The Wichita Lineman
So the other day I found myself slumped in front of The Oprah Winfrey Show (do we still call it that? Or is it just Oprah now?), a program I try my best to avoid unless Oprah is being Serious Journalist Oprah (Oprahs I can't stand include God's Gift to Africa Oprah, Redecorating Rooms Oprah and Kissing Celebrity Ass Oprah, a.k.a Celebroprah). As it happened, the most annoying of all the Oprahs happened to be on the day I tuned in: Just One of the Girls Oprah, which meant that she was accompanied by her own personal Fallout Boy, Gayle King. On this episode, "the girls" decided to venture out among The American People in a conspicuously modest-looking sedan trailed by a helicopter and camera crew, there to document Oprah as she condescended to Midwestern Bingo players and proclaimed herself too clean for roadside motels. At some point in the program, O & G crossed the state line into Kansas, and talked some Golden Oldies D.J. into playing The Wichita Lineman to honor their arrival. America was then treated to an Oprah-Gayle singalong duet, during which Gayle proclaimed, somewhat redundantly, "I love this!" approximately 47 times.
Now, The Wichita Lineman is one of those songs you probably haven't heard since you were a kid riding sans seat belt in a big American car with your grandma while she tamped out her cigarette in a bean bag ash tray on the dashboard, and if you hear it again, it will bring you right back. The lyrics apparently concern the internal musings of a Midwestern telephone line repairman, something I might be able to ask my dad about, since this is what he used to do for a living.
Apparently Gayle King is not the only fan of The Wichita Lineman, as iTunes lists approximately 62 versions of the song available for download, including covers by Johnny Cash and R.E.M. I guess Glen Campbell's version is the one that takes me back to my days in grandma's Ford Falcon, but I can't be too sure.
posted by Strikethru at
7:55 PM
10 Comments:
62 versions?! And you have to assume that there are numerous other versions out there that aren't on the iTunes store.
The one I've got is a duet of Glen Campbell with Michelle Shocked, with Texas Tornadoes as the backing band. It suffices; I really don't need 61 more versions!
That's a great song. A few years back I taught myself how to play it on guitar, but I had to use the REM live version because it was the only one I had a CD of. I remember it had a bunch of weird chords in it that were really hard to figure out. It's funny because when you listen to that song it never occurs to you that it would be hard to learn. You just think, "that song rules."
I believe there is even a Simpson's episode where Homer sings that song pretending to be the on hold music and iterupting himself with "please hold, your call is very important to us..."
not sure what the relevance of pointing that out is.
The song suggests pompador crispy haired go-go mom's with mascara running down their pale faces as they trip over their peach high-heel shoes on their way out of white-front super-stores with bags of hair-dryer inserts, carrob stars, and semi translucent plastic iced-tea jugs destined to collect dust 'hind particle board larchmont cabinetry.
Why is it that no one but us has ever eaten carob stars?
Carob stars are the symbols of all that was our childhood. midly flavorful treat substitutes in gaudy shapes that overstated everything about them. Sold at Sears in crispy wax bags .. left half-eaten. No doubt they have retained their starry shapes to this very day.. at the bottom of a north highlands dump.
Countt me among those who have never heard of carob stars. Googled them and mostly came up with specialty dog biscuit sites. No wonder you left them half eaten. I did that with many a milk bone myself.
You guys are lucky you got carob stars; we had to settle for carob-covered raisins.
Was mom feeding us dog treats?!
No not dog treats. I loved carob stars so thought they were better for us than chocolate. Carob is a good substitute.
Your dad was the Withta Lineman for Pacific Bell. Loved that song.
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