Robbie Fulks (1963) is a singer-songwriter from the eastern U.S. His music is sometimes called alt-country and he’s got a sense of humour. In 1999 he released the song “Roots Rock Weirdos”, which had a prescient portrayal of its villain, Hank.

The song is about a dead night in a small town, where the only mildly interesting thing happening was an oldies band starting their act at a local bar. Suddenly a bunch of eccentric fans of old music, attracted by the sound, swarm the place. The bartender tries to restore order, asking them what their deal is. Their leader, Hank, starts to explain, but is soon off on a megalomaniacal rant promising the conquest of all culture by him and those like him. It’s a fun song.

These weirdos are antifeminist: they want all women in fishnet stockings and bright lipstick, and Hank speaks with the kind of too-online intonation that has definitely pronounced the word “milady”. They’re white supremacist: they talk in slang they consider Black but want every band to consist of four white guys. And they want nothing less than domination for their 1950s aesthetic. They want to turn the clock back. Music should be for them, not for young people, and they’re going to make that happen for the sake of Elvis Presley, their “fat dead cracker king”. Obviously, then, they don’t even respect Elvis. Obviously, then, they’re doing this for the sake of nothing.

The song puts a ribbon on this portrayal with a suggestion of Naziism by one of Hank’s people speaking in a German accent commenting on the song’s purity. Fulks couldn’t have known he’d be predicting anything with this song, but he painted a pretty good picture of the MAGA movement, years early. Substitute Trump in for Elvis; it’s a pretty good fit.

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https://robbiefulks.com
The Very Best of Robbie Fulks (album)