John Wayne Is Big Leggy
| "John Wayne Is Big Leggy" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Haysi Fantayzee | ||||
| from the album Battle Hymns For Children Singing | ||||
| B-side | "The Sabres of Paradise" | |||
| Released | 1982 | |||
| Format | 45 Record | |||
| Recorded | 1982 | |||
| Length | 3:22 | |||
| Label | Regard | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
Jeremy Healy Kate Garner Paul Caplin |
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| Haysi Fantayzee singles chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Bravo |   |
"John Wayne Is Big Leggy" is a controversial song written by, and recorded by the band Haysi Fantayzee. It was their debut single and most successful hit, charting in the UK, Germany and Austria. It gained notoriety for its treatment of the taboo subject of anal sex.
The song was a combination of political satire and sexual humour wrapped in nursery rhyme style lyrics. The protagonist, John Wayne, is having sexual intercourse with a Native American female. When Wayne's bandolier restricts their intimacy, she suggests he removes it. He refuses and suggests he sodomises her instead:
So she says to him - Take off that thing, It's getting right between us.
Now listen honey I can't do that, not even for you my sweetness.
Now Big John, if that's a fact, then how'd you propose we do our act?
If that's the way it's gonna be, get the hell out of my tepee.
Now speckled hen just stop your squawkin', Big Bad Rooster's doin' the talking.
I know a trick we ought to try, turn right over - you'll know why.
This surreal image is intended as a comment on the treatment of indigenous people during the European colonisation and was written after Healy read the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by historian Dee Brown. Wayne represents the European colonist, while his partner is the Native American people.
It was an allegory for treatment of which the white settlers used, but on the Native American Indians. However, I wrote it like John Wayne having anal sex with a squaw. I thought this was hilarious!
Unusually for a song with explicit sexual content in the 1980s, the song escaped being banned from broadcast by the BBC, was playlisted on BBC Radio 1 and the band performed the song twice on Top of the Pops and on Saturday morning children's television. The song, with its "Shotgun, gimme gimme low down fun boy, okay, showdown" intro was taken to be a nonsensical novelty song about cowboys.
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Wikipedia