The Song Remains the Same

The year was ... well, it was more than one. Mid-to-late 1990s. The situation is described in my post "A poor soul on Pompeii" from last fall.

The scene was a textile manufacturing village as its economy was dying. The little town stradded* railroad tracks, and I literally didhear "that lonesome whistle howl" night after night, as the apartment walls rattled.

The tiny radio station I worked for played country-and-western music all day and all night, between news breaks mornings, noontime and evenings. Most of the music I really could not stand at first, then I could tolerate, and later I found I did actually like some of the tracks.

What follows (following some memory-jogging research) is what resonated with me most from that period:

"Sweet Little Adriana" by Vince Gill

"Tear-Stained Letter" by Patty Loveless

"Strawberry Wine" by Deana Carter

"Burn One Down" by Clint Black

"What Mattered Most" by Ty Herndon

"Don't Call Me Names" by Joe Diffie

"Blue" by Lee Ann Rimes

"Believe Me (I Lied)" by Trisha Yearwood

"In This Life" by Collin Raye

"That's Another Song" by Brian White

You could substitute "High Lonesome Sound" by Gill and "Lonely Too Long" by Ms. Loveless to get an even "bluer" feel, or you could add "Be Good At It" by Neal McCoy and "Old Enough to Know Better" by Wade Hayes for some laughs.

I guess one reason I'm posting this is that I watched parts of a country music awards show recently, and, in my brief viewings, I got more sizzle than steak. The above list may feed the soul hungry for some grassroots Southern working-folks music. Those songs certainly fed mine.

Maybe I'll post my 1980s country faves someday. The list would be shorter -- but maybe more interesting, for reasons I may explain. I could add some 70's country faves to it, but that really would be another song.

Originally posted to LiveJournal on April 6, 2009

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*'Typos' from the original are left intact, quote marks added.