Then again, if the story is true it shows just how much "on the cusp" of stardom Mr. Linton was. It is an industry where many are called and few are chosen. Access to a mass audience was highly limited in the pre-digital or pre-YouTube days. That can't be emphasized enough. Man, people had to "buy" music! Incredible.
You probably remember "Gentle On My Mind." It's a song you might hear accompany nostalgia from the 1960s. "Nostalgia" implies warm feelings. It is human nature that we gravitate to the warm or positive aspects of our past. We separate wheat from the chaff. How could one not think warmly of a song title "Gentle On My Mind?" The very name evokes calm, this planted in a decade that was anything but calm. Maybe this is the reason we think so fondly.
The masses of American citizens went through pretty much normal stages of life, if not impacted directly by the Vietnam war. The civil rights confrontations were disturbing but not in the mortal way of war service. Sixty-thousand U.S. war dead? In a war the U.S. lost? And most certainly we lost it. So many tragic reasons why. We thought we could take the World War II model for winning a war and adapt it to Vietnam. A total misfire.
And the realization seemed slow as molasses for setting in. It was a huge dark cloud over all of us, but in the midst of it all, we went through the standard rituals or passages in our lives.
If I were to go back in time, would I dare write a letter to my congressman or senator about the folly of Vietnam? Or would I fear having my family stigmatized if word got around about this? Could it cost someone his job? I would love to think I would be motivated by conscience. But maybe this is hindsight?
We must remember with emphasis: the 1960s were nothing like today, nothing like our contemporary age where so much optimism seems baked-in. Kids grow up with that notion now. The 1960s? No, no, no.
"Gentle On My Mind" broke into the top tier of pop songs with Glen Campbell doing the singing, not Linton. Linton was left with "Cotton King" as his signature song. Campbell was a fabulous studio musician who eventually broke out on his own, solo-style, making a name and getting his own TV variety show. "Gentle On My Mind" was probably his signature song.
OK, so it was a classic song. It must have had genius lyrics. But hey, how many of you could really tell me about the lyrics? If I could simply ask you "what is the song about," could you handle it with ease? I think it would be tough for many of us.
Of course, if the music industry "biggies" pushed the song, certainly it was because they saw merit in it.
It intrigues me because, for one thing, the song has a monotonous melody. There is nothing like a bridge or refrain to break it up. A songwriter beginning with this kind of song structure, one could argue, starts out with two strikes. Monotony is an impediment for any entertainment product. The whole purpose of a bridge or the verse/chorus structure is to create contrasts. Listen to "Gentle On My Mind" and you'll notice none of that. It's a straight-on melodic idea that just plugs away.
The song ends with a "fade" as the guitar plays.
I give my effusive compliments to anyone who writes a song like this, and to have it land on "bullseye." Writing a top song might be compared to scaling Mount Everest. So my praise goes to John Hartford.
The words seem artistic but what exactly do they convey? They evoke something but what, exactly? They paint a deep picture of feeling. But what is the point exactly? Was getting to the point essential in 1960s America, when government failed to get the point about our misadventure in Vietnam?
Truly, it was that confused a decade, and it was followed by the "malaise" of the 1970s when it seemed like "nothing happened," according to the defining book.
What do the lyrics say?
Let's ponder "Gentle On My Mind" from the perspective of the singer. Well, he wants to be free of commitments, right? He doesn't want to be tied down. Kind of a general or broad-brush thought, n'est-ce pas? Ah, it's exactly like the opening to the significant 1960s TV show "Then Came Bronson," the free spirit on the motorcycle, remember? The singer is likewise a wanderer.
Wanting to wander free of things like a military conscription notice? My generation extrapolated that to a rejection of a whole lot of conventions, standards and expectations. Much of that thinking looks foolish in the rear view mirror. But, how will we be viewing the rear view mirror a couple decades from now as we consider our pandemic response and the election of a reality TV star as president? Touche.
The singer realizes that someone in his life loves him unconditionally. So there is in fact a home base for this guy as he admits he is not totally adrift.
We always come home to certain realities? He knows he'll be accepted any time he comes back, whether he returns physically or by imagination? But is the latter simply illogical? Can the bond be meaningful even if the guy is indefatigable with roaming, or searching or whatever? What it was "Bronson" was doing? Brad Park starred in the TV show.
The singer's object of his affection will be affixed in his memory always. In other words, will be "gentle on his mind!"
Just in one's memory? Doesn't the guy weigh his priorities? And, isn't he admitting what his real top priority is? To be out and about as a searcher, maybe searching for transcendent things, like maybe freedom from a world that has military conscription notices?
Cannot shake certain things
The Vietnam war seemed to permeate everything in my impressionable adolescent years. I cannot shake it. It's hard to shake deconstructionist attitudes once they've been imbued in you. And I'm 66 now. I was 12 years old when "Gentle On My Mind" raced to the top of pop music.
Hartford gave us the classic quote, priceless: "While I was writing it, if I had any idea that it was going to be a hit, it probably would have come out differently and it wouldn't have been a hit."
Here's a salute to songwriters everywhere. There appears to be no science in what we do. All the more entrancing a field of endeavor, where we plumb our thoughts. Scientists, go ahead and try to dissect us!
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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