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Willie Nelson Salutes the Gay Cowboy

To all the girls he's loved before, Willie Nelson is singing a different tune this Valentine's Day. Appearing on Howard Stern's new radio show on Sirius, the country music icon premiered his take on Ned Sublette's song "Cowboys Are Secretly, Frequently (Fond of Each Other)." Sublette wrote the tune in 1981, and has said he always imagined Nelson taking the vocal reins.

"The song's been in the closet for 20 years," said a statement issued by Nelson. Nelson's longtime tour manager, David Anderson, had also been in the closet -- at least around Nelson -- until two years ago. Since Anderson's revelation, Nelson has put a song on the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack ("He Was a Friend of Mine") and has now released a more direct ode to the gay cowboy. Nelson first recorded the track during an iTunes Originals session at his home studio last year.

The song features lyrics that would doubtlessly blanch a few conservatives in Nelson's audience, such as "Inside every cowboy, there's a lady who'd love to slip out." Just as Nelson was drawn to the Brokeback phenomenon, Sublette, the songwriter, was also influenced by a much-discussed film of the time: Urban Cowboy.

Adding to the buzz around the song -- at least for fans of Super Troopers and Club Dread -- was the announcement that a video for "Cowboys" would be created by the Broken Lizard comedy team, the folks responsible for the two aforementioned pieces of cinema.

-- The ARTISTdirect Staff
02.15.06