Coward Of The County

This popular Country & Western standard tells the story of Tommy, whose father ends up in prison and dies when Tommy is 10 years old. In his last words, he asks Tommy to stay out of trouble, and to turn the other cheek instead of fighting. Tommy heeds the advice, which earns him the nickname "Coward Of The County." After three brothers sexually assault his girlfriend Tommy confronts them in a bar and gets his revenge. His conclusion: Sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man.

Like Rogers' hit "The Gambler," this song tells a compelling story, and also like "The Gambler," it was made into a TV movie. Coward of the County aired October 7, 1981. It tells a familiar tale, that of the cowboy or similar Western character who although a confirmed pacifist is pushed a bit too far, in this case by the gang rape of his girl. The film has a typical cartoon fight scene in a saloon, which results in the building being virtually demolished. In the film, the villains are tried and convicted of rape, although this is only a passing reference; the song is somewhat ambiguous, and might have ended in a triple revenge killing, so could be classed as a murder ballad. Kenny Rogers acted in the film and sang. Although the film was not a massive hit, the song was, although it was actually written sometime before. The single was released in November 1979 backed by "I Want To Make You Smile." It was published by Roger Bowling Music and Sleepy Hollow Music.

"Coward Of The County" runs to 4 minutes 22 seconds and was co-written by Roger Bowling (who also wrote the massive hit "Blanket On The Ground") and Billy Ed Wheeler. With this sort of success behind him, one would have imagined Bowling would have continued churning out songs for the foreseeable future, but he committed suicide on Christmas Day, 1982; he was 38 years old.