While many cities have songs that boast their uniqueness, beauty and charm, there are fewer cities who have songs dedicated to airing out their negative attributes. There are fewer still which openly accept those songs and would play them proudly.
Talihina, Oklahoma is one of those latter communities, originating the source of scorn featured on the bonus track hidden in the Kings of Leon’s inaugural album, Youth and Young Manhood. The album winds out with the nationally famous “Holy Roller Novocaine” which is played in the film Talladega Nights during the scene where Ricky Bobby drives his car around the track bearing a full advertisement on the windshield.
Many people knowingly, or not, have heard this smash hit but in 2003, in the full album version, this song featured a hidden track titled “Talihina Sky”. After several minutes of silence, at eight minutes and twenty-one seconds, a whimsical piano and guitar ensemble break into a song which can only be described as a hit piece on the town that many of the original band members once called home.
The lyrics revolve around themes of drug use and community struggles with addiction, substance abuse and a general lack of nothing to do aside from crime and passing time. The central lyric pines that while everyone seems to love the town, the band cannot wait to leave. The apathetic and escapist overtones are to be expected of both early 2000s indie music and youth who are trapped in what is essentially a seasonal tourism town which lies in one of the poorer corners of the state.
“Talihina Sky” exists as a song that refers to a nearly liminal space, almost like a sort of Hotel California where everyone wants to be here but you. It is universally relatable to anyone with small-town angst and a feeling that you just need to leave as soon as you can. For many it exists as a reminder of a place you cannot wait to leave — or as a reminder of a place you will never return.
So how has Talihina grown to embrace these criticisms and in recent years reclaimed the song to play it at local sporting events and festivals?
An important part, I believe is the repeated lyrics that while all of this is happening, life goes by. A universal continuity that doesn’t care what you, I, or anyone else thinks or does. Time simply moves forward, and we remain. For many Talihinians, the reality is that we too experienced that small town angst and wanted to escape and move away ourselves. To be completely truthful, in an area that has remained rural and without many opportunities; moving away has often been a requirement for furthering yourself. To that effect, many younger citizens simply leave forever when they become of age while some leave for education, work or exploration and eventually return to their roots (some as late as retirement or death).
When the Kings of Leon debuted the song, the population of the town was approximately 1200 and now, twenty years later, we are sitting at 900, a twenty-five percent reduction. To say that the feeling of wanting to leave is rare or lackadaisical would be dishonest. As stated before, many people do leave and we’re seeing that still to this day.
For those of us who choose to say, many are fully aware of the criticisms planted within the 2003 hidden track. Since that time, we have seen continual expansion to our substance abuse and crisis treatment centers through additions to the Choctaw Nation Healthcare Center which has produced new facilities for rehabilitation and many other community wellness initiatives. There have also been exponential growths in our youth programs, community outreach and vocational and home-owning programs, although most are focused towards tribal citizens.
To say that the needle hasn’t moved would be a lie, but the needle certainly needs to continue moving forward. For those of us who are left behind for choice, opportunity, community or whatever, we continue to live here. We embrace the good with the bad and many strive to help produce positive and lasting change while some continue the old ways. Regardless of what side you’re on; staying or leaving, life goes by.
