On January 7, 1961, country music singer Faron Young recorded the Willie Nelson-written song Hello Walls. The song reached No. 1 on Billboard Hot Country & Western chart in 1961 and stayed there for 23 weeks. This song also boosted Willie Nelson’s up and coming music career.
In January 1966, country music group The Statler Brothers had a Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles hit (No. 2) and a Hot 100 Chart (No. 4) hit with Flowers on the Wall, which was written by Lew DeWitt (tenor in the group). Flowers on the Wall is ranked in the 100 greatest country songs of all time by CMT, and it won 1966 Grammy for Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance – Group (Vocal or Instrumental)
It occurred to me that, although both songs are about the loneliness and heartbreak that accompanies a relationship breakup, with a little stretch of lyrics interpretation, along with application to our ongoing lockdowns/shelter in place/safer at home experiences, these two classic country songs sum up a person’s mental and emotional status on any given day.
Trivia: (Songfacts.com)
Willie Nelson performed an updated version for the COVID-19 era as part of his “Come And Toke It” live stream on April 20, 2020 (4-20), which was broadcast on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Accompanied by his two sons, Lukas and Micah, Nelson changed the final verse to incorporate people worldwide self-isolating against the coronavirus pandemic.
We got to all stick together or else we’ll lose our minds
I’ve got a feeling we’re going to be here a long, long time
For your stay-at-home listening and viewing entertainment…
NOTE: This article was originally posted on the Western Fictioneers’ blog on 1/18/2021.
Until next time,
Kaye Spencer
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