Glen Campbell was born in Arkansas, but he got his start here, in Albuquerque NM, playing for his Uncle's band, "Dick Bills & the Sandia mountain boys", back in the '50s. Folks here, still think of him as a favorite son. (I might add, my best mate @Harvest - the wonder from down under, was actually born in Albuquerque)
I'm not into Country, & I've never been a Glen Campbell fan, but now that I think of it, that bastard wrote more songs that are permanently stuck in my head than anybody else ever has! After his death, I reviewed his body of work, & found that his 3 songs, which stick in my head the most all have 2 things in common -loss & longing.
Today, it may be easy to miss that "Galveston" is a war song. It's about a kid in WHAM-BAM VIET NAM, longing for the girl he left behind. He's scared shitless "I can hear your sea winds crashin', as I watch the canons flashin', I clean my gun, & dream of Galveston." - "Galveston oh Galveston, I am so afraid of dying, before I dry the tears she's crying!" Listening to it again, I caught an intimation that he doesn't make it. The U.S. got involved in Viet Nam, when I went to kindergarten, in 1962. The war came to its real end, days before I graduated high school, in June 1975. During those years, countless boys dreamed of their own Galveston. over 40,000 never made it back.
"Rhinestone Cowboy" is also about loss. In the first verse, he wins it. But, in the last verse, he's already lost it. He's back on "those dirty sidewalks of Broadway", trying to make a comeback, "With a subway token, & a dollar tucked in my shoe".
The one that haunts me most is "Wichita Lineman" The protagonist is a guy in a dead-end job, "I am a lineman for the County". He goes about his thankless task - when we become aware of a female presence - "I hear you singing in the wire. I can hear you through the whine". This can only be the dispatcher! We surmise, she is his girlfriend, but the song doesn't tell us. For all we know, she doesn't even know he exists! Maybe, he wanted to get her under the mistletoe at the County Christmas party & wussed out. - And then, a GREAT line of poetry: "And, I need you, more than want you. And I want you for all time." He tools down the road, propelled by a longing greater than all time - for that siren voice in the wire. Even though, it's only empty longing!
I think empty longing is infinitely superior to just plain empty.
