How Personal is your Hat?
July 18, 2020
Chris Ledoux sang about and expressed the down-deep gut-feeling cowboys have about their hats in his song “This Cowboy’s Hat”.
"You’ll ride a black tornado, cross the western sky,
Rope an ol’ Blue Northern ,and milk it till its dry,
Bulldog the Mississippi, and pin its ears down flat,
Long before you take this Cowboys Hat!
Now, partner, this ol’ hats better left alone…
And if you touch my hat, your gonna have to fight…"
Those are specific, distinct thoughts and feelings.
So why does this iconic symbol evoke such emotion? Why are hats so personal?
Because your hat is an extension of who you are…Ledoux’s lyrics tell you about his hat and you gain insight into his life.
"…see it used to be my daddy’s, but last year he passed on, my nephew skinned the rattler that makes up this hat band, but back in 69’ he died in Vietnam. Now the eagle feather was given to me by an old Indian friend of mine, someone ran him down somewhere around that Arizona line, and a real special lady gave me this hat pin, but I don’t know if I’ll ever see her again…"
Hats are personal and demand respect because every cowboy and every hat have a story. Next time you see someone with “their” hat on, wonder about the story behind that hat!
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