By Harry King
LITTLE ROCK — Lyrics ripe with specific Arkansas references, a catchy chorus and a well-known Hank Williams Jr. tune add up to a hit called “A Razorback Can Survive.”
Posted on a Facebook page on Thursday, the song has been heard in banks and bars, and on radio stations from Little Rock to Fayetteville and points in between.
Friends since they were little, Donnie Matthews and Eric Lancaster wrote the lyrics; Todd Fitzgerald is on vocals.
Crafted for a contest conceived by the morning show folks at radio station 103.7 in Little Rock, the song took off so fast that a competing radio station grabbed it and played it several times, admitting that the origin was unknown.
Less than 24 hours after the song was available on Lancaster’s Facebook page, MyProps.org said “A Razorback Can Survive” was the world’s 12th-most shared video on Facebook, with almost 7,000 people re-posting the song on their personal sites. By Tuesday, YouTube hits exceeded 43,000. Somebody posted it on Ryan Mallett’s Facebook fan page.
During the weekend, people in a booth at a Mexican restaurant in west Little Rock were talking about the song and arguing about whether Williams was the singer. Fitzgerald, who has sung at a couple of weddings, but is not a pro, sounds much like Williams on “A Country Boy Can Survive.”
Matthews came up with the idea for the song and e-mailed some partial lyrics to Lancaster, asking if he would help. They swapped e-mails, talked on the phone a couple of times, and finished in three days.
“We agreed that we wanted the song to be timeless, so we avoided current players, coaches, etc.,” Lancaster said.
Many of the other 40 songs named names, including Mallett, receivers, and running backs. Back when the Razorbacks were rolling, a couple of tunes caught on, but they were specific to the mid-60s times with references to “Quarterbackin Man” Jon Brittenum, “Lighthorse” Harry Jones and “Short, Squashed Texan.”
“We are both big fans and also believe we understand Arkansans, so we thought we had a good idea what would resonate if the lyrics connected with people,” Lancaster said.
At one point, the song says:
“We come from the southern Arkansas pines
And the Ozark Mountains and the Delta skies
It’s Wooo Pig sooie across the goal line
And a Razorback can survive
Razorbacks can survive.”
At another point, it mentions fans from Des Arc, Mena, Fairfield Bay and “little towns all around this state.”
Lancaster and Matthews probably spent the most time on a verse about the late Paul Eells “to make sure it was just right.”
They came up with:
“We lost a good friend, the voice of the Hogs
He called you by your name, we called him Paul
He’d get us fired up when we scored a TD
Like Stoerner to Lucas to beat Tennessee
Ah, he’s a legend round here, I’m not gonna lie
Sends chills up my spine to hear him say ‘Oh, my.’”
The radio station contest attracted more than 40 entries, some better than others. Many were current, including references to three members of ESPN’s college football crew, and Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. Some took shots at former coach Houston Nutt, one made an unkind reference to officiating, another alluded to ticket prices and advised against wearing a Florida hat to a news conference.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
