"Some day you'll want me!" lovers cry
to those who scorn them now.
"If now and then a fool like me
is found, I don't see how
You hope to find another in
this lifetime. You've gone through
more feeling than I had to give,
Have I been only 'making believe'
you'd ever settle down?
Will fears come true? Am I losing you?
Must I leave this old town,
Where these dear hearts and gentle people
will pity me, I know?
Just call me lonesome in the city
where I'll have to go.
Pity beyond what man can bear
I'll have to face all of my life
because I've lost my girl."
Out into the November rain
they stamp, hearts full of ire,
and moodily go in and throw
"I'm off to sea! I'll join a circus!
they rant. Behind their hands and fans
the old folks smile to see
a lovers' quarrel, so quick to end.
Scarlet ribbons tied
around a sweet love letter soon
restore hope, joy, and pride.
happy as you are today,"
even as he rages and she weeps,
the knowing parents say.
--Or so it was in the long-gone world
where, long before my time,
Jim Reeves, the sweet-voiced gentleman,
sang songs that scan and rhyme.
I knew that real life diverged
considerably from art
even at age three or four, and still
Jim Reeves' songs warm my heart.
Prompted by the Poets & Storytellers United. Click here to watch others fill in poems and stories:
I've blogged before about how "little Jimmy" Reeves, whom my grandmother from Texas used to baby-sit, grew up to be my parents' favorite popular singer. They liked his music before they discovered that he was a favorite of both. (Even Grandmother wasn't sure the grown-up singer was the toddler she remembered until the album "Yours Sincerely, Jim Reeves" was released, opening with the words "I was born in Panola County, Texas.") Then my parents and Mother's parents became a real fan club and collected multiple copies of all his LPs. They were still playing those LPs when their children came along; Dad recorded them on cassette tapes when those were invented, and my natural sister played those old tapes for her children when they were little. So we are four generations of Jim Reeves fans. The songs of teen romance might have been silly even in 1950, but the family bond is real.
(The title links to YouTube's version of the whole album by Jim Reeves. The titles of individual songs link to a more eclectic mix of single versions by different people.)
Without the family or even national connection, I do like Jim Reeves myself. Grew up on his songs on the radio. I enjoyed recognising some of my favourites here.
ReplyDeleteYours is a wonderful tale, though; how cute to think of him being a little boy baby-sat by your grandmother.
She knew because in those days there weren't enough people in Panola County for two to have had the same name! I knew his music was popular in some other countries but didn't know Australia was one.
DeletePK
Memories are still alive.
ReplyDeleteChildhood stories & songs are forever.
Love the way the songs are incorporated in the work.
ReplyDeleteI read this with interest. Songs like a fragrance linger. Well done weaving the lyrics in with your poetry and adding meaning by giving historic family context. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting, poets and storytellers!
ReplyDeletePK
Jim Reeves and Elvis fit your neat love troubles poem very well. Patsy Cline is heavy on my list as she was my age. Too bad she died early, 1963 in a car wreck.
ReplyDeleteDad used to list a lot of musicians who died untimely in accidents and say that Patsy Cline had been the best of the lot. Even including Jim Reeves. (She was from Virginia.)
DeletePK
A clever and apt confection! Well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI remember Jim Reeves, my favorite song of his is "Welcome To My World" my sisters and I sang it often. Your poem is quite clever and beautifully composed. The way you incorporated song titles, brilliant.
ReplyDeleteWell, welcome to my world, Helen! Readers will probably enjoy your poems, too :-)
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