The Glen Campbell Hit That a Priest Once Publicly Denounced as Indecent and “Immoral”

As one of the more outspokenly conservative artists in the country world, one wouldn’t necessarily assume Glen Campbell had a history of upsetting the church—save for his struggles with addiction. But in late November 1969, Reverend Jerome LeDoux publicly denounced Campbell’s hit song, “Gentle On My Mind”, in a column for the New Orleans Archdiocese newspaper, The Clarion Herald.

By today’s standards, one might find it difficult to find even a single line that would be worthy of shaming. (Oh, if we could only hear what Reverend LeDoux thinks about some of the hits dominating the mainstream airwaves today.) But by Catholic standards circa the late 1960s, Campbell’s song—written by John Hartford—was surprisingly salacious. So much so that it warranted an op-ed.

“How would you like it if your daughter’s door were always open to her love, with whom she wants to be completely free, unbound by the dried ink of a marriage contract?” The reverend wrote at the time.

The Priest Called “Gentle On My Mind” an “Immoral” Song

Many have regarded this track as one of the sweetest love songs of all time. So, why was it once called “immoral” by a New Orleans priest? In Reverend Jerome LeDoux’s denouncing of Glen Campbell’s 1968 hit, “Gentle On My Mind”, the clergyman referenced the first verse of the song to start his argument.

“It’s knowing that your door is always open and your path is free to walk / that makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag rolled up and stashed behind your couch / And it’s knowing I’m not shackled by forgotten words or bonds / and the ink stains that have dried upon some line / That keeps you in the backroads by the rivers of my memory / That keeps you ever gentle on my mind.”

LeDoux compared this idea to pornography in his 1969 opinion piece. (A blisteringly hot take that, ironically, would make people clutch their pearls today for the exact opposite reason.) The reverend argued radio stations were “exposing our youngsters to a steady diet of immoral ideas. No matter how subtly presented. The so-called respectable radio stations should also examine their principles of music spinning.”

He called Campbell’s song a “catchy, simple melody” that “combines with nice-sounding, immoral lyrics to make a song which no one really pays attention to, and which is therefore passed off as something decent. Adults who shrug this off as being extreme or ultra-conservative are indicting their own lack of morals.”

Disagree with LeDoux at your own moralistic risk, we suppose.

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