Catching Up with an Old Friend

After this weekend's immersion in the Where I'm From game, I had a faint stirring of a song in my head and this morning it finally sang out clearly enough for me to hear it.  It's "I am a Town"* by Mary-Chapin Carpenter from a long-ago CD called Come On Come On.  This disc was in heavy rotation in my house and car for several years in the early to mid-nineties and when I dug it out this morning I realized that although I hadn't listened to it in a long time, I could still sing every word. 

Mary-Chapin Carpenter is an oddity in country music, and I say that with an immense amount of respect.  Although I love her voice, she is first and foremost a very gifted songwriter.  Her lyrics are evocative and literary and many of them read like a particularly beautiful short story.  I'm not sure where else she might have fit in the big puzzle that is musical niche marketing, so I'm very glad that she found a home on country radio early in her career. 

The first time she crossed my radar was when she brought down the house at the 1990 CMA awards, singing "You Don't Know Me (I'm the Opening Act)":

You don’t have a backstage room of your own
You just have feedback in your microphone
‘Cause you don’t get a soundcheck
‘Cause you’re not worth the time
You’re gonna have to face it
You’re no better than slime
You don’t know me; I’m the opening act

There’s a cold cut platter and beer for the crew
Don’t get the impression that there’s any for you
‘Cause you’re at the bottom of the pecking order
Even the bouncer at the door comes before you
You don’t know me; I’m the opening act

The right attitude will get me such a long way
An optimistic view will make it OK
When some fool in the front row yells, “YOU SUCK!”
I’ll thank him profusely and get ready to duck

I don’t have a hit in the Billboard charts
I don’t have a limousine that stretches three blocks
Ready to take me from door to door
Just like the asshole I’m opening for
He doesn’t know me; I’m his opening act

Now I’m not going far so I don’t wear a hat
Tight jeans don’t fit me; I’m a little too fat
I can’t sing like a frog blowing farts through his nose
So I don’t expect you’ll like me, but that’s how it goes

Now for 37 minutes I sang out my heart
I was so damn nervous I just wanted to barf
But this is my career and I’m paying my dues
And if I ever get rich and famous I’ll guess I’ll be an asshole too
‘Till then, you don’t know me; I’m the opening act

I laughed my head off and as soon as I could get my hands on it bought her CD, Shooting Straight in the Dark.  In a rare burst of good taste, Nashville agreed with me and loved her.  She was nominated for several CMA awards and won Female Vocalist twice, and spent the nineties putting out a CD every couple of years or so (you can hear her songs on her website; click on the music link).

Come On Come On was released right about the time my life went to hell-my marriage was imploding and it was a very sad and scary time for me.  I listened to this CD endlessly, smoking too many cigarettes and writing in my journal, trying to figure out how to build a new life from the absolute rubble left in the wake of the earthquake of my old one.  Several of the songs seemed to be speaking directly to me and to my experience; others gave me hope that I would emerge into the sunshine again.  I loved her later music, but Shooting Straight in the Dark and Come On Come On were very personal to me, very particular to time and place, and I kept them like talismans in my attempts to figure out where went wrong in where I had been and how to fix it so that I could get to where I needed to be.

I discovered today that she had released a CD last year that had completely escaped my notice, but I'm going to rectify that.  Her voice was really important to me once and I'll be interested in hearing what she's saying, ten years and a million miles down the road.

*I Am a Town

I'm a town in Carolina, I'm a detour on a ride
For a phone call and a soda, I'm a blur from the driver's side
I'm the last gas for an hour if you're going twenty-five
I am Texaco and tobacco, I am dust you leave behind

I am peaches in September, and corn from a roadside stall
I'm the language of the natives, I'm a cadence and a drawl
I'm the pines behind the graveyard, and the cool beneath their shade, where the boys have left their beer cans
I am weeds between the graves.

My porches sag and lean with old black men and children
Their sleep is filled with dreams, I never can fulfill them
I am a town.

I am a church beside the highway where the ditches never drain
I'm a Baptist like my daddy, and Jesus knows my name
I am memory and stillness, I am lonely in old age; I am not your destination
I am clinging to my ways
I am a town.

I'm a town in Carolina, I am billboards in the fields
I'm an old truck up on cinder blocks, missing all my wheels
I am Pabst Blue Ribbon, American, and "Southern Serves the South"
I am tucked behind the Jaycees sign, on the rural route
I am a town
I am a town
I am a town
Southbound.

Comments

[Marie]

I LOVE Mary Chapin Carpenter!!! Love Come On, Come On. I know every word too... I've since replaced her in the "heavy rotation" spot with Alison Krauss. But today, I'm gonna have to dig me out some MCC! I sang her version of Mark Knopfler's The Bug years back with a band I was in. I used to belt out all her tunes while driving. Oh yeah... great stuff.

Nice blog, Terrilynn! Oh, and Michele sent me! Nice to meet you!

[Cara]

I love Mary Chapin Carpenter. I had no idea that she released a CD in 2004, either. But, I'm going to run out to Target later and buy that CD. Oh, btw, Michele sent me! You have a terrific blog...I'll be back on my own!

[Lynda]

You're right, "I Am A Town" is very similar to the "Where I'm From" writings. You have a wonderful blog here and I am glad Michele sent me :-)

[Lisa V]

This is so funny. We dug out MCC last week, I loved Come On, but now I mostly play Party Doll. My daughter was listening to "He Thinks He'll Keep Her" and said, "that's the saddest song I have ever heard."

Thanks for your nice comment and stopping by my blog.

[David Robison]

I just found this entry and your blog while trying to find a recording of Opening Act....do you know if any exist? I see you know the lyrics, so can I assume you have it on tape, CD, mp3, or do ya just have a good memory?

[Don Freeman]

First heard Chapin on a Public Radio station in the late 80's. Blew me away. Coming from the DC area, I was able to see Chapin regularly for several years thereafter. Although I'm surprised that the country music crowd embraced her, I'm thankful. Otherwise her music would have been lost, like all the other wonderful artists who don't happen to fall in the middle road of some media assigned genre (Eva Cassidy comes to mind). Chapin is simply one of the greatest singer/songwriters of our time. It's too bad that people who "don't like country music" never gave her a fair chance.

[Don Freeman]

First heard Chapin on a Public Radio station in the late 80's. Blew me away. Coming from the DC area, I was able to see Chapin regularly for several years thereafter. Although I'm surprised that the country music crowd embraced her, I'm thankful. Otherwise her music would have been lost, like all the other wonderful artists who don't happen to fall in the middle road of some media assigned genre (Eva Cassidy comes to mind). Chapin is simply one of the greatest singer/songwriters of our time. It's too bad that people who "don't like country music" never gave her a fair chance.