Jeff Pophistory

“Last Train to Clarksville” as a Protest Song?

The Monkees

One of the biggest hits recorded by The Monkees is “Last Train to Clarksville,” which was released in 1966. Many of us grew up singing along to the song without realizing it was written as a protest against the Vietnam War.

Take the last train to Clarksville
And I’ll meet you at the station,
You can be here by four-thirty,
‘Cause I’ve made your reservation, don’t be slow,
Oh, no, no, no,
Oh, no, no, no.

If you listen closely to the lyrics sung by Micky Dolenz, you can hear that The Monkees’ “Last Train to Clarksville” is actually in the voice of someone frightened about going off to war.

Now I must hang up the phone,
I can’t hear you in this noisy railroad station,
All alone, I’m feeling low.
Oh, no, no, no,
Oh, no, no, no,
And I don’t know if I’m ever coming home.

The song does not specifically mention the war, but songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart explained that they kind of “snuck in” the Viet Nam references. They noted, “We couldn’t be too direct with the Monkees.”

And that is the story behind the song.

What is your favorite song about the Vietnam War or about trains? Leave your two cents in the comments.

The Ambiguous Anti-War Underpinnings of “Galveston”

When is Mickey Newbury’s “33rd of August”?

Micky Dolenz Covers R.E.M. Song That Was Partly Inspired By the Monkees: “Shiny Happy People”

What Is the Murder Ballad That Holly Hunter Sings to Nathan Jr. in “Raising Arizona”?

Who Sang “Change in My Life” In the Steve Martin Movie “Leap of Faith”?

Matthew Ryan Finds Beauty Within Our National Affliction: “On Our Death Day”

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Buy from Amazon

Marty Brown’s Wild Side Boasts “I’m a Country Boy”

I'm a Country Boy

Country singer Marty Brown has just released a new song, “I’m a Country Boy.” Brown wrote the song with Jon Tiven.

Brown also released a video for the new fist-pumping song with an electric bluesy feeling. The song features tractors, hound dogs, chicken coops, shotguns, camouflage, and moonshine.

Check out the video for “I’m a Country Boy,” where Brown also sports a new bearded look to go with the rough edgy song.

I’m a country boy / That’s all I’ll ever be;
I’m a country boy / Don’t ya mess around with me;
I’m a country boy / Full of back woods pride;
I’m a country boy / I’ve got a wild side!

Brown’s wife Shellie Brown filmed much of the video.

Leave your two cents in the comments.

George Strait Sings a Marty Brown Song: “To the Moon” (Song of the Day)

Marty Brown Sings “There’s a Honky Tonk in Heaven”

Kentucky Music Hall of Fame Opens Exhibit on Marty Brown

Tune In For a Live Marty Brown Concert Online

“Boomtown”: The Debut Album from Maceo

New Video from Marty Brown: “It’s a God Thing”

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Short Review)

Buster Scruggs Review When it was announced that the Coen Brothers were releasing a new movie Western on Netflix called The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), I was quite excited as I love both Westerns and Coen Brothers films. The movie, which is really an anthology of six stories, creates an experience like reading a book of entertaining and thoughtful short stories.

Short stories do not have the benefit of substantial character development, as does a novel. Some of the tales in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs may leave you wishing for more. And, like a book of short stories, some of the stories are stronger than others. But the whole seems to get stronger the longer you watch.

Six Tales

Without spoiling any of the stories, I would note that even if you do not love the first two stories — “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and “Near Algodones” — you should continue. The segment that gives the movie its title features a happy singing gunslinger played by Tim Blake Nelson. “Near Algodones,” which features James Franco, is good but goes by too fast, like eating a small bag of potato chips. But you are likely to get drawn into the odd story of the third segment, “Meal Ticket,” featuring Liam Neeson.

The fourth and fifth tales may be the strongest. “All Gold Canyon” features singer-songwriter Tom Waits doing a great acting job as a grizzled gold prospector in what may be the happiest of all the stories. And “The Gal Who Got Rattled” features many elements of a traditional wagon train epic. It focuses on the plight of a woman whose companion on the trip, her brother, dies. Of all the segments, it is “The Gal Who Got Rattled” that appears most like it could have been developed into a feature film on its own.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ends with a story set mainly in a stagecoach, “The Mortal Remains.” This segment plays more like a coda that connects again to issues about death and the frontier that echo throughout all of the segments.

Rotten Tomatoes currently gives the movie a 91% critics rating and a 74% audience rating. In short, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a worthwhile trip through various Western tropes, such as gunslingers, con men, outlaws, wagon trains, gold prospectors, stagecoaches, and death. Partly because of the anthology nature, you likely will not find it to be your favorite Coen Brothers film. But it is extremely enjoyable and worthwhile nonetheless.

Which tale in “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” is your favorite? Leave your two cents in the comments.

When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings

This Week in Pop Culture Roundup (Nov. 5, 2011)

What Is the Murder Ballad That Holly Hunter Sings to Nathan Jr. in “Raising Arizona”?

“The Grey” Is Not the Movie You Thought It Was (Missed Movies)

Show Me the Meaning! (Podcast Review)

What Becomes of All the Little Boys?

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Buy from Amazon

It May Be Quite Simple, But This Commercial With Elton John Is Awesome

Your Song Commercial A new commercial for John Lewis & Partners shows the impact that a gift may have by traveling through the years of the life of Elton John. The moving ad begins with Elton John at a piano playing the opening notes to his classic hit, “Your Song.” And through the music, the commercial takes us back through John’s career.

There is little to indicate it is a holiday commercial, besides the Christmas tree next to John at the beginning. And as the video takes us back through various iterations of Elton John throughout his career, one may wonder what is being advertised. At the end, we see the power of the perfect gift from John’s grandmother. Yes, it is an ad for a retail company, but it is moving nonetheless. Of course, anything would become moving simply by the addition of John’s “Your Song,” but the images really sell the story here.

The ad is also a nice tribute to Elton John, who is on his final tour. John has explained that creating the commercial has “been a lovely opportunity for me to reflect on my life in music and the incredible journey I have been on, and how first playing my Grandmother’s piano marks the moment when music came into my life.” Check out the commercial from John Lewis & Partners below.

What is your favorite holiday commercial? Leave your two cents in the comments.

Elton John Joins James Corden for “Carpool Karaoke”

The Timelessness of Elton John’s “Your Song”

Elton John’s Tribute to John Lennon: Where is the Garden of the “Empty Garden”?

Ickes and Hensley on Elton John’s “Ballad of a Well-Known Gun”

Willie Nelson and Engelbert Humperdinck: “Make You Feel My Love”

BBC Releases All-Star “God Only Knows”

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

Oh Bury Me Not The song “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie” is largely considered one of the most famous cowboy ballads of all time. Although first published in 1910 in John Lomax‘s Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads, the song’s roots go back even further. More recently, Colter Wall made a beautiful version along with a video.

“Bury Me Not” originated as a song about the sea, called “O Bury Me Not in the Deep Deep Sea.” The lyrics to the song, “The Ocean Burial” (or “The Sailor’s Grave”), were written by preacher and poet Edwin Hubbell Chapin and published in 1839 in a literary magazine. Chapin was born in New York on December 29, 1814, later living in Vermont, Virginia, and Massachusetts. George N. Allen later put music to the words of Chapin’s poem.

“Oh, bury me not in the deep, deep sea.”
These words came low and mournfully,
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
In his small cabin bed at the close of day.

At some point, the song developed into a cowboy lament regarding the prairie. “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie” appeared in various publications in the early 1900s. The song remains very similar to “The Ocean Burial,” as one may see by comparing the opening verse above to the opening verse of “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie” below.

“O bury me not on the lone prairie.”
These words came low and mournfully,
From the pallid lips of the youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day.

The song is partly about death but also about loneliness and being away from home. The dying cowboy (or sailor) laments that they are far from home and worries that his body will be buried far from home where loved ones cannot “come and weep o’er me.” The real cowboys must have related to the song, feeling isolated from their homes while out on the wide open prairie. It made for a lonely life. In the song lyrics, the cowboy’s comrades “took no heed to his dying prayer. / In a narrow grave, just six by three/ They buried him there on the lone prairie.”

In more recent years, many artists, such as Johnny Cash, recorded the song. “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie” appeared in the theme music for the movie Stagecoach (1930). The film featured John Wayne’s breakout performance that helped make him a star.

More recently, Colter Wall recorded his own more introspective version. Here is Wall’s video for “Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie,” Live from Speedy Creek.