buford pusser...

on august 12, 1967, in McNairy County TN, Sheriff Buford Pusser, of "Walking Tall" fame, and his wife, Pauline, were ambushed while driving...his wife was killed, and Buford had his jaw shot off. those who comitted the crime were never caught.

i thought i'd post the lyrics to a song by one of my favorite bands, the Drive-By Truckers. it is a song about Buford Pusser, kind of told from the perspective of someone on the OTHER side of the law. this band really kicks some serious ASS, and i got to see them in-person last week in Cincinnati...it was awesome. anyways, here are the lyrics:

Artist/Band: Drive-By Truckers
Lyrics for Song: The Buford Stick
Lyrics for Album: The Dirty South

Now Sheriff Buford Pusser's gotten too big for his britches
With his book reviews and movie deals
Down at the car lot making public appearances
For breaking up our homes and stills
I know he likes to brag how he wrestled a bear
But I knew him from the funeral home
Ask him for a warrant, he'll say "I keep it in my shoe"
That son of a bitch has got to go
That son of a bitch has got to go

Now they lined up around the block to see that movie
And crying for his ambushed wife
Marveling about about shot eight times and stabbed seven
Some folks can't take a hint
They say he didn't take no crap from the State Line Gang
What the hell they talking bout?
I'm just a hard workingman with a family to feed
And he made my daughter cry
Said he made my daughter cry

"Watch out for Buford!" is what they keep on telling me
But to me he's just another crooked lawman up in Tennessee
He gets a new hot car to keep us on our toes
And that ridiculous stick where the press corp. goes
And some big time Hollywood actors playing him on the big screen

"Watch out for Buford! He's shutting down our stills and whores"
But it ain't like he's all that different from what was there before
It wouldn't take my man long to do the job
Just a partially sawed through steering rod
And I wouldn't have to worry about the good Sheriff anymore
Now the funeral's got'em lined up for twenty blocks
No one liked that SOB when he's alive
But the ruckus he began keeps a spreadin' like a wildfire
Not sure if I'm gonna survive

Hit an embankment doing 120 on a straight-away
The Lord works in mysterious ways
They'll probably make another movie, glorifying what he done
But I'll never have to hear them say
I'll never have to hear them say

Watch out for Buford