Lets talk about David Allan Coe

[u/bobbybernstei]

In light of his recent passing and release of his posthumous album, I'd like to present my perspective here and hopefully the thread might take off and appear whenever folks google the man or look deeper into the sort of dude he was.

He obviously has a reputation for being controversial to say the least. That is fair and also something that i believe makes him compelling as an artist beyond his songwriting talent.

But he is also tarnished with the popular belief that he was deeply and disgustingly racist and wrote and recorded music reflecting as much.

Before diving into that ill be clear that i am a huge fan of DAC. I grew up listening to country music in the 90s and after a brief period of rebellion against the music my parents liked I came back around to country and it constitutes a large part of what i listen to. I like the classics like Merle and Jones and Willie. I like the Texas shit like Terry Allen, Ray Wilie Hubbard and Jerry Jeff. I like the intimate and vulnerable shit like Townes and Blaze. The 90s radio hits. And the modern torch bearers like Jason Isbell and Tyler Childers.

But this aint about me so back to Coe. When I came around to exploring his shit more deeply I was shocked to find an incredibly sensitive and unique musician. I had always taken his racist nature as common sense but the albums i was listening to didnt line up with that characterization and it led me further into his life as an artist.

The man was undoubtedly a sort of conflicted and contradictory character. To the extent that his retelling of his own life can be believed, growing up in reform school and prison as a midwestern white dude in the 50s and 60s did not lend itself to producing the most politically progressive people. At least not in the polished, pristine way that we perceive progressives to be nowadays.

And so Coe naturally carried a lot of that backwardness into his music and personal life. He speaks in vulgar ways about women especially, but also has a crude way of talking about race and other issues.

All that said, it seems clear to me that the perception of him as a white pride singer is just completely baseless to anyone willing to be open and honest about the man. He himself was incredulous about the accusations, pointing to his longtime black bandmates and his admiration for blues and his dreadlocks, among other things.

He certainly wrote some songs that on their face seem racist, but exploring his perspective that he was simply pushing boundaries as a songwriter and assuming different characters for the purpose of writing songs, its possible to see that he wasnt trying to write white pride anthems but got carried away with what was permissible for him to release to the wider world. That combined with his pretty widespread stubborn, chauvinistic machismo did not do him any favors when it was time to eat a little crow for it, and he unfortunately dug his hole deeper.

That said, it is hard for me to believe that the flamboyant and sensitive songwriter behind Require for a Harlequin or Once Upon a Rhyme was simultaneously a committed racist. He bore the same sort of racial chauvinism that many (if not most) white people bear (this is my woke talk where i start losing you...) but that is certainly applicable to damn near every other country artist of the era and applicable to damn near every white person to this day. Coe was just honest and uninhibited enough to not hide it in his music and thats another aspect of his work that makes him so unique in my opinion.

Beyond all this we can talk about his relationship with the Outlaw scene, his propensity to lie and fabricate aspects of his history. His questionable behavior as a father and husband. His evident bisexuality. Why tf he started hanging w Kid Rock.

But all in all the man is a pillar of country music, a stellar songwriter who ranks among the best of the best in any genre, not just country, and a man who unfortunately has not received his flowers in the country world (even if its largely his own fault).

Hopefully folks are willing to have civil discussions about all this

Edit: honestly im tryna help yall wokie country fans out. Its more woke to like Coe than hate on him.

[u/doc_brietz]

What is with all of the DAC astroturfing I see in this sub? The dude had some crazy racist music he recorded. If you hand wave that, again, he is like the guy who gave himself his own nickname (you don’t do that) and then made it his personality. He probably would have been considered a part of the outlaw scene if he had just shut up about it. Maybe let the music do the talking.

I know country music is full of conservatism, maga, and what Wikipedia calls “right wing authoritarian” personalities. Like, it’s baked in. I get it. Partnering with Kid rock doesn’t do you any favors unless you don’t care what liberals and casual people think and you agree with that side of the isle.

All that aside, he was a good song writer, but a bit of a tryhard. A pilar? lol. Also the having black friends/bandmates/etc doesn’t make you a racist thing doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t buy it.

You can be controversial. Hank Jr. (another maga type) was similar to Coe in that he has a hell of a song writer but also controversial and a gifted singer. He was at least self aware enough to understand that his dad was a legend and that some may see him as a failure or a nepo baby. He has won plenty of awards and sold a lot of records. I don’t care for him much anymore because of his views, but he is 10x the everything Coe was.

I don’t know. Most people I know will only know him from 1 single song. I can’t stand the guy, but he had talent. I think that even if you can separate the art from the artist, he just wasn’t really all that good.

I can’t think of anyone to compare him to but I think he was as oblivious of everyone’s perception of him as, say, Luke Bryant is. It’s frustrating to see talent and ability be used for bro country just as it is somewhat outlaw country with a side of bitterness.

[u/bobbybernstei → u/doc_brietz]

It appears that my post was too long-winded for anyone to read and engage with so this is turning into the tired old thread where people see DAC and and take turns calling him an obvious racist..