Although this is only my 276th Music Blog posting it actually represents my 609th Daily Song posting. That’s because I began sending these write-ups around to a group of friends via e-mail about a year before I began to post them on thisrightbrain.com
Although the Number 609 sounds like a rather random milestone, I believe it will maintain a mnemonic hold on me for the rest of my life, and it’s all on account of this song.
There are those (like me) who believe that Elton John and collaborator, Bernie Taupin reached their pinnacle in the early 1970s. Certainly one their finest efforts was “Tumbleweed Connection”. Released in October 1970, it was Elton’s second gold record, following its predecessor, the eponymous “Elton John” which was certified gold a month earlier, and preceding its successor, “Friends” which went gold a month later.
Released as the B-side single to “Your Song” (Elton’s first big hit), “Country Comfort” was also featured as a track on “Tumbleweed Connection” which is where I first heard and enjoyed it. Who knew that recalling the lyrics to this song would come in handy nearly two decades later while living and working in Canada?
Although the odometer on my American-made Oldsmobile measured mileage, the expense reports that I would dutifully submit after each business trip specified kilometers. And since 1 mile = 1.609 kilometers, it wasn’t long before I began to sing this song to myself whenever an expense report was due.
As it so happens I traveled a lot that year, so much so that Deacon Lee, his sermon and that precisely timed train that goes roaring past the creek still make their presence known nearly every morning…when the clock hits 6:09.
LISTEN TO TODAY’S SELECTION – Friday 25 January
Country Comfort
Soon the pines will be falling everywhere
Village children fight each other for a share
And the 6:09 goes roaring past the creek
Deacon Lee prepares his sermon for next week.
I saw grandma yesterday down at the store
Well she’s really going fine for eighty-four
Well she asked me if sometime I’d fix her barn
Poor old girl she needs a hand to run the farm.
And it’s good old country comfort in my bones
Just the sweetest sound my ears have ever known
Just an old-fashioned feeling fully-grown
Country comfort’s any truck that’s going home.
Down at the well they’ve got a new machine
The foreman says it cuts manpower by fifteen
Yeah, but that ain’t natural, well so old Clay would say
He was a horse-drawn man until his dying day.
And it’s good old country comfort in my bones
Just the sweetest sound my ears have ever known
Just an old-fashioned feeling fully-grown
Country comfort’s any truck that’s going back home.
Now the old fat goose is flying cross the sticks
The hedgehog’s done in clay between the bricks
And the rocking chair’s creaking on the porch
Across the valley moves the herdsman with his torch.
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