About Me

Twenty years ago I asked a Tarot card reader what would I be doing when I was 50. She replied, “I see you doing something so wildly creative, it defies a job title.” Only recently did I realize that was a slick way of saying, “I have no idea of what you’ll be doing.” But that prediction kept me charging ahead to the fifties with zeal and anticipation. Now that the future is today, I’m ready for anything!

A Song That's Gentle on My Mind

I admit it. I watched The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour when it was on TV in the 1960s. Wichita Lineman, Gentle On My Mind, and the less-played Where’s the Playground Susie: All bring a smile to my face when I hear them on oldies radio.

GalvestonPerhaps my favorite song by Glen Campbell is Galveston, written by Jimmy Webb and released in 1969. VH1 did a Behind the Music program about Campbell in 1999. It was from this program that I learned Galveston was considered an antiwar song.

Another thing I didn’t know: Glen Campbell was a hawk. But according to Behind the Music he recorded Galveston because he felt it told a good story.

Besides my sheepish enjoyment of Campbell’s music, I felt a respect for him as an individual. In today’s polarized climate, I can’t imagine many people who are able to put aside their own political beliefs and express the message of the opposition. That’s what makes a 41-year-old song and an 11-year-old cable TV program relevant today.


Posted by Susan Maricle
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1 comment:

  1. Susan MaricleAugust 6, 2010 at 3:17 PM

    I owned "Galveston" when I was a kid, of course, and was thrilled to find the album recently at a garage sale. What made it even more of a find: it was still wrapped and tagged with the Musicland retail sticker. I worked at Musicland's corporate headquarters in the 1990s.

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