Appreciation: Kinky Friedman, dead at 79. 'You have to be miserable to write a good song' he told us.

Kinky Friedman, who died Thursday at the age of 79, made his mark as a proudly left-of-center singer-songwriter, a Texas gubernatorial candidate, and an unusually skilled satirist whose comparisons to Will Rogers, Mark Twain and H.L. Mencken were well-earned.

Or, as he told me in 2018: “When you’re 73, well, I don’t have a bucket list, at all. I have a f– it list. That’s the truth. There’s nothing I want to do that I haven’t done, although I’ve got a few ideas and I’ve achieved some of the goals in my life. I wanted to be fat, financially fit and forgotten by the time I was 50. Some of those I’ve achieved and some have eluded me.”

Friedman died on his ranch near Austin, Texas, from complications related to Parkinson’s disease. He did not show even a hint of diminishment in our lively 2018 interview. It lasted an hour and found him to be the same sharp, quick-witted raconteur I encountered during a joint 2010 interview with him and San Diego’s Mojo Nixon, a longtime pal and collaborator.

Friedman’s passing comes just four months after Nixon’s sudden death in February, which occurred only hours after Nixon delivered a rousing performance at sea during the 2024 Outlaw Country Cruise.

Friedman and Nixon had performed as part of the 2018 and 2020 edition of the cruises. I strongly suspect they are now reunited at some dive bar in the great beyond, cackling gleefully together as they engage in more high jinks and good-natured banter.

Nixon was rarely one to cede the spotlight in a public setting, but he was happy to defer to Freidman during much of our joint interview.

“Kinky, what’s worse?” Nixon asked. “Record company executives or politicians?”

“I think politicians are a little more crooked,” Friedman replied, causing Nixon to gasp: “Good god!”

Friedman continued: “Record company people are nearly as bad, but they’re not without charm. Politicians are like abusive spouses. They ignore us and treat us like (expletive) for four years. Then they come back, and say: ‘l love you, baby.'”

Friedman came in fourth in his 2006 bid to be governor of Texas. One of his campaign slogan was: “Kinky for Governor — How hard can it be?” and his platform included vows to legalize drugs and changed the 55 mile an hour speed limit to 54.95 miles. He also promised to abolish the death penalty and legalize pot and gay marriage.

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