Hurtin', Leavin' and Longin' (33)—Hello Darlin'

Click here to read the introduction to the Round and Square series "Hurtin', Leavin', and Longin'..."

[a] Bump RF

Well, that  was awkward. What do you say when you run into an ex? The circumstances are not exactly clear in the song (I imagine them folding clothes in a laundromat, but that's just me). All we know for sure is that Conway Twitty—the gifted writer and singer of this country classic—meets an old beau. What do you say? How do you proceed? Conway Twitty answers the question in two and a half minutes of artless terror. Does he ask her how she is doing? Yup. Does he wish her well? Yup, wieder. So far, so good, as he negotiates a fairly difficult social situation. What then?

He spills his guts.

He starts with chit-chat and then tells her everything. It all comes tumbling out in a cascade of regret, remorse, and (self-)retribution. This is also one of those rare songs that is all about continuous narrative. There is no chorus—only relentless longing. Take a listen.

Hello Darlin' 2:29

For advice on how best to "engage" the lyrics, click here.

       Hello Darlin'

[b] Awkward RF

          Artist: Conway Twitty
          Songwriter: Conway Twitty

Hello Darlin'
Nice to see you
It’s been a long time
You're just as lovely
As you used to be

How's your new love
Are you happy
Hope your doing fine
Just to know it
Means so much to me

What's that Darlin'?
How am I doing
Guess I'm doing all right
Except I can’t sleep
And I cry all night 'til dawn

What I'm trying to say
Is I love you and I miss you
And I’m so sorry that I did you wrong

Look up Darlin'
Let me kiss you
Just for old time’s sake
Let me hold you
In my arms one more time

Thank you Darlin'
May God bless you
And may each step you take
Bring you closer
To the things you seem to find

Goodbye Darlin'
Gotta go now
Gotta try to find a way
To lose these memories
Of a love so warm and true

[c] Folding R

And if you should ever find it
In your heart to forgive me
Come back Darlin'
I’ll be waiting for you

***  ***

Extraordinary. It really is "beyond the ordinary" on several levels. The narrative tells us (eventually) that he wrecked the relationship and wants her back. This hardly breaks new ground in country music. A little more startling is the "kiss me again and, by the way, let me hug you, too." That is a little bit different. So are the lines that come a bit earlier, admitting that he can't sleep and cries all night. It reminds me of John McCain's own hurtin' words when asked how he was doing after the 2008 election. Losing hurts, and McCain, to his very great credit, did not try to deny it. "I've been sleeping like a baby," he said. "I sleep two hours, wake up and cry; sleep two hours, wake up and cry."

Conway Twitty's choral response to pain gets right to the point...at the very end. He wants her back, and he'll be waiting. It is a measured kind of exilic response, and gives a pained and eloquent ending to a flurry of emotional reactions from the first line on. He'll be waitin'...darlin'.

***  ***

[d] Drifting RF

In the last few weeks we have seen a few songs that have tempted me to "echo" the country themes rather than to juxtapose different sets of emotions. This week, we return to form. You may not be surprised to hear that there are not many "running into the old flame" poems in the East Asian literary tradition. You may be surprised to hear that there are a few. They are often on the theme of meeting a long-ago mentor or, sometimes, seeing the aging "singing girl" with whom an equally once-young literatus composed lyrics by candle light and over plum wine in the entertainment quarters of the capital. Yes, there are a few of those.

This week's poem, however, brings us back to the late-Tang (618-906), and has the resonance of a life gone slightly astray. You will note certain hints (like sensing clove with shades of cherry in an earthy wine) of "Hello Darlin'" here, but not too many, I hope. The poem stands on its own as a middle-aged look back at a life only partly well led.

        Expressing My Feelings
        Meng Jiao (751-814)

            Pull up the stems, grass doesn't die,
            Take out the roots, the willow still flourishes
            Only the man's who's a failure
            As in a trance walks, strengthless.
            Before, he was a branch entwined with others,
            Now is the sound of a breaking lute-string.
            As a twined branch—then he was honored,
            Now as a broken string he is made light of.
            I will go forward in my lonely boat
            To the great gorges where the water isn't smooth;
            I will ride my carriage and horse
            Over the T'ai-hang Mountains where the roads are rocky
            A single spirit lies at the root of all things—
            How can they then destroy one another?
                                               —Translated by Stephen Owen

Notes

[1]  Wu-chi Liu and Irving Yucheng Lo, Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry (Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press, 1974),138.

Bibliography

Liu Wu-chi and Irving Yucheng Lo. Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry. Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press, 1974.

[e] Goodbye darlin' RF

NEXT

Sunday, December 25th 

We'll tamp down the misery a little for the holiday next week. It'll be a surprise—somewhere (on a +......- quality continuum) between the Hallelujah Chorus of Handel's Messiah and "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." Stay tuned. It won't be all football and basketball for entertainment next week, at least not on Round and Square.