Turn It Up, Buttercup

The other day, "Build Me Up, Buttercup" came on the radio, and I did what I always do—I turned it up. I've been doing that since I was about six or seven years old. I hear that song, and suddenly I'm a kid on Panama City Beach, racing across white sand with a new pair of sunglasses and a bright pink float, the heady aroma of Coppertone wafting in the salt air. And I start singing along (the wrong words, of course—as a kid I thought they were saying "fill me up, Buttercup," and I still sing it that way). I have quite a few songs like that—ones that I never get tired of hearing because they take me back to a time and place. My poor Daddy must've dropped a small fortune into juke boxes when Joan Baez came out with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down."(No offense to The Band, who did it first. I was too young to get y'all back then.)  I LOVED that song, in part because it told a story, but also I just loved the rousing chorus, which sounded like all of Woodstock was singing along with Joan. Come to think of it, lots of my favorites were great story songs—"Galveston," "Witchita Lineman," "Down in the Boondocks," "Ode to Billy Joe," and oh-my-goodness, can we all pause for just a minute and reflect on "Harper Valley PTA" ?

My very first celebrity crush, before I was old enough to be distracted by Donny Osmond and David Cassidy, was Johnny Cash. I'm very proud of that. I think it shows a certain depth on my part. Actually, I loved June, too. So I guess I had a crush on Johnny and June together. My folks and I would gather in my grandmother's living room in front of a huge black-and-white Magnavox and wait for the Man in Black to come onscreen and say, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash." Then I would cross my fingers and hope against hope that June would come out and sing "Jackson" or "Darlin' Companion" with him. I actually owned Live at San Quentin before the training wheels were off my bike, and you know Mama must have bought that for me—my very Baptist, very protective Mama. But I guess she figured if San Quentin was safe for June, I ought to be OK there, too.

One of my favorite CDs is by Rosanne Cash. It's called The List, and it's a collection of songs from a much longer list of you-must-know-these songs that her dad made for her when she was a teenager. It inspired me to request such a list from Daddy. And I think I might make one of my own. Here's one of my favorite lines EVER, from Nanci Griffith's "I Wish It Would Rain": 

"That Gulf Coast water tastes sweet as wine when your heart's rollin' home in the wind."

Sing it, Nanci, sing it.

Comments

[Jennifer]

I still thought it was Fill me up - until I read your posting. I think I'll keep singing it that way, too.

[valerieluesse]

We're not wrong. We're just editing the text:)

[Nancy Dorman-Hickson]

You know, we really are sisters. A Boy Named Sue was my favorite but The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was a close second. Also loved Harper Valley PTA.

[Hud]

OK - you did not include one of the best story songs of all time from that era - and while I completely agree with "Ode to Billie Joe" and others (prefer The Band version of Cripple Creek and lets not forget about "The Weight," - what does that song mean?) you cannot possibly leave out 'Delta Dawn.' Best, Hud

[valerieluesse]

Well, she's 41 and her daddy still calls her "baby," for heaven's sake:) Good call! I don't guess I have to ask whether you prefer the Helen Reddy version or Tanya Tucker's?

[valerieluesse]

Nancy, we are indeed twins. It's just that one of us was born in Mississippi and the other in Alabama. Which makes us a medical wonder, as well:)

[Kacey]

Just listened to Long Black Veil on Pandora - already heard Sunday Morning Coming Down, Jackson by Johnny and June, and Cocaine Blues as sung by Joaquin Phoenix on the "Walk the Line" soundtrack. Love of good music runs deep and wide!

[Hud]

Tanya, hands down - Best, Hud

[valerieluesse]

Hud, I had a feeling Tanya would win the toss. Kacey, I LOVE Long Black Veil. We should have a big ole music fest at the next McCranie hen party:)