Sunday, March 20, 2011

still, after all this time



since one of the eternal themes of this blog is mkf getting shitfaced and casting what's left of his memory back to that period when he was last happy, and since it's been awhile since i've allowed myself to wallow in that particular trough
and since it came up on shuffle tonight just as i was getting really toasted
i present for your delectation what may well be, with the possible exception of "the green, green grass of home", the ultimate country crying-in-your-beer song of all time.

mostly forgotten today, there was a long stretch back in 1963 when it was pretty much impossible to make even a short trip to the UtoteM in any red state in america without hearing this song on any radio station you picked--and even after its heyday, i personally have seen strong men, including 240-lb former NFL linebackers [ok fine, just one--and yeah, he was drunk] reduced to tears when it came up on the jukebox.

while i can't remember the first time i heard it, "still" conjures up for me so many nights half-asleep in the darkened backseat of the family car on any number of road trips, watching the glowing tips of my parents' cigarettes up front as we travelled cross-texas and countless songs like this faded in and out on the radio.

good times.



2 comments:

noblesavage said...

Well, this one left me stumped 'cause as much as I thought I knew about country music and you, this was new.

Now, about the song...Talking in the song? Talking in the middle of the song! It's never been my favorite and I'll stand by that.

mkf said...

noblesavage: i'm not sure why this one stumped you--i mean, how is it different from the countless other sloppy, sentimental i'll-cringe-later forays into my past that have appeared here?

as for the song, believe it or not, "still" wasn't just a huge country hit--it also broke the top 10 on the pop charts. you just weren't born in the right time or place to appreciate it--either that, or you weren't drunk enough.