result is 'Trouble in the Henhouse.'

It's an up-tempo, high-octane country shuffle with a tongue-in-cheek message - Don't Mess with Lubbock.

Billy Briggs says his song is not an attack on the Dixie Chicks or their political views, rather a response to their song 'Lubbock or Leave It.'

Briggs grew up in Lubbock, attended Monterey High and graduated from Texas Tech. He says he's proud of Lubbock and thinks most people agree. "We just felt like it would be a way for us to say not everybody who grew there are on the same page as the girls on this," Briggs said. 

"There are nine titles actually used throughout the course of the lyrics in my song and that's a mix of Buddy Holly tunes and Dixie Chicks tunes," Briggs said.

"When I read the lyrics to the song it kind of personally effected me because of my feelings of Lubbock and the close ties that we have to the town," Briggs said.

'Trouble in the Henhouse' is being played on 99.5 The Bear here in Lubbock.

The Dixie Chick's album was number one on the Billboard charts after one week of sales.

There have also been rumors through various web sites and radio stations that the chicks have been canceling some of the shows on their new tour. On the Dixie Chicks homepage, it actually says they've added eight new cities to their tour and they have not canceled any shows.

To listen to the entire song (click here).  You can get to Briggs' website by (clicking here).

[Nachum]

I bet Sean Hannity would play it. Someone should send him a link.

[printhead]

That's gotta hurt. Thanks for the post. Freegards!

[Texas Eagle]

Stars Without Makeup

[decal]

A more recent photo at:

http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=157660&nav=menu69_21_1

Geez, HP, Abner Euresti and John Robison are still there, too? They were there when I went to TTU 25 years ago!

[hispanarepublicana]

Good idea. Maybe one of his "good FRiends" will send it.

[hispanarepublicana]

Gee, you're OLD.
Was Uncle Nasty's still open when you were in school? (It wasn't when I went, but I've heard stories). How about The Town Draw? Cold Water? Der Flughaffen?
Well, none of those bars are still there, but Abner and John Robison still are.

[decal]

"Was Uncle Nasty's still open when you were in school?"

Yes, it was, along with the other three you mentioned, and yes, the stories you heard are true.

Fat Dawgs, Pasta's, J. Pat O'Malley's, New West, ah, memories...

[hispanarepublicana]

Cold Water was bulldozed and replaced with a strip shopping center. New West was bulldozed and will be replaced with a freeway. J. Pat's was closed and is now an Italian sub shop.

[F-117A]

Thanks for the post!

[Question Liberal Authority]

The Dixie Chick's album was number one on the Billboard charts after one week of sales.

Oh, the horrors of censorship!

[FairWitness]

Anybody else remember this song by Mac Davis? I think if you read it to the end it turns out to be a "love song" to Lubbock.

Texas In My Rear View Mirror

I was just fifteen and out of control
Lost to James Dean and Rock-n-Roll
I knew down deep in my country soul that I had to get away
And Hollywood was a lady in red
Who danced in my dreams as I tossed in bed
I knew I'd wind up in jail or dead
If I have to stay

I thought happiness was Lubbock Texas in my rear view mirror
My mama kept calling me home but i just did not want to hear her
And the vision was gettin' clearer in my dreams

So I laid out one night in June
Stoned on the glow of the Texas moon
Hummin' an old Buddy Holly tune called Peggy Sue (Peggy Sue)
With my favorite jeans and a cheap guitar
I ran off chasin' a distant star
If Buddy Holly could make it that far
I figured I could too

And I thought happiness was Lubbock Texas in my rear view mirror
My mama kept calling me home but I just did not want to hear her
And the vision was gettin' clearer in my dreams

But the Hollywood moon didn't smile the same old smile that I'd grown up with
The lady in red just wanted my last dime
And I cried myself to sleep at night
To dumb to run to scared to fight
And too proud to admit it at the time

So I got me some gigs on Saturday nights
Not much more than orchestrated fights
I'd come home drunk and I'd tried to write
But the words came out wrong
Hell bent and bound for a wasted youth
Too much gin and not enough vermouth
And no one to teach me how to seek the truth before I put it in a song

And I still thought happiness was Lubbock Texas in a rear view mirror
My mama kept calling me home but I just could not, would not hear her
And the vision was getting clearer in my dreams

Well I thank God each and everyday
For giving me the music and the words to say
I'd have never made it any other way,he was my only friend
And now i sleep a little better at night 
and when I look in the mirror in the mornin' light
The man I see was both wrong and right
And he's going home again

I guess happiness was Lubbock Texas in my rear view mirror
But now happiness is Lubbock Texas growing nearer and dearer
and the vision is gettin' clearer in my dreams
And I think finally I know what it means
And when I die you can bury me in Lubbock Texas in my jeans

[blondee123]

The Dipsy Chicks were just in the Chicago area & a local radio station said they were having trouble selling tickets to their concert! HA HA HA

Plus, radio stations were trying to give away tickets & no one wanted them! HA HA HA!

[fatima]

Love it hispanarepublicana.

[hispanarepublicana]

That song is becoming true for lots of my friends from college who are HATING raising children in Dallas or Houston. They'd give anything to be back.

[TET1968]

Nice Guitar work. Fender Stratocaster?

[FairWitness]

I know what you mean. I often wished I could have raised my kids in the boondocks of northern Wisconsin where I was raised, rather than in the preppy Chicago North Shore suburb where I lived during their school years.

[hispanarepublicana]

I like it because it sounds like the consummate "Lubbock Sound" to me. There just HAD to be a Fender Stratocaster in there.....

[decal]

Ah, yes, progress.

My old dorm on campus isn't even there anymore - there's a complex with the name Carpenter on it, but it ain't the same...

[TET1968]

We used to call that Tex-Mex. Is that a dated term?

[Army Air Corps]

Isn't there a new J Pat's? I have seen a storefront with the name "J Patrick O'Malley's" painted on the window. I am a bit miffed that Flatlanders is kaput. Well, we still have The Strip - our own slice of Vegas glitz.