2025 Competition Entry:
Hillbilly Lament by Lisa Selle
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Genre
Country
Artist
Co-writer(s)
no
Performer(s)
Lisa Selle
Two studio musicians (drum set and banjo) at The Spot Studios in Evergreen, Colorado
Two studio musicians (drum set and banjo) at The Spot Studios in Evergreen, Colorado
Description
The first two verses of this song came from a family reunion and a late-night talk around the campfire. My cousin, my kids, and I learned a few things that we didn’t know about my uncle! Uncle Jimmy is what you’d call “rough around the edges”. It made me think about how funny and sometimes embarrassing family can be, but that we love each other anyway, we can still learn from one another, and we actually push each other toward tolerance. Politically, we are opposites. But I can still appreciate and accept my uncle, despite our differences. Plus, he’s hilarious — he can spin a good yarn and turn a funny phrase.
Bio
Lisa Selle is a Denver-based singer/songwriter who comes from a Colorado prairie small town. She is also a high school English teacher, a mom, a reader of books, a gardener, and a little bit of a hippie. Lisa plays regularly around south Denver, where fans enjoy unexpected mash-ups, unlikely acoustic covers (for a middle-aged white lady), as well as originals. Her musical style is best described as acoustic organic Americana.
Lyrics
“Hillbilly Lament” by Lisa Selle
May I speak on behalf of all the world’s hillbillies?
It’s possible I have a certain level of expertise
‘Cause the number of my relatives who’ve been shot with a gun
Well, let’s just say it’s more than one.
When you’re sitting round a campfire and your uncle says to you,
“I shouldn’t tell you kids this, but here’s the truth:
Back when I was a stripper ‘Black Velvet’ was my song
I used to look pretty good in my red thong
And all I had to do to get the women was to snap,
Now I can’t even get the cat to sit on my lap.”
Lay-de-yodel-ay all the money’s been spent
There’s no such thing as a hillbilly lament
Lay-de-yodel-oo all the stories are true
No such thing as a white trash taboo
Lay-de-yodel-ee, repeat after me
Y’all come down for the redneck jubilee
Lay-de-yodel-oo, between me and you
A life well-lived is a rodeo rendezvous
If I had a nickel for every time I heard him say,
“I’d really like to give that a shot someday.”
I’d put ‘em all in a bucket, and I’d skip around the town
Flickin’ ‘em at the church girls’ pretty gowns.
CHORUS
[Yodel interlude]
The thing about sayin’ you’re up for anything
And being open to whatever life may bring
Well, anything means everyone and y’all means all
Nothin’ great about building a wall
CHORUS
A life well-lived is a rodeo rendezvous
Yeah, life well-lived is hot and cold
Life is in the stories we’ve told
Life well-lived is sweet and sour
Life is in the midnight hour
Life will leave you black and blue
But a life well-lived is a rodeo rendezvous
May I speak on behalf of all the world’s hillbillies?
It’s possible I have a certain level of expertise
‘Cause the number of my relatives who’ve been shot with a gun
Well, let’s just say it’s more than one.
When you’re sitting round a campfire and your uncle says to you,
“I shouldn’t tell you kids this, but here’s the truth:
Back when I was a stripper ‘Black Velvet’ was my song
I used to look pretty good in my red thong
And all I had to do to get the women was to snap,
Now I can’t even get the cat to sit on my lap.”
Lay-de-yodel-ay all the money’s been spent
There’s no such thing as a hillbilly lament
Lay-de-yodel-oo all the stories are true
No such thing as a white trash taboo
Lay-de-yodel-ee, repeat after me
Y’all come down for the redneck jubilee
Lay-de-yodel-oo, between me and you
A life well-lived is a rodeo rendezvous
If I had a nickel for every time I heard him say,
“I’d really like to give that a shot someday.”
I’d put ‘em all in a bucket, and I’d skip around the town
Flickin’ ‘em at the church girls’ pretty gowns.
CHORUS
[Yodel interlude]
The thing about sayin’ you’re up for anything
And being open to whatever life may bring
Well, anything means everyone and y’all means all
Nothin’ great about building a wall
CHORUS
A life well-lived is a rodeo rendezvous
Yeah, life well-lived is hot and cold
Life is in the stories we’ve told
Life well-lived is sweet and sour
Life is in the midnight hour
Life will leave you black and blue
But a life well-lived is a rodeo rendezvous
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