interior decorating with an edge

As long as I'm "feeling" the topic of Country music,
a song that's in the same "family" with the
flat-out-on-the-table,
practical, literal
songwriting styles of
Loretta Lynn
and
Chuck Berry
is one that was a hit in the early 80s
called "I'm Gonna Hire A Wino to Decorate Our Home."

That one's a little different, though, because it has the twist of nuance -- the whole song is sort of sarcasm which has grown out of frustration:
"I'm gonna hire a wino,
to decorate our home.
So you'll feel more at ease here,
and you won't need to roam.
We'll take out the dining-room table,
put a bar along that wall --
and a neon sign will point the way
to our bathroom down the hall."

That's songwriting you can't beat with a stick.
David Frizzell had a big hit with that. His delivery was so perfect -- if you sang those lyrics too "hard," too forcefully it'd come across almost, like, too angry, because the whole song is that sarcasm thing. So he sang it soft and gentle -- with a wistful and kind of guilty tone, like he was wishing he was the kind of man who didn't give his wife a reason to have these sentiments -- like he sees her point.

"I came crawlin' home late last night,
like many nights before.
She (something - something)
when she opened up the door.
She said, "You're not gonna
do this anymore."
She said -- "I'm gonna hire a wino,
to decorate our home..."
etc.

I first heard that song on an AOR (album-oriented rock) station in Boston, believe it or not. It's pure country, doesn't fit the "AOR" format, but the morning D.J. on WBCN thought the song was so hilarious and pertinent, and he loved the title -- he'd say it a couple of times, while introducing the song, sort of for the pleasure of saying, "I'm gonng hire a wino to decorate our home" -- I think he featured it every morning for a month!

...that's when I first started appreciating country music, I think.

-30-