I hate vampire stories, but after seeing a show on the history channel I realized one of my ancestors could have been a “vampire.” Here’s a micro based on that realization!
A True Strzyga Tale, So Forget the Movies You’ve Seen by Luanne Castle
NEW SUBJECT: MY CURRENT EARWORM
Every once in a while I get an earworm that I can’t get out of my head. And it’s often an old song, sometimes one that I didn’t have the pleasure of hearing when it first came out.
My current earworm is 1985’s “The Highwayman” by Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, and Johnny Cash. The song won a Grammy for songwriter Jimmy Webb in 1986. But it was written earlier and had been recorded by Webb and by Glen Campbell.
After I say my piece, I am posting a video of the song as well as the written lyrics. Two things I wanted to mention. First is that I love Willie, Kris, and Johnny. I still hold a grudge against Waylon after about forty years. Maybe longer. Maybe it was an alcohol thing (him, not me), I don’t know. But he gave a concert in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It’s been so long I can no longer be sure if he was the headliner or not. He was HORRIBLE to the audience. Just surly, churlish, and nasty.
The other thing I wanted to mention is while I love this song, I don’t get it. I understand the romantic notion of a highwayman, but he was a thief and caused a lot of grief to the victims of his crimes (speaking about it as if it were a fictional story, since that’s what it is). The other life roles/occupations are admirable. The sailor. Our world is held together by sailors. The dam builder. I’ve been to the Hoover Dam and heard how many men died building it. So I looked up the dam at Boulder. A minimum of 96 men died during construction. Heroes!!!! Martyrs!!!! And then a starship pilot or astronaut. Captain Kirk! Captain Jean-Luc Picard!
Does it have anything to do with a fine line between a villain and a hero? I don’t know!!! What do you think?
If you can’t see the following video, ugh. I will try to split the link apart and you can put it together.
***
https:
//youtu.be/aFkcAH-m9
W0?si=8x43JSpFkBZn9n5y
Here are the lyrics:
I was a highwayman
Along the coach roads I did ride
With sword and pistol by my side
Many a young maid lost her baubles to my trade
Many a soldier shed his lifeblood on my blade
The bastards hung me in the spring of ’25
But I am still alive
I was a sailor
I was born upon the tide
And with the sea I did abide
I sailed a schooner around the Horn to Mexico
I went aloft and furled the mainsail in a blow
And when the yards broke off they said that I got killed
But I am living still
I was a dam builder
Across a river deep and wide
Where steel and water did collide
A place called Boulder, on the wild Colorado
I slipped and fell into the wet concrete below
They buried me in that gray tomb that knows no sound
But I am still around
I’ll always be around
And around, and around, and around
And around, and around, and around…
Across the Universe divide
And when I reach the other side
I’ll find a place to rest my spirit if I can
Perhaps I may become a highwayman again
Or I may simply be a single drop of rain
But I will remain
And I’ll be back again
And again, and again, and again
And again, and again…
Interesting about your ancestor. I don’t watch the history channel.
It’s a good song. About highwayman–well, there is the famous poem. I guess criminals often get romanticized. There’s a long tradition of that. I guess it’s all going against an authority thing that people like? In terms of the song, I suppose they were all loners seeking adventure.
Ah, that last is a good one: loners seeking adventure. That works for me as a thread that ties them all together.
Haha, you don’t watch the so-called history channel, you mean?
I’m glad that works.
And yes, exactly about the channel. 😊
LOL
Maybe they just mean they’ll be talked about and never forgotten, or that there will always be men like them. Anyway, I had never heard this song and I quite enjoyed it. Thanks for that, Luanne.
Ooh, I like that: there will always be men like them!!!! Yes! You’re welcome, Anneli. It’s very haunting.
Interesting song. I don’t remember it and those are some of my favorite singers.
See, I didn’t remember it either. For me the 80s was kind of a lost decade.
Whoa. That was some ending for your micro! I remember “The Highwayman” when it came out.
Hah, that is what they used to do to those poor people!
I have very little memory of the 1980s (babies . . .).
I thought I had every recording Johnny Cash made, but didn’t know this ode to ghostly reincarnation
Now you do!!!! I love all their different recognizable voices on the recording, too.
Yes
I’ve always loved the s song, Luanne, but I never really understood the lyrics. I kinda like the way it makes me feel – which is like an adventurer but with a woman’s courage, too! Probably also a country music fan from way back in the day…
I had a similar experience to your Waylon Jennings concert at a George Jones concert when I was at UT in Austin. He was definitely drunk, forgot his words, and left the stage after almost falling down. The race was definitely not “on.”
I’m sorry to hear that about George Jones, but not at all surprised!!!! I think what upset me most about the Waylon experience was his complete hatred of the audience. I heard there is a women’s version of the song and need to go find it.
Here ya go: https://youtu.be/7D-6nklMMbM?si=yPuLzak0Q9C1WtoL
Thanks!!
You leave the reader wondering at the end of that story! Did she/will she rise from the dead?
The songwriter is probably just celebrating the machismo of those men who live on the edge of something.
Thank you, Eilene. Oh, that’s a good point about the men living “on the edge.” Adrenaline junkies?