You know how some country western songs just make you sob about the lost job/lost wife/lost dog/whatever? And how some Christmas songs have this kind of nostalgic painful pang? What if we combined that power!
“If We Make it Through December”
Or, Johnny Cash “Christmas as I Knew It”
This is really REALLY hard! But I think I have to go for Johnny Cash, it’s essentially a blank verse poem, and it’s lovely.
dontcallitbollywood 
Merle Haggard! Politically we haven’t always agreed, and while I am a Cash fan, Merle is the one who will bring tears to my eyes. But I’m in his land. Merl has always been, in his lyrics, in California, in Bakersfield, Kern River area. Okay, I’m not in Bakersfield, but I know it, I drive through it, and I’ve backpacked through Kern’s headwaters. And Merl will give history lessons, in his songs – which is appreciated by not just me, buy my singing, guitar playing, history teacher husband. Cash could spin a good tune (I love me some Folsom Prison Blues), but Merle knew what he was singing about, more than cash. For Merle it was more than just the tune.
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This is lovely! And makes me want to learn more about Merle Haggard. I love this one song, so perfectly evocative of a moment in time, but I don’t really know any others.
On Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 10:21 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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Grapes of Wrath and more create a fearsome picture when you hear the word labor camp. But, well, the reality throughout time was more than a single picture. And a company town vs. a Municipal labor camp was also different: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw5LiF3uW0Q
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Thank you! I see what you mean about him being local. That’s a story song about a very particular place in California history.
On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 6:25 PM dontcallitbollywood wrote:
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