Tom T.'s Thoughts On His Songs
I WITNESS LIFE
Salute To A Switchblade
"Somebody asked me if that was a true experience and I said, 'Would anybody make that up?' It's a true story...not necessarily an incident one would want to write Mother about," this song is written about Hall's Army days in Germany. It was a #8 chart hit. As the story begins:
"...We must have drunk ten quarts of German beer - my conscience and my sinuses were clear.
I asked that fraulein if she was a spy. She said 'Nein, but do bist ein bisel high.'
A condition not uncommon with the American soldier."
Thank You, Connersville, Indiana
"Well, my thoughts on that are, 'everybody has to start someplace.' I wanted to literally do what I did in the song. I wanted to thank the people in Connersville for helping me get started in show business."
Tales of the road success, no matter what the field, seem to have a universal appeal. It's a subject that Hall later expanded into a book, titled 'The Storyteller's Nashville' (original working title: 'The Glorious Fool').
"...Well, after seven hours of 'Cheatin' Heart' and 'Wildwood Flower', I had my seven dollars, eight cents.
I gave it to a waitress who was going to have a baby; She said she needed just that much to help her pay the rent."
Do It To Someone You Love
"It's a dirty title, but it's a clean song. It was just a thought that hadn't been written and I believed it was a good idea."
"...The words 'I love you' come easy To the lips of a liar or a fool.
If love talkin' is what you're thinking of, Then do it to someone you love."
The Ballad Of Bill Crump
"Now, I hear a lot of tall stories - since my business is writing songs. And every now and then, if you listen real close, a good true one comes along..."
"He built the church, he built the pews.
He built the cradles and the furniture for the schools.
Folks in Avery County say that he was better than good.
Probably one of the reasons the Lord made wood."
All You Want When You Please
"...is a song about a man who goes from prosperity in all things to poverty in all things."
"...My money's all gone and my breeze died down.
My bloom of youth's gone to seed.
I sit here and cry for the days all gone by,
When I sang, 'All you want when you please.'"
Chattanooga Dog
This gem of a song idea flows naturally from the story of "a dog that was introduced to me by Gene Goeforth in Chattanooga.":
"..There's a fairground in Chattanooga
Where a kiddy train runs up and down the track.
There's an old brick hound that always hangs around,
And he chases that train down and back.
And I've been chasin' you like that Chattanooga dog,
Even though I know you don't care.
I've been chasin' you like that Chattanooga dog,
And it ain't gonna get me anywhere."
Girls in Saigon City
"I wrote this for a friend of mine who told me a story similar to it."
The Vietnam story is a subject that moves Hall. He describes the Vietnam War memorial in Washington, D.C. as "an ongoing, eternal funeral."
Hang Them All
"This is a protest song, probably the first one I ever wrote...It's an interesting song because a lot of (people) took it literally. And they never heard the last line that says, 'but remember, they're going to hang you, too'. They missed that."
"...If they hang 'em all, they get the guilty,
That's what you say we ought to do.
If they hang 'em all, they get the guilty,
But remember, they're gonna hang you, too."
Coming To The Party
"...is a song that I wrote for Jimmy Newman...(He never did get around to recording it.) I get a chance to play the harmonica on this one."
"...Don't you shake my tree if you don't like your peaches ripe, 'Cause I'm comin' to the party tonight."
America The Ugly
"...just points out that there's gray matter everywhere in the world. There are some bad points about America and this is about the ugly parts."
This song is mostly about injustice in America, but also points out that those internal injustices weaken us in the world community.
"...There were some folks had plenty, and some had none at all. The enemy knows when a heart gets hard the country is bound to fall. If we get heads and hearts together, we won't have to hear them say, 'America the ugly' today..."
That'll Be All Right With Me
"...is a song of tolerance...a fellow who finds a lot of things to enjoy in life and just because one thing doesn't work out he doesn't throw it all away."
"...Well, I'm not a brave man, but I'm not a slave man; If all I ever am is free, that'll be all right with me."
One Hundred Children
"It's all the races and creeds and colors of the world - one of each - marching along, singing, 'Don't blow up the world ...'"
One of the important messages of this song, which was a top-20 charted hit, is to inspire others to join the march:
"...I thought of good things that still could be done;
The marchers now number one hundred and one."
I Can't Dance
"is a funny little song."
Included on Gram Parsons' and Emmylou Harris' album, 'Grievous Angel,' 'this song expresses a common complaint of many entertainers, who spend their lives on the opposite side of the dance floor.
"...But I can't dance, and I'm felling so good.
Some of us can and some of us can't, some of us wish that we could - dance.
Some can't dance and I guess I'm just one of the unfortunate few.
Just for a little bit, baby, I'd come out and dance with you."
I Want To See The Parade
"is a song about a blind girl who can't understand what a civil rights march is all about. I wrote that during the civil rights era."
Sing A Little Baby To Sleep (Ode To Eddie)
"I wrote it for my little nephew, Eddie, my sister's child. He was hanging around my house in his little cradle."
"...You were born on a part of the river of life where the water is troubled and deep. This day and time there are not many songs to sing a little baby to sleep."
Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)
A poignant story of a Vietnam War veteran coming home in a wheelchair.
Ode To Half A Pound Of Ground Round
"is the true story about the time I almost starved to death in Roanoke. I got out on Tuesday night and spent all my money and didn't get to eat again until Friday when I got paid."
Another sample of Hall's extraordinary ability to fit a complete story, rich in details and humor, into a song-length format. (Another top-20 charted song.)
"...Runnin' down the sidewalk I could see the words so sweet,
The sign was flashin' on and off, 'Eat, Eat, Eat."
'A half o'pound of ground round, ma'am, and please don't cook it long.'
The sizzle of the grill was like a song."
Pinto The Wonder Horse Is Dead
"I loved that song. I saw a little story in the newspaper about the size of a pack of cigarettes - it said: 'Pinto the Wonder Horse is Dead.' But I was reading the newspaper and I was looking for part two of the story I had already started - so I never read the story, I just saw the headline and kept going. A week later I said, 'My God, where's that newspaper?' I started askin people - I figured he was the horse that belonged to some cowboy movie star, but nobody had a horse named Pinto. So I just made him up, made him into a childhood hero."
I Hope It Rains At My Funeral
"I got this idea from a newspaper ad that said: 'Don't let it rain at your funeral' - I think it was an ad trying to get you to hire these people to help you make out a will. Later in the day I was thinking, 'What if it rains at my funeral?' I said to myself, 'Well, if it did, you'd be the only one dry, you know.' So that's why I wrote that song."
I Took A Memory To Lunch
"A nice romantic, little darlin' song."
"...We sat and talked about the old days
With misty teardrops in our eyes.
And reconfirmed an old suspicion:
The past grows old, but never dies."
The Hitch-hiker
"is autobiographical, but I become the driver instead of the hitch-hiker. I took poetic license here."
This recitation song that gives some insight into the writer's early years:
"I don't know why it is every time I take a trip, it's always rainin' somewhere down the line.
This particular night was in Prestonsburg, Kentucky. I stopped to give a country boy a ride.
I saw him runnin' toward the car, he carried an old suitcase, a cigarette was danglin' from his lips,
He threw the suitcase in the back and as he got inside, he said, 'I'm sorry, but I'm awful wet.'"
Old Enough To Want To (Fool Enough To Try)
"is another little darlin' song."
A ballad in the best honky-tonk tradition"
"...I hope that smile that you have on your lips
Is just a smile that you wear all the time.
If it's somethin' special, then start makin up your mind,
I'm old enough to want to, and fool enough to try."
BALLAD OF FORTY DOLLARS AND HIS OTHER GREAT SONGS
That's How I Got To Memphis
There's a lot of realistic anguish in this song about the loss of love.
"...I haven't eaten a bite,
Or slept for three days and nights,
That's how I got to Memphis
That's how I got to Memphis."
Cloudy Day
"This is about my apartment that I lived in in Nashville; it always smelled like food. There was no place to get away from it, no ventilation, I guess."
The song is also about how it feels when you're having a very bad day:
"...It doesn't matter who you are,
We all must have a cloudy day sometimes;
Days that we can't seem to win,
Days when we ain't got a friend,
We all have days and I guess this is mine."
Shame On The Rain
"I wrote that on a rainy day. The thing about rain is, like tap water, you'd like to turn it on and off, but you can't do it."
"...After I've lost such a heartbreaking game, You'd think the sun would shine, shame on the rain."
Highways
"It's a traveling song that I like a lot."
The poetic language of lyrics such as these established Hall as one of Nashville's greatest songwriters:
"...Highways only make me into places where the average of the crowd goes,
Where they have fixed a standard on the language and emotions of a love.
Highways never reach above the ground and cannot know the things a cloud knows;
In a million volumes they have never written to express my love."
Forbidden Flowers
Using ordinary words and the simple metaphor of flowers for lovers, this song evokes powerful images of the many faces of temptation:
"...You can pick forbidden flowers,
There are ways and there are means.
If you pick forbidden flowers,
You may shatter someone's dreams."
Ain't Got The Time
The attitude seems selfish at first, but the true intent is honest and straightforward:
"...I can tell that you've been hurt pretty bad, you need someone to cry to.
You're like a bird with a broken wing and you need someplace to fly to.
But I found out from life that I can't live nobody's but mine,
Ain't got the time, ain't got the time."
Ballad Of Forty Dollars
"One of my odd jobs when I was a kid was cleaning up a graveyard, and I watched a lot of funerals."
The title song of Hall's first album and his first top ten charted hit as a singer, this real life scene, painted colorfully with words and humor, is one of his storytelling classics:
"...Well, here I am and there they go and I guess you'd just call it my bad luck;
I hope he rests in peace, but trouble is the fella owes me forty bucks."
HOMECOMING
Shoeshine Man
A character study in the big city blues musical tradition; it reached #8 on the country charts.
"...And I learned my trade from that rag-poppin' daddy of mine.
He shined a pair of alligators, made a hundred dollar bill one time.
Say when that meat gets scarce, I'll shine two, three pair for a dime.
I'm a shoeshine man, number one in the land;
A shoeshine man, make you shine where you stand.
Leave me a tip if you can, I'm a shoeshine man."
Kentucky In The Morning
True to the song's promise, Hall salutes the state of Kentucky:
"...Oh I can't recall how I came to go
By Kentucky shores on the Ohio.
As I crossed that bridge I looked back to say,
'I will sing you a song someday.'"
Nashville Is A Groovy Little Town
"Groovy was a popular word at the time. I just wrote that song to say that Nashville was groovy. It's about a songwriter."
"...You remember all those tranquilizers that I used to take?
Well, I'm not on those anymore, I'm on Old Hickory Lake.
So when you start cryin' here's the best one-liner I have found:
What else you got? Yes, Nashville is a groovy little town."
Margie's At The Lincoln Park Inn
"...The bike is all fixed and my little boy is in bed asleep.
His little old puppy is curled in a ball at my feet.
My wife's bakin; cookies to feed to the bridge club again.
I'm almost out of cigarettes, and Margie's at the Lincoln Park Inn."
Homecoming
"This song is biographical. I would come home and try to explain to my father in his later years what I was doing. I didn't know what I was doing, so how could I explain it to him? Nobody had ever done it before the way I was doing it."
This extremely plausible conversation between father and son is only heard through the son's responses to his father's questions. The song was a #5 chart hit.
"...You heard my record on the radio. Oh well, it's just another song. But I've got a hit recorded and it'll be out on the market 'fore too long. I got this ring in Mexico and no, it didn't cost me quite a bunch. When you're in the business that I'm in, the people call it puttin' up a front."
The Carter Boys
"It's a song about my brothers. We lived in Carter County, so we were called the Carter Boys. There were five of us and we just raised hell all the time."
"...And there were six of us all together,
And that's how we stood all the time.
Six of us all together;
The Carter Boys were brothers of mine."
Flat-Footin' It
"It was the rage on campus in Roanoke when I was going to college. It's kind of a buck dance. There was a folk movement going on at the time and these kids got into flat-footin' it. It's a beautiful dance when you see the young people doing it.
"...Well, all of the students at the University
Shocked and amazed the existing faculty.
Some dropped biology and some cut their math
To enroll in a flat-footin' it class."
George (And The North Woods)
A man down on his luck goes to the woods to do some thinking, accompanied by his trusted friend, George. The humorous twist of an ending is a surprise.
I Miss A Lot Of Trains
Fresh imagery for the old theme of leaving someone crying at the station.
"...I sleep good and I miss a lot of trains.
That one-way track to no-man's love I'll never ride again.
I used to lie awake like you, callin' out your name.
Now I sleep good and I miss a lot of trains."
I Washed My Face In The Morning Dew
"I recorded (it) for my first record. It was a good song that I had written for Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, but they had turned it down. It was inspired by an old folk medicine tale: if you wash your face in the morning dew, it will help remove blemishes from your skin. I changed it around to mean that the morning dew would purify your soul...(The record) did not make me a big star, although it did get into the top thirty country songs and made a little BMI money, in addition to selling enough records to encourage Mercury to make more. And it motivated me to have my teeth capped..."
;
"...Someday times are bound to change, it can't be very far,
And each injustice I have seen will come before the bar.
Then I'll wash my face in the morning dew, bathe my soul in the sun,
Wash my face in the morning dew and my journey will be done."
A Picture Of Your Mother
Even traditionally sentimental-type songs such as this are distinguished by Hall's sensitive lyrics:
"...If you want to make the picture even more complete,
You could draw a little cottage, draw it nice and neat.
Draw a bright and shining sun up in the sky above;
But then again I guess it's pretty hard to draw my love."
The World The Way I Want It
Songs with a social or spiritual conscience are also strongly associated with Tom T. Hall. Visions of peace and brotherly love, such as those expressed here, permeate his work.
"...I'd pay the debts of all the poor and let them start anew;
I'd find each man who wants to work a decent job to do;
I'd give hope to the hopeless and I'd give the sick their health
; I'd give the high and mighty heart to share the nation's wealth."
Over And Over Again
An admission of wrongdoing and a promise of faithfulness forevermore.
Beauty Is A Fading Flower
Reminiscent of the romantic poetry of the 19th century, the universal theme of the transience of physical beauty is given the Tom T. Hall touch:
"...Love is not all beauty,
Love is not all form,
Winter wilts the flowers,
Love can keep you warm."