I'm Not Exactly Country
Fri., November 18, 08:16 AM
We watched the tribute to Johnny Cash the other night. That is, U.D. – a real fan of country music – and I watched it. Husband, of course, says it’s “not his cup of tea.”
Y’know, this is one of those things about which I say I was just plain lucky. When I was a teenager, most of my friends would probably have agreed with Husband. We didn’t listen to “hillbilly” stuff. So what made me lucky?
Because I wanted to keep track of the pop charts, I usually listened to a deejay who play them daily; he regularly played the “country-western” and the “rhythm and blues” charts as well. I don’t know why he did; most of the other stations did not. Maybe he was trying to widen his audience.
In any case, I heard a lot of music that I might never have heard otherwise, and it broadened my perspective. I found that I liked certain country singers, including Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline. And when Patsy’s “Walking After Midnight” turned up on the pop charts, it was no stretch for me. It was a good recording; why keep it in a box?
I’ll never forget the magic week when one singer made it to all three lists. That was Elvis Presley, of course. I think the deejay was thoroughly surprised. I always had the impression that he personally didn’t care for country or rock ’n’ roll.
So when I sat there watching television and singing along to “I Walk the Line” – because I do know all the words – I was feeling pretty fortunate. Whatever made me choose that particular station is long forgotten, but I’ll always be grateful to the guy who brought me new kinds of music.
On an entirely different subject, I’ve recently had one of those “slapped in the diary” experiences. Y’know, where someone you thought was a friend refuses your comments? (When I asked, she told me she wasn’t accepting my views.) They weren’t even an opinion, but a bit of additional information to what she had written. Not long after, she wrote a long entry that amounted to, “when I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.”
I’ve always loved the quote, “friendship requires honesty and respect, but it does not require oneness of belief.” I’m inclined to say that friendship does require trying to look at things from someone else’s perspective. Sometimes it requires a thicker skin too.
