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Well, hello. I’m still testing this.

Music Notes

A blog, generally about music, usually for projects hosted by Jeff

. I may also write about the 48-Hour Media Prompt Challenge if I don't feel like writing a story or poem inspired by the given song. Other bits of poetry or different topics of discussion might end up here as well.

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

SAD Holiday Potato

Oct 15, 2024 at 12:09pm
In response to "500 Miles (I'm Gonna Be) (ID cover)"

That was an amazing performance. Dan certainly has a sense of showmanship..

1 Like

Merry QPdoll

Oct 12, 2024 at 8:00am
In response to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine (CCR)"

I've only known the Marvin Gaye version. I have to say that CCR did it justice. The drums and that bass. So cool.

Excellent choice!

1 Like

♥HOOves♥

Oct 12, 2024 at 7:45am
In response to "I Heard It Through the Grapevine (CCR)"

Great song choice! There is also a version with Gladys Knight and the Pips that may or may not have been the first one. It was the first one that I heard.

1 Like

Dave Ryan

Oct 11, 2024 at 8:19am
In response to "If I Had a Hammer"

Puff the Magic Dragon is a great song for traumatising the kids. There's nothing like a happy ending, and that one is definitely nothing like a happy ending.

1 Like

Merry QPdoll

Oct 10, 2024 at 7:57am
In response to "Fast Car (Jonas Blue cover)"

This is great! I love this song and have heard a couple of different versions, but I've never heard this one. Thank you for sharing.

1 Like

♥HOOves♥

Oct 9, 2024 at 9:07am
In response to "Fortunate Son"

Love Centerfield and Have You Ever Seen the Rain, also!

So many wonderful songs!

1 Like

♥HOOves♥

Oct 8, 2024 at 9:00am
In response to "I Won't Back Down"

Great song choice!

1 Like

Merry QPdoll

Oct 8, 2024 at 6:15am
In response to "I Won't Back Down"

I like Tom Petty, too. My favorite song is Mary Jane's Last Dance. However, I like the message of I Won't Back Down. It's a fine choice.

1 Like

tracker

Oct 7, 2024 at 12:23pm
In response to "Creeque Alley"

This is when I like AI. The song is a story about when the group was formed. It was released when I had first started college. Where? In California! Good choice of song.

1 Like

Merry QPdoll

Oct 6, 2024 at 7:58am
In response to "Three Little Birds"

It's been a long time since I've heard this song. I don't know if I've heard it from beginning to end. I think it's just been in pieces in different instances. Thank you for sharing. I don't have a playlist, but the song is fun.

1 Like

October 13, 2024 at 7:43am

#1078204

I Walk the Line

My tenth track is an old favorite from the late Johnny Cash. Originally released in 1956 I Walk the Line has been recorded several times, and a remastered version direct from the vintage Sun Studios label is available on YouTube, along with several live performance videos and movie cuts.

This is one of the only Johnny Cash songs I enjoy. I generally find him to be a dreary lyricist, who wrote and sang dusty Americana style ballads about gritty subjects I'd rather not think of. His voice is a distinctive deeper one, which I do admire.

The first time I ever heard I Walk the Line was kind of funny. Does anyone remember the days when Walmart would have a "jukebox" somewhere around the candle section? It was a display of CDs with "atmospheric" music, and there would be a soundbox with buttons you push to hear samples of each CD. They took those out a long time ago.

One day when I was a kid, Mom and I were looking at the selection of music. She pushed one button, and the soulful words of I Walk the Line came out. I found the pretty green cover of an Irish CD more interesting, and pushed that button, expecting to hear a Celtic instrumental. Instead, I Walk the Line was interrupted by a beer flavored bar doggerel belting out, much to Mom's dismay.

Afterwards, she fetched I Walk the Line on the computer, and it became an instant classic in my book, with simple words sung in a comprehensible way. It was one of the only songs I memorized and wrote down the lyrics to, in the same notebook where I kept all my favorite poetry I'd gathered over the years.

When Mom and I read about Johnny Cash's personal life, she said it was bad for him to have divorced his first wife (who he wrote the song for) to marry June Carter. I wasn't sure if I should pass judgment on him, because he seemed to be very happy with his second wife and stayed with her for the rest of his life. I asked myself if maybe sometimes a person could marry the "wrong" spouse and then find the one they were "meant" to have, and would it be such a bad thing to let the first one go if they felt they were better suited for the second one? But a person might do that over and over again, and be mistaken every time, or find someone else they feel is "just right…" Hold on while I overthink this…

At any rate, I Walk the Line is a song no one can argue with. While reading the Wikipedia page

on it, I learned about the "chicka chicka boom boom" phenomenon. I'd never given any thought to the goofy phrase; indeed, I couldn't have told you where I heard it before (a brand of popcorn, maybe?)

I remember when we watched a live TV performance from the 50's, the backing bass note was carried by a double bass (a giant standing violin) alongside Johnny. I did not know about the paper folded into his guitar to produce the other sound, which I now recognize as the onomatopoeic equivalent of that phrase. Becoming aware of key shifts and why he hums through the song makes me listen to I Walk the Line more carefully, even though I know nothing substantial about music theory.

This is a classic song I'm happy to have on my playlist.

Words: 604.

1 Like • Comment

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