B-side Weatherman Format Single Length 4:16 | Released January 18, 1982 Recorded 1981 | |
Genre Country, Outlaw Country | ||
"A Country Boy Can Survive" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Hank Williams Jr. The song was released as a single in January 1982 and reached a peak of number 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles charts in March 1982. It is considered one of Williams' signature songs even though it never reached number one.
Contents
Shortly after 9/11, Williams re-wrote and re-recorded the song with a patriotic theme under the name "America Will Survive"; the rewrite peaked at number 45 on the Billboard country charts.
In early 2007, Williams re-released the original version to commend the 25th anniversary of its original release, in addition to creating a music video for it. This re-release peaked at number 45 on the Billboard country charts.
Content
The song exalts and lists many things that detail the everyday life of country dwellers.
The notable second verse mentions the narrator's relationship with a New York City businessman; despite their differing backgrounds the two become good friends and exchange gifts ("he'd send me pictures of the Broadway nights/And I'd send him some homemade wine"). However, the businessman is "killed by a man with a switchblade knife/for $43 my friend lost his life"; Williams replies that he would like to personally kill the mugger himself, but not before "(spitting) Beech-Nut in that dude's eyes". (The "America Will Survive" remix has the businessman being a victim of the 9/11 attacks.)
Chad Brock version (Y2K version)
In late 1999, Chad Brock and George Jones collaborated with Williams to record a re-written version of the song with a Y2K theme, with lines such as "If the bank machines crash, we'll be just fine." This version peaked at number 30 on the Billboard country charts, and number 75 on the Billboard Hot 100.