I wonder he'd be right now-----
If he was not a dreamer
And if he was just a little more like me
He wouldn't be in Nashville
Reaching for the stars
And wishing things were like they used to be
"The Brothers", written by Dave Kirby, performed by Merle Haggard and George Jones, from the album A Taste of Yesterday's Wine, 1982
The song is told from two separate perspectives: One (George Jones) from the brother who went off to make music in Nashville and one (Merle Haggard) from the view of the family he left, possibly another brother as the title suggests. The brother loaded up with guitar, his dream, and probably a good pair of boots and left Colorado to chase his hope of becoming a music star. He made his way to Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music boasting the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and an annual economic income of about $6 billion per year thanks to the second largest music production center in the US behind New York. After a few years he still has not found any attention from the record labels and is becoming tired and somewhat regretful of his choice. When the brother writes home he only speaks of others in the family and not of his own success, and not out of modesty. Life has been going to same depressing way for years now with nothing new to report. His letters have become more and more vicarious over the last few months and he has begun speaking of his regrets more and more. He writes back a letter to his mother asking how everything is going back home and if his brothers are doing well. One brother, a construction worker named Joe, is out in Colorado and has drawn admiration because of how hard he works for his money. The other brother, Sonny, has been trying to buy a ranch for a few years now, if he he has finally closed a deal on it Sonny's dream with come true. The unnamed brother is jealous of the successes his siblings have had and wishes he could just come back home, but is too embarrassed to come back until he and his guitar get lucky and finds his own success to be proud of.
The second perspective is as much worried about the future as the first, but for a different reason. The family knows how long it has been and that if he was going to get lucky it would've happened long ago. They know he doesn't want to return home without his dream and devoid of hope he'll ever make it but they also know the fear he has of never making it big is keeping him away longer than he needs to be. He has run out of money and probably doesn't have "a nickel in his jeans". His songs are "getting faded" because either he has not written anything new because he is banking on the songs he brought to Nashville or he has lost the energy and ambition to put any emotion into the songs he knows in his heart are not working for him anymore. The family wants him to know that anytime he wants to come home from reaching for the stardom he'll never find he can depend on them to help him back onto his feet and into something where he can make something of himself.
Several years ago
He gave up everything that mattered
And rambled off to Nashville, Tennessee
With a pocket full of country songs
And his old guitar
He thought that's where
He was supposed to be
But the family's still here waiting
And his songs are getting faded
There's probably not a nickel in his jeans
But if he don't get good enough
To sing his way back home
He knows that he can always count on me
Momma, is Joe still drivin' them old nails
Out in Colorado?
Lord, I always thought a lot of him.
You know, maybe someday me and this old guitar
Just might happen to get lucky
And I'll get a chance to go back and visit my old friends.
Did Sonny get that ranch he always wanted
Out by Boulder?
I used to want to be a cowboy, too.
But I'm still stuck here in Nashville
Writing songs and getting older.
But mostly I was thinking about you.
I wonder he'd be right now
If he was not a dreamer
And if he was just a little more like me?
He wouldn't be in Nashville
Reaching for the stars
And wishing things were like they used to be
Mom, is Joe still drivin' them old nails
In Colorado?
I always thought a lot of him.
Maybe someday me and this old guitar
Is gonna happen to get lucky
And I'll come back and visit my old friends.
Momma, did Sonny get that ranch that he always wanted
Out by Boulder?
I used to want to be a cowboy, too.
But, Momma, I'm still stuck here in Nashville
Writing songs and getting older.
But mostly I been thinking about you.
No comments:
Post a Comment