David Allan Coe, 1939 – 2026

Country singer/songwriter David Allan Coe, 86, died on April 29. Coe wrote “Take This Job and Shove It,” and sang such country hits as "You Never Even Called Me by My Name,” "Longhaired Redneck,” "The Ride,” "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile,” and "She Used to Love Me a Lot.” After a youth spent in prisons and reform schools, Coe moved to Nashville, where he lived in a hearse and busked on the streets; his career took off in the 1970s, and he toured and recorded, becoming a popular “outlaw country” artist. When called out on his sometimes racist, homophobic lyrics, Coe objected: “it has always bothered me that actors in the movies can say whatever they want to say, kill people, rape people, and do things and no one ever accuses them personally of being that way. But when you write a song and then all of a sudden you are being accused of something. To me, songwriting is painting a picture and all you have to work with is words. I grew up with all my life hearing 'lazy as a Mexican,’ 'stingy as a Jew,’ 'working like a nigger,’ or 'dumb as a Polack.’ It's stereotype stuff that you hear growing up that immediately puts a picture in your head.”