"Wichita Lineman"- Glen Campbell

I remember listening to this song on the AM radio late one night (CKLW, I think) in a car while my family was traveling to my aunt's house for vacation when I was 7 or so, and looking out the window at the moonlit sky as we sped down the mostly deserted highway. It was one of the first "perfect moments" I can ever remember having, as to this day over 30 years later I can remember every frame of that memory vignette when I hear it again:

http://recluseshow.blogspot.com/2007/11/wichita-lineman-glen-campbell.html

That was a good clip, thanks for posting. :thumbsup:

And my baby brother grew up to be a Wichita Lineman.

He also wrote, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix."

I love wistful songs.
Those 'perfect moments' are great aren't they - it seems a long time since I had one <sigh>

My favorite aunt died from liver cancer...at the age of 32. She had 2 little boys. I had just attended the largest funeral I had ever seen. I was in the car on the way to the cemetary for the burial.

It was a dark, gray, early February day in Iowa.

It couldn't have been more depressing. This was 31 years ago and to this day, there has never been anything that equals the sadness I felt on that cold, dreary day.

The Gates of Delirium by Yes came on the radio. I'll always remember these lyrics coming over the radio.

Soon, oh soon the light
Ours to shape for all time
Ours the right
The sun will lead us
Our reason to be here

It was a perfect moment in a very sad, strange way.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Forty yrs ago. Our ship was an LST built in 1945, crew of about 200. LST means "Landing Ship Tank" but the joke is to call it a "Large Slow Target." It is basically a hollow tube that literally crashes onto the shore, and the two bow doors open, a ramp comes down, and the cargo-- which at one time WAS tanks, but was bulldozers mostly, or pallets of stuff that were forklifted down the ramp--is unloaded.

So, anyway, we were enroute from the Phillippines to Guam, empty. We ran smack dab into a terrific storm that lasted over a day. This type of ship, being hollow, has been known to snap in two. Plus, it has a FLAT BOTTOM, so that when it hits waves the whole front rises up, UP out of the water and hovers there, vibrating like a tuning fork, then SLAPS down onto the surface.

So we went through this storm. Everybody had to carry on the normal tasks, like standing watch for four hours at a time on a rotation. We were seasick. The gravity pulling us as we tried to climb the ladders was terrific.

So finally it was over and we found ourselves on calm ocean, cruising along at our normal ten knots. As a reward, if that's what you call it, the captain (who was really a lieutenant) gave us "holiday routine," meaning the day off. What do you do for fun at sea? Well, we headed topside to lie about on the deck, sunbathing. The captain also broke open the officers' supplies that we didn't know about and sent out ice cold oranges to everybody.

It was like we were suspended in time with perfect weather on a perfect sea. Somebody had a cassette player or whatever and "The Crystal Ship" played. I had never heard it before. And it was years later when I tracked it down. Perfect.



Actually, this was the second incident within a few weeks that a song zinged. When we first arrived at the naval base in Subic Bay, the Phillippies, it was for three weeks of R&R after seven months in Vietnam. It was a habit when we arrived at a Liberty port to head somewhere for a steak dinner and a beer before heading out for some serious partying. The base was first class. There was a juke box. There was a new song by The Beatles: "Hey, Jude." That was a moment, too.

Thanks for posting that; it's amazing (and spiritual) how much music can be a conduit for some "perfect moments" in a life.....

With all the chipping paint, priming, and painting we did, how could the old rustbucket look like this??!1 We *did* call it "the benjo maru" which supposedly is (Japanese?) for "shit ship." But I didn't expect this pic to be the one spread out there for all to see.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Luzerne_County_(LST-902)

damn

he's been on a long time

determined d00d

yeah i love that song too

:thumbsup:

So pure and haunting.

I saw Glen Campbell at the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos CA at the peak of his career...when "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" was on weekly TV.

I love "Gentle On My Mind" but prefer various versions by its composer, the late John Hartford. "Wichita Lineman" brings back memories for me, too...some of which I can't relate to a specific time or incident, I just get a feeling. The line "And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time" is pretty heavy for a top-40 song. Some of Jimmy Webb's stuff got a little strange, but "Wichita Lineman" smoothed over the strangeness with...dare I say it...a "haunting melody."

For the record, when I saw Campbell, he hit every note perfectly, and looked more like a wax statue from Madame Tussaud's than a real person. Every hair was sprayed down in place. There were no surprises in his show but he performed a good, solid set featuring all of his hits and the audience loved it.

:toast:

and he can stll nail it.
Granted, there was plenty of hokum in the show, Campbell playing "Amazing Grace" on Campbell tartan bagpipes, singing a duet with his daughter, etc...BUT his stellar musicianship always came through.

He was a lineman, he was electricuted one time, he was in the Gulf Coast area afer a hurricane, and he spent a lot of cold nights repairing downed power lines.

I am a lineman for the county.
And I drive the mainroad.
Lookin' in the sun for another overload.

I hear you singing in the wire.
I can hear you thru the whine.
And the Wichita Lineman,
is still on the line.

I know I need a small vacation.
But it don't look like rain.
And if it snows that stretch down south,
won't ever stand the strain.

And I need you more than want you.
And I want you for all time.
And the Wichita Lineman,
is still on the line.

God, he looked bad.
Emaciated with sunken eyes and cheeks.
I thought he'd be dead within the year.
Guess he cleaned up?

GET THE MAN SOME SINGING LESSONS OMFG PLUG YOUR EARS :banghead: