Regardless of the topic, Waylon Jennings was sure to give a worthwhile answer.
Whether it was the possibility of a female president or threatening (as a joke… probably) to burn down a TV host’s home, Hoss was one of one and I just found another interview clip that shows him at his best.
In some sort of town hall, a woman stood up to ask for Waylon’s opinion on what to do with her grandson who was listening to rap:
“Waylon I have a grandson who listens to rap all the time and I just wonder, how can I make him stop or shall I even try or is there any hope for him?”
At surface level, I’m sure many would expect Waylon to give some “Tell him to be a man and listen to real music” type answer, but what he actually responded with truly is a well-reasoned and accepting perspective on the music younger generations listen too:
“You know what, I don’t see anything wrong with him listening to it. You know what? They came into this world listening to different things than we did… I remember when I was a little kid and the things I wanted to listen to, when I wanted to listen to rock and roll I got fired I don’t know how many times. I even got fired for playing George Jones too much when I was a disc jockey. So I don’t know, I think I’d just leave him alone. You know what, he’s probably got a good life at home so there’s nothing to worry about.”
Not what you expected to hear? Yeah, I think the entire audience can relate to that feeling.
The woman goes on to say that the grandson is not that young (23) and doesn’t have a job, which is obviously much more troubling that listening to rap music. Waylon offers to get him in contact with some people he knows in Texas, which the grandmother seems very eager to take him up on, but that’s when Waylon turns from wise older man to the hilarious jokester he’s always been…
“What if he was listening to Willie Nelson? Then you got to worry.”
When the opportunity to make a joke at the expense of your friend comes up, you just have to take it and Waylon knocked that one out of the park.
While his younger days certainly were quite wild, it’s great to have a look at Waylon’s wiser years and take all the life experience and hard lessons learned into consideration when making our own life choices.
Rest in peace to the great Waylon Jennings and here’s to hoping that woman’s grandson got his life figured out, even if he stayed a rap fan.
