"My dad was a guitar player. He played with Bob Wills and a little bit with Reba McEntire when she was first starting out," says Ragsdale. "He really didn't want me to be a drummer but I insisted. I found a set of drums in a neighbor's trash one day and hauled them into the cellar. He kind of figured out after about a year that I was serious and finally got me a new drum set. And when he met Cody, he realized his talent and how seriously we wanted to take music, and he really pushed us. He completely drove us up the wall, but later down the road, we realized he did it for a good reason."
Once the band got its chops they moved to Stillwater, Okla., where acts like Mike McClure's Great Divide and singer-songwriter Jimmy LaFave had established enough of a local scene to earn Stillwater the nickname "North Austin" (or, depending on your perspective, "West Nashville"). Inspired by McClure's self-penned Great Divide songs (and more than a little by early Steve Earle), the band quickly grew out of its Merle Haggard and classic rock covers and began focusing on Canada's uncommonly honest and straight-forward originals. A potent foursome of albums -- 1998's Carney, 1999's Live at the Wormy Dog, 2001's Highway 377 and 2002's Live at Billy Bob's Texas -- collectively sold more 70,000 copies to date. Combined with the band's average of 200 gigs a year, Cross Canadian Ragweed cinched a place at the top of the Texas-Oklahoma music totem pole.
"We're a little more rock 'n' roll than other people [from the Oklahoma/Texas scene], and that's not a bad thing," laughs Canada, whose Southern-fried lead guitar licks betray his love of heroes like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Pete Anderson (of Dwight Yoakam fame) and Eddie Van Halen -- not to mention the fact that he's been playing since he was 8 years old.
After building a huge concert following in Texas and Oklahoma, the band decided to look into signing a record deal. In 2003, fledgling label Universal South released a self-titled album (produced by McClure) that the band recorded prior to signing their record deal. They released Soul Gravy in 2004 and Garage in 2005.
Their offical website is at www.crosscanadianragweed.com.
Long Way Home
Cross Canadian Ragweed Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Here's your orders boy here's your gun
We're sending you off to Vietnam
Try to stay cool try to stay calm
Never seen nothin' but that Mid-Texas dirt
Never been on a flying machine
Your job now is to take this gun
It's a long way home
Orange in the air
Fire on the ground
Them back up boys ain't no where around
There's smoke in the sky
You're screamin' to the sea
Oh God have mercy on me
It's a long way home
Got that medal on your chest
Now you got it made
But you're going back to a land of protest
And an empty hero's parade
Waking up in the dead of night
Screaming out your lungs
Jungle fires and trip bomb wires
And blazin' red turret guns
It's a long way home
The lyrics to Cross Canadian Ragweed's song Long Way Home describe the experience of a soldier who is sent to fight in the Vietnam War. The soldier is hesitant to go, but too proud to run away from his duty. He is given a gun and ordered to kill anything he sees, despite having no experience with flying machines or combat. The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "it's a long way home," emphasizing the distance between the soldier and his former life.
In the second verse, the soldier is depicted as being in the midst of the war. There is fire on the ground and smoke in the sky, and the other soldiers have deserted him. He is scared and crying out for mercy. The line "orange in the air" is a reference to Agent Orange, a toxic herbicide used by the U.S. military during the war. The soldier is exposed to this chemical and is left with physical and emotional scars.
In the final verse, the soldier is returning home from the war. He has received a medal for his service, but is coming back to a country that is divided about the war. The hero's parade is empty because there is no one there to honor him, only protesters who view him as a symbol of the war they hate. The soldier is haunted by his experiences and suffers from PTSD, waking up in the middle of the night screaming.
Line by Line Meaning
Too scared to go to proud to run
The person is afraid to go to war, but they are too stubborn to run away from it.
Here's your orders boy here's your gun
The person is being given orders and a gun to go and fight in the Vietnam War.
We're sending you off to Vietnam
The person is being sent to Vietnam to fight in the war.
Try to stay cool try to stay calm
The person is being advised to keep their composure in the midst of the war.
Never seen nothin' but that Mid-Texas dirt
The person has only ever been exposed to their hometown and is not familiar with life outside of it.
Never been on a flying machine
The person has never traveled on a plane before.
Your job now is to take this gun
The person's main responsibility in the war is to use their gun to fight.
And kill everything that you see
The person is expected to eliminate any enemy targets that come into their view.
It's a long way home
The person realizes that after everything is said and done, there is a long journey ahead of them to get back home.
Orange in the air
The color orange is often associated with napalm bombs being dropped, which adds to the overall destruction of the war.
Fire on the ground
The person is surrounded by flames and destruction.
Them back up boys ain't no where around
The person feels helpless and alone in the midst of the war.
There's smoke in the sky
The sky is filled with smoke from bombs being dropped and fires being set.
You're screamin' to the sea
The person is so overwhelmed that they feel like they are screaming to the sea for help.
Oh God have mercy on me
The person is begging for God's mercy and intervention in the midst of the war.
Got that medal on your chest
The person has been awarded a medal for their service in the war.
Now you got it made
The person thinks that because they have received a medal, they have it made in life.
But you're going back to a land of protest
The person is returning to a country that is dissatisfied with the war and is protesting it.
And an empty hero's parade
The person will be celebrated as a hero but feels that it is empty because of the pain and trauma they have experienced in the war.
Waking up in the dead of night
The person experiences nightmares and flashbacks of the war in the middle of the night.
Screaming out your lungs
The person is so overwhelmed that they are screaming in terror and anguish.
Jungle fires and trip bomb wires
The person is remembering the dangerous situations they were in during the war.
And blazin' red turret guns
The person still hears the sounds of the guns firing and the explosions they were surrounded by.
It's a long way home
The journey back home after the war is long and difficult.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: TED HOROWITZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind