Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: country music, mid life, music reviews, new country music lyrics, parenting
I was born the youngest child and only son of a Manager of Advertising for a Refractories company and grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have no idea what my father’s father did, but it was something quite different than my Dad. I grew up cutting the grass on a 1/4 acre plot a mile from the mall. I fell in love with a young woman who was going to college with me and who grew up in a suburb of Detriot. She was majoring in Secretarial Science and I in Biology. We initially settled down in our first house in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee. We lived there for 10 years and then I decided I was “called” to be a minister so I went back to college to get my degree in Religious Education. We were offered to move into the parsonage of a church in a small Northern town. After a couple years as a minister I decided that being a paid church employee wasn’t for me. I then went back to being a engineering technician in an R&D lab. Very much like my father’s first job. We stayed in the small Northern town.
We have two kids. One for each of us. We live in a house someone else built. I’m fortunate if I can just keep up with maintenance on our house. Actually there are quite a few jobs I don’t know how to begin so they remain undone. I keep thinking I’ll sign up for the courses at Home Depot and learn how to tackle them but as of yet have not.
So it seems I have nothing in common with Alan Jackson’s Small Town Southern Man, right?
That is until you get to the chorus.
For I bow my head to Jesus. (I work teaching and preaching and so forth for my local church)
I stood for Uncle Sam. (I served 6 years in the United States Navy)
I have only loved one woman. (We have been happily married (that is for most of it) for 27 years.)
And I am proud of what I have. ( I have worked hard for it. I haven’t completely worn out my body but some days it is hard to walk and stand.)
And my greatest contribution is what I’ll leave behind. (I have some pretty awesome kids), that I hope will agree I have raised with gentle kindness.
So I hope you’ll agree I have become a small town Northern man.
Come visit www.CountryMusicTopTwenty.com
Filed under: country music | Tags: country music, faith in God, new country music lyrics, top twenty
Many years ago while we were living in Nashville, TN some friends took us to visit Music Row to check out the sites. We ventured into a gift shop of one of the female country music singers. The store personnel had one of her music videos playing. We seem to think the lyrics of the song said, “I’m just a country girl”. My wife and don’t recall for sure who it was. This was around 18 years ago. I thought it was Babara Mandrell but I’m not finding on a search of sites on her music that she sang such a song. The thing that struck me odd was that she was making such a claim in the song while she was stepping out of a stretch limo dressed in a mink stole. This almost seemed hypocritical to me. It seemed to me no self respecting “country girl” would be caught dead doing such a thing. When I think country dress I think of blue jeans and boots not an evening gown and furs. I know a country girl gets dressed up to go out special every once in a while but that seems a little over the top.
When I saw Taylor Swift’s video of “Our song” recently I had a similar reaction. It just seemed too frilly.
I do enjoy the song though. Very upbeat and fun and original. The girl is talented! She has a long and undoubtedly successful career ahead of her.
As a father of a young lady who is just turning 21 in 9 days I do have a problem with the “Sneakin’ out late” aspect of things.
One aspect of country music I have come to appreciate is the connection to faith in God. I greatly appreciae Taylor expressing her faith in sharing her prayer, “before I said amen
Asking God if he could play it again.”
I will continue to enjoy listening to her songs in the future.
If you love country music come visit www.countrymusictoptwenty.com
Filed under: country music
I grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have never used a piece of farm equipment in my life. Not even a tractor. I do work for a company that makes cooling systems for such equipment. I oversee the durability testing of these fans and fan drives, so I do have a vested interest in farming.
I live in a small farming community in Michigan. A number of times I have found myself behind farm equipment when I was in a hurry to get somewhere. Although I have never cussed out these “drivers” or given them the finger I have asked the occupants in my vehicle why these farmers couldn’t time these trips in the middle of the day when there was very little traffic to deal with. When their trip was not holding me back.
I know this is not fair to them. They need to be able to get their equipment where they need it when they need it there. Their job is difficult enough without having to do the gymnastics of all these special timing schedules.
I do have a deep appreciation for farmers. They have been and are still integral to the success of our great nation. I know many of them get ” a little pay for a lot of hay”. I’m very glad they are willing to do this often thankless job. I have thought I would like to try my hand at it but realize I wouldn’t have any clue of where to start. The experience that has been handed down through many generations of farmers is priceless.
Thank you farmers for our full bellies.
If you enjoy county music take a look at: www.CountryMusicTopTwenty.com
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: country music, daughters, fathers, letting go, top twenty
Chuck hits it right on the head with these lyrics. I have a daughter that will turn 21 this month. She has a serious relationship with a young man she met at college. She keeps mentioning the “M” word. I’m not very comfortable with this and have told her so. She says it will be a long time down the road but she feels he is the one. My son of 14 (next month) keeps asking me if I like her boyfriend. I’ m not sure how I feel. He seems nice enough but is any young man going to be good enough for my little girl? I sure do love it when my daughter hugs me and looks up into my eyes and says “I love you, Daddy”. With her away at school it doesn’t happen near enough these days. But she is a young woman now even if I don’t want to accept it. I still can see her as we put her in the crib when we brought her home from the hospital. She looked soooo tiny in that big bed.
Last winter when she was coming home from school she went down the road we warned her not to in the snowy weather. The road was mostly clear but for a few drifts. She was going way too fast as usual. She topped a hill and hit a drift that pushed her into the other lane, where she caught the corner of an oncoming car. She called me on the phone at work. I couldn’t leave work fast enough. Unfortunately I was an hour away. I made it there as quickly as I could and was glad to find she had only a cut on her leg. That was very good news. The man in the other car was not hurt. I’m just not ready for things like this but yet I have to let her go. I need to give her roots as well as wings.
I still enjoy looking at those old pictures and remembering times with her then.
Thanks Chuck for making me know there are other dads out there feeling the same way. Just don’t expect me to listen to your song much. It’s just too darn sad. And I can’t let the other guys see me cry can I now?
