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Showing posts from June, 2013

Explain that song, Mr. Jones!

A few weeks ago, I read about the passing of country legend, George Jones. I remembered the first time I completely misunderstood one of his greatest hits. The song I heard when I was a pre-teen was his classic He Stopped Loving Her Today.   I thought this may be different from the Country Western songs I was used to hearing. His voice was low and melodious, not a twang to be heard. Also, there were strong violins instead of brassy fiddles throughout the song. Country Westerns songs were not my favorite, but this one seemed different, so I gave it a listen. However, I was puzzled by the lyrics: why was the main character “all dressed up to go away”? Where was he going? I recalled in the beginning of the song, the man “went half crazy now and then” so I assumed he was going to a mental hospital. This notion was further validated with the lyrics “soon they will be carrying him away” –I figured he was in a straight jacket and had no way of leaving on his own.  I thought that was an o