Alan Jackson - Let It Be Christmas

 

John Prine - My Old Kentucky Home

It is a tradition at the Kentucky Derby for the crowd to sing "My Old Kentucky Home".  It's also a tradition for the crowd not to know any of the lyrics except for weep no more my lady.   It's mumble mumble mumble WEEP NO MORE MY LADY.

So as a public service for this 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, here is the late John Prine with all the lyrics.

José Feliciano - Feliz Navidad

Michael Buble's version is great, but nothing beats the original.

Alan Jackson - Let There Be Christmas

This is a Country song for people who don't like Country Music.  Alan Jackson wrote this, and he's about as Country as anyone - but this is essentially a traditional Christmas song that Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole could have recorded if they had lived to 2002.  No slide guitars or banjos, just traditional sentimentality.

I like this song a lot, but you know how sentimental I am.  And I'm not the only one - not only did this reach #6 on the Country chart, it also reached #27 on Billboard's 200.

Let It Be Christmas (Songwriter: Alan Jackson):

Let it be Christmas everywhere
In the hearts of all people
Both near and afar
Christmas everywhere
Feel the love of the season where ever you are
On the small country roads
Lined with green mistletoe
Big city streets where a thousand lights glow

Let it be Christmas everywhere
Let heavenly music fill the air
Let every heart sing
Let every bell ring
The story of hope and joy and peace
And let it be Christmas everywhere
Let heavenly music fill the air
Let anger and fear and hate disappear
Let there be love that lasts through the year
And let it be Christmas, Christmas everywhere

Let it be Christmas everywhere
With the gold and the silver, the green and the red
Christmas everywhere
In the smiles of all children asleep in their beds
In the eyes of young babies
Their first fallen snow
The elderly's memories that never grow old
Let it be Christmas everywhere
Let heavenly music fill the air
Let every heart sing
Let every bell ring
The story of hope and joy and peace
And let it be Christmas everywhere
Let heavenly music fill the air
Let anger and fear and hate disappear
Let there be love that lasts through the year
And let it be Christmas, Christmas everywhere

Let it be Christmas everywhere
In the songs that we sing
And the gifts that we bring
Christmas everywhere
In what this day means
And what we believe
From the sandy white beaches
Where blue water rolls
Snow covered mountains and valleys below

Let it be Christmas everywhere
Let heavenly music fill the air
Let every heart sing
Let every bell ring
The story of hope and joy and peace
And let it be Christmas everywhere
Let heavenly music fill the air
Let anger and fear and hate disappear
Let there be love that lasts through the year
And let it be Christmas, Christmas everywhere
Christmas everywhere
Christmas everywhere

 

The World is a strange place

Not just stranger than you think, but stranger than you can imagine. 

A few years back, The Queen Of The World and I rev'ed up the Harley and road to Morgantown, WV for Mountainfest.  We had a blast - it was a great ride through spectacular scenery, the HOG folks were (as always) a hoot in a holler at the 'fest, and the concert was headlined by Alabama, playing "Mountain Music" and "Country Roads".

As you can imagine, it wasn't a concert, it was a sing-along.  

Well knock me over with a feather - it seems that "Country Roads" is a mandatory song at Oktoberfest in Germany, and everybody sings along.  Don't believe me?

Reminds me a bit of the bikers in Morgantown.  Found through a link from here, which includes this suggested rewrite of the lyrics for a German audience:

Almost Heaven
Schleswig-Holstein
Kaiser Wilhelm
Lederhosen fashions!

Life is Old there,
Older than the Zee!
Younger than the mountains
in Southern Germany.

Autobahn
Take me on
To the Place
to Goosestep On.
Western Poland
into Russia
Take me On
Autobahn
I hear his voice, in the morning hour he heils me.
Der radio reminds me of my oath of loy-al-ty
And drivin’ on to Moscow, I get feelin’
Shoulda been retreatin’
yes-ter DAY!
Yes-ter DAY!

Autobahn…

Whatever you do, don't mention the War.  I did once, but I think I got away with it.

Even weirder, it seems that the old Tennessee Ernie Ford "Sixteen Tons" is hugely popular in Russia.  Here is the Red Army Chorus (or whatever they're called now) doing a credible version of this from a couple decades back:

I like this version.  His voice is in a lower register than Ford's was, and that's saying a lot.  But Russian music has always had a bigger dynamic range than western music.  This just keeps that tradition alive.

Jimmy Buffett - Stars Fell On Alabama

It was 1833, and the "Night that the stars fell".  The Leonid meteor shower is an annual event each August.  The 1833 shower in Alabama was no wind and no clouds and so the show was exceptional.  Guy Lombardo recorded the first version of the 1934 jazz classic.  Jimmy did a version (as did literally a hundred others).  I do like Jimmy's version, from an Alabama native.

The Stars Fell On Alabama (music: Frank Perkins; Lyrics: Mitchell Parish):

We lived our little drama
We kissed in a field of white
And stars fell on Alabama last night
I can't forget the glamour
Your eyes held a tender light
And stars fell on Alabama last night

I never planned in my imagination
A situation so heavenly
A fairy land where no one else could enter
And in the center just you and me, dear
My heart beat like a hammer
My arms wound around you tight
And stars fell on Alabama last night

I never planned in my imagination
A situation so heavenly
A fairy land where no one else could enter
In the center just you and me, dear
My heart beat like a hammer
My arms wound around you tight
And stars fell on Alabama last night

What a great song. I remember when the Stars fell on Maine in 1979 or so.  But August nights there are frequently cloud free and windless too.  As are February nights when you can see the Northern Lights.

But not a lot of great songs from Maine if you discount Rudy Vallee.  On a very not-Rudy-Vallee vein, here's the great English singer Vera Lynn ("The White Cliffs Of Dover) sounding like, well, she's not from Alabama but might be from Michigan or somewhere like that.  Her biography is worth reading, if you're a regular here.

Jimmy Buffett - Hey Good Lookin'

Rest In Peace, Jimmy. Thanks for all the great music.

Oliver Anthony - Rich Men North Of Richmond

It's said that a song only needs three chords and the truth to be great.    Oliver Anthony has exactly that - along with multiple million dollar record offers which he has turned down.  Interesting guy.

Turnpike Troubadours - Brought Me

The Queen Of The World heard this on the radio and liked it.  It's not Country-Pop or Bro-Country of the other nonsense that mostly fills the airwaves.  It's more like something that The Band would have played.  I like it.

Chris Stapleton - Maggie's Song

I took Wolfgang's toys to a dog shelter today.  Well, not all of them - we kept his frisbee, his blue stuffed animal, and a couple of balls that his dog friends look for when they come over.  But I took probably 30 dog toys to be shelter.

After all, Wolfgang always got Puppy Loot on Christmas.  Now we hope that these dogs who have nothing will enjoy having a toy all their own.  As The Queen Of The World has been saying, he was always so good about sharing his toys.  She says that he'd like sharing his toys with other dogs.  She's right, of course.

But this was a hard experience for me.  It was part of letting go, which has to be done.  But it was hard.  Chris Stapleton wrote this song the night that his dog died.  I expect that was hard, too.

Maggie's Song (Songwriter: Chris Stapleton)

Let me tell you a story
About an old friend of mine
Somebody left her in a shopping cart
In a parking lot for us to find

Just a fuzzy black pup
She was hungry and feeling alone
We put her in the back seat
Told her we were taking her home

Run, Maggie, run
With the heart of a rebel child
Oh, run, Maggie, run
Be just as free as you are wild

A few kids later
We moved out on the farm
And she followed those kids around
Yeah, she kept them safe from harm

And she loved to chase squirrels
And playing out in the snow
She'd take off like a bullet
Man, you should have seen her go

Run, Maggie, run
With the heart of a rebel child
Oh, run, Maggie, run
Be just as free as you are wild

It was raining on a Monday
The day that Maggie died
She woke up and couldn't use her legs
So I laid down by her side

She put her head on my hand
Like she'd done so many times
I told her she was a good dog
Then I told her goodbye

Run, Maggie, run
With the heart of a rebel child
Oh, run, Maggie, run
Be just as free as you are wild

I had a revelation
As the tractor dug a hole
I can tell you right now
That a dog has a soul

And I thought to myself
As we buried her on the hill
I never knew me a better dog
And I guess I never will

Run, Maggie, run
With the heart of a rebel child
Oh, run, Maggie, run
Be just as free as you are wild

Oh, run, Maggie, run
With the heart of a rebel child
Oh, run, Maggie, run
Be just as free as you are wild

Wolfgang never had the heart of a rebel child.  Instead, he shared his toys with his doggie friends.  But I never knew me a better dog, and I guess I never will.

Willie Nelson and Tony Bennett - On The Sunny Side Of The Street

Tony sang with a lot of folks.

Ray Charles - America The Beautiful

Alternate title: how The United States accidentally committed suicide.

Co-blogger and Brother-From-Another-Mother ASM826 and I have had a number of conversations lately about how when we both started blogging 15 years ago, we still had hope.  Yes, I cribbed the alternate title from histories of Rome, but there's a fateful dynamic at play today that mirrors what played out back then.

In 400 AD, Rome stood tall.  Sure, there were problems, but Rome was the only super power. 76 years later, it no longer existed.*  It was simply unable to respond effectively to the barbarian invasions - the problem wasn't a military one, it was structural.  The Legions were still strong, but the ruling elite could not use them effectively to keep the barbarians out.  You see, they didn't want to keep them out.

Barbarian hordes were an opportunity to various members of the elite.  The rewards of power and wealth to those at the top of the Roman Empire were so unbelievably vast that, well, a wandering barbarian horde might be able to be used to put somebody new on the throne.  And so the elites played 27 Dimensional Chess against each other until the Empire was overwhelmed.  What temporarily helped local Senators and Provincial Governors quite frankly led to the downfall of them all.  I'm looking at you, Constantine III.

And so to today.  The Ruling Class in this Republic is institutionally incapable of dealing with the problems facing the Republic because they don't want to.  Indeed, there is a dynamic at work: never let a crisis go to waste.  This has come about in a shockingly short time - twenty years or so.

But this happened to Rome as well.  Between 410 and 430 AD, the Eternal City itself was sacked and Spain and Africa were lost to the Empire - and with them went the tax revenue that had supported the Legions.  Today we have a President who is a feeble-minded puppet; the Emperor Honorious was (at the time) compared to a jellyfish.

The grandeur that was America was very great indeed, but so was Roman grandeur.  Sic transit Gloria Mundi, and all that.

Entering this Independence Day weekend I wish I could be more optimistic.  I  leave you with a song from the dark days after 9/11, a reflection of a time when the grandeur of this Republic was great, even though the dynamic that has led us here was already formed.

America The Beautiful (Katharine Lee Bates, Samuel A. Ward):

Oh beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife
Who more than self, their country loved
And mercy more than life

America, America may God thy gold refine
'Til all success be nobleness
And every gain divined

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain

America, sweet America
God shed his grace on thee
He crowned thy good, with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress,
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years,
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Oh beautiful for halcyon skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music hearted sea!

May God save this honorable Republic.

* Well, in the west, at least.

The Statler Brothers - More Than a Name on a Wall

This is Memorial Day weekend.  It's not "have a nice barbecue" weekend, although that would be a fine thing to do and nobody would blame you for it.  It's also not "thank a veteran" weekend, although nobody would blame you for that, either.  But that day is in November, not May.

This weekend is to remember those who never made it home from war.  So raise a cold one in toast to them at your barbecue.  As the Statler Brothers put it so well, they're not just names on a wall.

More Than A Name On A Wall (Songwriters: Jimmy Fortune, John Rimel)

I saw her from a distance, as she walked up to the wall
In her hand she held some flowers, as her tears began to fall
She took out pen and paper as to trace her mem'ries
She looked up to heaven, and the words she said were these

She said, "Lord my boy was special, and he meant so much to me
And Oh, I'd love to see him just one more time you see
All I have are the mem'ries and the moments to recall
So Lord could you tell him he's more than a name on the wall"

She said, "He really missed the family, being home on Christmas day
And he died for God and country in a place so far away
I remember just a little boy, playing war since he was three
And Lord this time I know, he's not coming home to me"

She said, "Lord my boy was special, and he meant so much to me
And Oh, I'd love to see him but I know it just can't be
So I thank you for my mem'ries and the moments to recall
But Lord could you tell him he's more than a name on the wall
Lord could you tell him he's more than a name on the wall"

Morgan Wallen - Thought You Should Know

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, a holiday that demands sentimentality.  No genre does sentimental like Country, and this song is a perfect tribute to mothers everywhere.  Unsurprisingly, Morgan Wallen wrote this for his mom.

The Queen Of The World suggested this song for today.

Thought You Should Know (Songwriters: Morgan Wallen, Miranda Lambert, Nicolle Galyon)

What’s goin’ on, mama?
Something just dawned on me
I ain’t been home in some months
Been chasin’ songs and women
Makin’ some bad decisions
God knows I’m drinkin’ too much
Yeah, I know you’ve been worrying ’bout me
You’ve been losin’ sleep since ’93

I thought you should know
That all those prayers you thought you wasted on me
Must’ve finally made their way on through
I thought you should know
I got me a new girl down in Jefferson City, and
She lets me fish whenever I want to
Yeah, I’m still proud of where I came from
Still your only damn son
Can you believe I’m on the radio?
Just thought you should know, thought you should know, thought you should know

Oh, by the way, mama, didn’t mean to ramble on ya
How’s everything back at home?
Yeah, how’s that garden comin’?
Is dad still doing dumb s—?
And how’d he keep you this long?
Yeah, I’m sorry that I called you so late
I just miss you but anyways

I thought you should know
That all those prayers you thought you wasted on me
Must’ve finally made their way on through
I thought you should know
I got me a new girl down in Jefferson City, and
She lets me fish whenever I want to
Yeah, I’m still proud of where I came from
Still your only damn son
Can you believe I’m on the radio?
Just thought you should know, thought you should know, thought you should know
Yeah, I know you’ve been worrying ’bout me
You’ve been losing sleep since ’93
I thought you should know
That all those prayers you thought you wasted on me
Must’ve finally made their way on through

I thought you should know
That I really like this girl down in Jefferson City, and
Turns out she’s a lot like you
Yeah, I’m still proud of where I came from
Still your only damn son
The bus is leavin’ so I gotta roll
Just thought you should know, thought you should know, thought you should know
I thought you should know, thought you should know
I thought you should know, thought you should know, thought you should know

Gordon Lightfoot - Sweet Guinevere

Gordon Lightfoot is dead (for you Canadian Quebecois hosers, that's "Gordon Lightfoot est mort"). There have been tributes pretty much everywhere, featuring his biggest hits: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Sundown, If You Could Read My Mind.

What I haven't seen anywhere is a mention that his 1978 album Endless Wire peaked at #14 on the Country Music chart.  Really.  The man had a considerable range.  Rest in peace.

Sweet Guinevere (Songwriter: Gordon Lightfoot)

Sweet Guinevere you're off to the coal town tonight
And your young brother Ernie's up in Pittsburgh PA
You know mother loves you, and dad's in the mine
So don't go to the coal town, Guinevere, if you're kind

She loves a young man and he lives in the town
And he leaves the house early for he works underground
He makes a good wage for a coal miner's son
And she's a bit pretty, just turned twenty-one

Sweet Guinevere you're off to the coal town tonight
And your young brother Ernie's up in Pittsburgh PA
You know mother loves you, and dad's in the mine
So don't go to the coal town, Guinevere, shut the blind

She knows her good mother's not feelin' no pain
She remembers an explosion and the black falling rain
She paints her thin lips in her dewy-eyed way
Then she says to the daughter, dear daughter I pray

Sweet Guinevere you're off to the coal town tonight
And your young brother Ernie's up in Pittsburgh PA
You know mother loves you, and dad's in the mine
So don't go to the coal town, Guinevere, if you're kind

Clint Black and Roy Rogers - Hold On Partner

This is a delightful blast from the past won a Grammy in 1991.  It's striking just how much Clint Black looked like Roy Rogers.

Eric Church - Like Jesus Does

The Kingdom of the Father is spread upon the Earth and men do not see it.

- The (non-canonical and possibly heretical) Gospel of Thomas

We are surrounded by Grace, in ways sometimes large but mostly small, and (mostly) we do not see it.  This song reminds us that the Lord's ever present gospel Grace is not only here for us on Easter.  He has given us signs if we have eyes to see.  The Queen Of The World shows this Grace to me on the regular - remember, Grace is forgiveness that is undeserved but granted anyway.

Wolfgang showed this unconditional love to me, too.  It wasn't exactly Grace, but he loved me like Jesus does.  We see ourselves reflected in our dog's eyes, not as we are but as we would like to be.  This song reminds us that this is how the Lord looks at us, too.

She Loves Me Like Jesus Does (Songwriters: Casey Beathard, Monty Criswell)

I'm a long gone Waylon song on vinyl, 
I'm a backroad sinner at a tent revival, 
She believes in me like she believes her bible, 
And loves me like Jesus does.

I'm a lead foot leaning on a suped up Chevy, 
I'm a good ol' boy, drinking whiskey and rye on the levee, 
But she carries me, when my sins make me heavy, 
And she loves me like Jesus does.

All the crazy in my dreams, 
Both my broken wings, 
Every single piece of everything I am, 
Yeah, she knows the man I ain't, 
She forgives me when I can't, 
That devil man, he don't stand a chance, 
Cause she loves me like Jesus does.

Always thought she'd give up on me one day, 
Wash her hands of me, leave me staring down some runway, 
But, I thank God each night, and twice on Sunday, 
That she loves me like Jesus does.

All the crazy in my dreams, 
And both my broken wings, 
Every single piece of who I am, 
Yeah, she knows the man I ain't, 
She forgives me when I can't, 
And the devil man, no, he don't have a prayer. 
Cause she loves me like Jesus does

Yeah, she knows the man I ain't, 
She forgives me when I can't, 
That devil man, he don't stand a chance, 
Cause she loves me like Jesus does.

I'm a long gone Waylon song on vinyl

The Kingdom of the Father is spread upon the Earth and men do not see it.

See it. 

Grace is something that you can never get but only be given.  There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about anymore than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks.  A good night's sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace.  The smell of rain is grace.  Somebody loving you is grace.

- Frederick Buechner 

Mo Pitney - Just a Dog

It seems that Wolfgang made his first appearance in these saturday country music posts on September 1, 2012.  The song was Burl Ives, I found my best friend in the Dog Pound.  It had this photo which made me smile and also brought a tear to my eye.

He sure loved lying on the grass, from when he was a little pup.  Here in Florida, he and I would sit out on the grass at the end of the day, watching the world go by.  The Queen Of The World and I called it "Sit Time", and he always got excited when I said those words.

This week has been a whole lot of him not being there.  This song is all about that.

Just A Dog (Songwriter: Mo Pitney)

Ten years ago I was on my way home,

saw her walking on the side of the highway alone.
It was raining like hell and I kept telling myself
"not my problem, keep on driving, just like everybody else."
Why should I be the one pulling over on the shoulder at night?

It's just a dog, right?

From the cab of my truck, to the foot of my bed,
to a new pair of boots that she chewed in shreds.

Digging holes in the yard, chasing cars down the street
to one gutter and when I found her, I thought it hit me.
Took half of my savings to save her, and I didn't think twice.

It's just a dog, right?

Just an old mutt riding shotgun, getting my seats all muddy.
Just the one who I come home to, just my best fishin' buddy.
We were walking that spring in the sand on the beach.
You know she was the reason, Amy walked up to me.
She lost her place on the couch, but she kept her cool.
She was crazy about Amy and she knew I was too.
And the night that girl left me, she kept me from losing my mind.

But it's just a dog, right?

It's 83° today and man I can hardly wait to get this truck down to the lake,
I bet the bass' are hittin'.
Boats in my rear view mirror, got my... tackle box and all my gear,
the wind is right, the sky is clear, there's only one thing missin'.
Just an old mutt riding shotgun in my seats on my knees.
It just hit me she's not with me like she was this past Sunday.
Why am I pulling over on the shoulder with tears in my eyes?

It's just a dog, right?
She was just a dog, right?

Luke Combs - Still

This week as another offering from the New Nashville, one that gives me hope for the future of Country Music.  It's a brand new release from Luke Combs that could have come out 30 years ago.  It's classic country.

The Queen Of The World pointed this out to me, thinking it would make a good Saturday Redneck post.  She's single-handedly trying to rescue country music for me.

Still (Songwriters: Luke Combs, Jamie Davis, Ray Fulcher, Dan Isbell, Dustin Nunley)

Sure as the north star shining Sure as in spring the dogwoods bloom Sure as the sunset sinking west before it falls Like the leaves in autumn trees were made to do I’m still falling for you girl From the second that I saw you My whole world stood still After all this time I’m just as in love as the day I made you mine I ain’t stopped flying high and never will I’m falling for you still Sweet as summer honeysuckle True as the words written in red Pretty as the daisies growing wild upon the hill Like the rain that came from storm clouds overhead I’m still falling for you girl From the second that I saw you My whole world stood still After all this time I’m just as in love as the day I made you mine I ain’t stopped flying high and never will I’m falling for you still I’m still falling for you girl From the second that I saw you My whole world stood still After all this time I’m just as in love as the day I made you mine I ain’t stopped flying high and never will I’m falling for you still Falling for you girl From the second that I saw you My whole world stood still After all this time I’m just as in love as the day I made you mine I ain’t stopped flying high and never will I ain’t stopped flying high and never will I’m falling for you still Falling for you still

Megan Moroney - Tennessee Orange

Long time readers will know my dislike of "modern" Country music.  But The Queen Of The World told me that I had to listen to this song.  You see, she had been an Atlanta Braves fan but she started wearing Red Sox shirts for me.  Remember, all you need is three chords and the truth.  

Tennessee Orange (Songwriters: Paul Jenkins, David Fanning, Ben Williams, Megan Moroney)

Mama, I'm calling, I've got some news
Don't you tell Daddy, he'll blow a fuse
Don't worry I'm doing okay

I know you raised me to know right from wrong
It ain't what you think
And I'm still writing songs
Just never thought I'd see the day
I've never felt this way

I met somebody, and he's got blue eyes
He opens the door, and he don't make me cry
He ain't from where we're from, but he feels like home
He's got me doing things I've never done
In Georgia they'd call it a sin
I'm wearing Tennessee orange for him

He took me to Knoxville last Saturday
And I wore the hat on his dash to the game
Sure wasn't Athens, but I
Fell for him under those Neyland lights

I met somebody, and he's got blue eyes
He opens the door, and he don't make me cry
He ain't from where we're from, but he feels like home
He's got me doing things I've never done
In Georgia they'd call it a sin
I'm wearing Tennessee orange for him

Mama, forgive me
I like him a lot
Hell, I'm learning the words to "Ol' Rocky Top
And he's got a smile that makes me forget
I've always looked better in red

But I met somebody, and he's got blue eyes
He opens the door, and he don't make me cry
He ain't from where we're from, but he feels like home
He's got me doing things I've never done

I met somebody, and he's got blue eyes
He opens the door, and he don't make me cry
He ain't from where we're from, but he feels like home
He's got me doing things I've never done
In Georgia they'd call it a sin
And I still want the Dawgs to win
But I'm wearing Tennessee orange for him

I'm wearing Tennessee orange for him