"Choctaw Bingo" is a southern rock song written and performed by musician

James McMurtry James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American rock and folk rock/ americana singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader, and occasional actor ('' Daisy Miller'', '' Lonesome Dove'', and narrator of ''Ghost Town: 24 Hour ...

and appears on his album ''Saint Mary of the Woods'' and ''Live In Aught Three''. The song uses the narrative of a family reunion in Oklahoma to describe the economic dysfunction of inner America at the time. The sound borrows from Chuck Berry.

Legacy

The song appears on the soundtrack for the movie Beer for My Horses. In 2009, American writer

Ron Rosenbaum Ronald Rosenbaum (born November 27, 1946) is an American literary journalist, literary critic, and novelist. Early life and education Rosenbaum was born into a Jewish family in New York City and grew up in Bay Shore, New York, on Long Island. ...

, writing for ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

'', proposed Choctaw Bingo as a new

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Rosenbaum argued that the themes of the song are more representative of life in a post-financial crash America than "The Star-Spangled Banner." "Choctaw Bingo" has been covered by

Ray Wylie Hubbard Ray Wylie Hubbard (born November 13, 1946) is an American singer and songwriter. Early life Hubbard was born on November 13, 1946, in Soper, Oklahoma. His family moved to Oak Cliff in southwest Dallas, Texas, in 1954. He attended W. ...

on his album, ''Delirium Tremelos'', 2005. An almost ten-minute long live version of this song appears on McMurtry’s album ''Live in Europe''.

References

{{authority control American rock songs 2002 songs