Review Summary: Too far ahead of its time to gain popularity upon release, Lavender Country is an evocative political statement about the lives of gay people in the 1970s.
Song titles such as “Cryin' These Cocksucking Tears” may lead some to assume Lavender Country are a comedy band with gay men as one of their punchlines, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Frontman Patrick Haggerty grew up gay on a farm in Washington with a surprisingly accepting family -as detailed in his ‘Don’t Sneak’ Story Corps video about growing up in 1950s. His work as an LGBT rights activist and his socialist viewpoints eventually lead him to create what is often referred to as the world’s first gay country album. While a socialist, queer-themed record in such a macho genre could come off as a disingenuous gimmick, powerful lyrics and varied thoughful instrumentation give Lavender Country its legitimacy. Haggerty clearly loves this genre of music and believes what he preaches.
The lyrics are so ahead of their time that gay men from the 70s were likely to have even received it poorly, favoring sexually ambiguous glam rock, burgeoning disco, or colorful show tunes. These styles of music are certainly more fun and offer escapism, but “
Lavender Country” is about reality. Some songs are topically innocuous, such as the opener “Come Out Singing” -about simply not wanting to get out of bed because you’re too happy cuddling with the man lying next to you. The song’s cute quip “milk and honey flowing when you're blowing Gabriel's horn” shows that not only is Haggerty playful in his lyricism, but that he’s also unafraid to mention gay sex unshrouded. Other songs criticize self-hating closet cases, toxic masculinity, mental facility imprisonment, and homophobic murder. The line “if they hear any gay talk, a sizzle of electro-shock, keeps his fantasies in fascist shape. They call it mental hygiene, but I call it psychic rape!” from “Waltzing Will Trilogy” is particularly scathing. Solutions such as tearing down physical institutions, like prison, and social institutions, like masculinity, are offered throughout the album. Each track, whether joyful, forlorn, or indignant, genuinely reflects Haggerty’s, or in the case of “To a Woman,” fiddler Eve Morris’s, lived experiences as sexual minorities.
Instrumentally, the album sounds quite old school, even for the 70s. Haggerty’s vocals are traditionally nasal and twangy, but also uniquely soft and feminine. Morris, whose vocals are usually on backup, is a deeper-voiced Joan Baez. The songs are draped in melodic piano, old-fashioned fiddle, and leading acoustic guitar. While the band’s setup is rather simple, each song captures its own distinct world, with even a handful of tracks (“Georgie Pie”, “To a Woman”) reading closer to folk than country. Not many gay-themed tracks from this era could be so aptly described as rustic and languorous -“
Lavender Country” holds a unique and necessary niche.
There are no weak links throughout the under 38-minute runtime, with each song an essential piece. If you truly hate all country music or have no interest in honest, fearless songs about LGBT people, this may not be the record for you. To everyone else: “come out my dears to Lavender County, sashay out and give [this album] a try.”
Album highlights: “Come Out Singing”, “Waltzing Will Trilogy”, “Back in the Closet Again”, “Lavender Country”
