The Highwaymen Loved America So Much, They Weren’t Afraid to Criticize It

A video of the Highwaymen appearing on a talk show in 1991 has been making the rounds on social media since the election, not because of any song they sang, but because of what they said. At least three members of the country supergroup talked shit about the good ol’ U.S.A., courageously pointing out, in the words of Willie Nelson, that “There’s a lot of things wrong with this country.”

That Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson — the fourth Highwayman, Waylon Jennings, didn’t weigh in — dared to criticize America during an interview on a foreign country’s TV program makes it all the more remarkable. Twelve years later, the Chicks would be blackballed for arguably less.

To promote a May 1991 tour of New Zealand and Australia, the Highwaymen sat for a satellite interview in Norman, Oklahoma, to be broadcast on Holmes, a New Zealand talk show hosted by personality Paul Holmes. “For country music fans, these four are giants. Some might argue they are country music,” Holmes said in his introduction, before going on to grill the Highwaymen about their popularity as a group vs. solo artists (“If you ask another question like that, we’ll burn your home,” Jennings half-joked), their reputation as “survivors,” and their picks for the best country song ever written. (Nelson chose Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”)

But it was Holmes’ query about the state of America and what they thought, if anything, might be “ailing it” that elicited the most passionate response, especially from fierce activist Kristofferson, who trounced on the then-current George H.W. Bush administration.

“Other than the fact that it reminds me a lot of the flag-waving and choreographed patriotism that we had back in Nazi Germany,” he growled, “[and] a lapdog media that’s cranking out propaganda for the administration that would make a Nazi blush — other than that, we’re doing pretty good.” (Kristofferson’s sarcastic delivery was very much in the vein of asking, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”)

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Cash, while not as fired up as Kristofferson, was no less potent in his answer, lamenting how much of the budget is dedicated to the war machine over social causes. “If you ask me, one of the illnesses is that there’s too much money being spent on military and there should be more spent on education, welfare, the children, and the elderly,” he said.

“There’s always been a lot of things wrong with the country,” Cash continued, “but it’s always been our obligation and opportunity to help straighten those things out. I love America.”

As the first convicted felon to take the oath of office enters the White House and the false “patriotism” that Kristofferson lambasted back in 1991 continues to be used as a cudgel, it’s difficult to imagine few country music artists of today giving such pointed, honest answers. Instead, they wave the flag, sing at the inaugural balls, and choose to look the other way — far away from those three chords and some truth.