Monday, February 09, 2009

Merle Fucking Haggard

Man, all's I know is that I got in the car the other day around lunchtime, turned it on, and the radio was parked on the public radio station where I left it that morning. And what comes out of my speakers but an Austin City Limits recording from the 70's of Merle Haggard singing his song, "Silver Wings."

And I just...sang.

I have not heard that song in a good two decades, but when I was a kid, I must have heard it a bajillion times on trips that my Mom and I took. Back then, my grandparents lived down in the Rio Grande Valley, so every time we went to see them -- Thanksgiving, Christmas, weeks during the summer -- we packed up the car and set out on an 8 hour journey down the Eastern leg of Texas. And along with our luggage and my arsenal of toys, we always packed up these two fake leather cassette tape carriers of my mom's, both filled to capacity with tapes of all the stuff she liked, mostly stuff that I would find absolutely torturous today, but that I liked just fine back then. Let's see, besides old Merle, there was George Strait, Lee Greenwood, Eddie Rabbitt, Alabama, Conway Twitty, Barbara Mandrell, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette -- I guess Dolly and Tammy are aight -- and, oh God, have you ever heard of this clown named, are you ready for this? Englebert Humperdinck. I think even as a kid, I gave my mom shit about that one, if only for his name.

So yeah, not exactly my current tastes. But when I heard that song, it just clicked and I knew every last word. I didn't even have to dig back into my memory, the lyrics were just right there. I can't say I particularly like that song all that much, but I like the associations, the pictures that come up when I think about it. I didn't even mind having it rolling around in my head for the rest of the afternoon.

God, music is just the best.

2 comments:

Julie said...

My mother LOVES Englebert Humperdinck too, what is up with that?! He is her favorite singer and she always thought he was such an incredible crooner. I think she even thought he was hot. How do you even get a career with a name like that?

I also listened to much of the music you did as a kid and can still belt out most 70's and 80's country if I hear it on the radio. That and Blondie's Auto American and Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA. I got it hand it to them, my parents had eclectic taste! I wonder what our kids will have buried deep in their subconscious one day.

Whit said...

Merle Haggard's Christmas album was such a staple of my childhood that I bought a copy on CD for me and my sister. It sounded better with the scratches of vinyl.