Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Random Musical Musings: Conway Twitty & Merle Haggard

Earlier this morning these guys played Conway Twitty's 1981 No. 1 hit "Tight-Fittin' Jeans." I've always loved that song, thought it was one of his best, but more and more in the last few years, I wonder. If the woman in the song wanted so badly to be a "good ole boy's girl," then just why in the hell didn't she go after one? It sounds to me as if she was settling for less than what she really wanted. I suppose more than a few would offer various reasons for that, but in the end, do they really matter? I am guessing the answer is no, if it's to the point that the married woman in question is bar-hopping alone. Maybe I am over-analyzing that song, or maybe I am just hopelessly old-fashioned.
(Ooooh, old-school Johnny Cash, 9:27 am: "Big River," 1958. Oh, HELL YEAH! Right after it, one of my favorite Waylon Jennings records, "I'm A Ramblin' Man," 1974.)

On my drive home last night, I was jamming to the Hag. I downloaded the Down every Road box set onto my iPod, and as I was parking the truck "Ramblin' Fever" was playing. C'mon, sing along, you know the words...
"I caught this ramblin' fever long ago, when I first heard that lonesome whistle blow,
If someone said I ever gave a damn, they damn sure told you wrong,
I've had ramblin' fever all along..."
There's no telling how many times I've heard that song in the last ten years, and still I am not tired of it; I can say the same of pretty much anything else in the Hag's catalog. Sometimes I wonder how I'd feel if I had come of age when all those songs were hit records and were getting played several times a day -- or if Hag had been treated by radio as Garth Brooks was when he came along, i.e., "every time we play 12-in-a-row, you will hear Merle Haggard," as one of the radio stations did with Mr. Brooks in the town where I was raised. Or WAS Hag treated that way? Comments?
Oh, speak of the devil! 9:46 am: "Aaaalways wanting you, but never having you...makes it hard to face tomorrow, 'cause I know I'll wake up wanting you again...." another of those songs I still haven't gotten tired of...