Wednesday, February 29, 2012

My Very First Blog Post--Writing Challenge: Musical Affinity

...from the bungalow  has challenged bloggers to write about a song that has meaning for them.  This is very hard for me, lots and lots of songs have deep meaning for me.   I have very eclectic musical taste and love a lot of songs so I decided to go with the first one that came to mind,


 "Don't Take The Girl" by Tim McGraw.

There I was, 29 years old, pregnant for the first time and scared to death of not surviving, along with everything else about becoming a mother.  "Don't Take The Girl" debuted at #17 on the Billboard Hot Country Chart  02 Apr 1994 (I was due on 01 May 1994, but didn't have him till 08 Jun, so you know I was crazy hormonal!) and this song was (I swear this is true) played every 5 minutes on the radio, so I was a constant ball of tears and snot for the last two months of my pregnancy!  Of course I survived (here I am for better or worse) though the delivery was very rough and my son had a tough first week outside, but he is nearly grown and beautiful now and we treasure every moment with him and his brother.  This song doesn't turn me into a useless puddle like it did back then, but it does still have the power to wring a tear or two out of me when I hear it.

I don't know if anybody will actually read this or not, but if you do, I would really like to hear your opinion about my first effort, and the song!



Don't Take The Girl lyrics
Songwriters: Johnson, Larry W; Martin, Craig;

Johnny's daddy was takin' him fishin'
When he was eight years old
A little girl came through the front gate
Holdin' a fishin' pole

His dad looked down and smiled
Said, "We can't leave her behind
Son, I know you don't want her to go
But someday you'll change your mind"

And Johnny said
"Take Jimmy Johnson
Take Tommy Thompson
Take my best friend Bo"

"Take anybody that you want
As long as she don't go
Take any boy in the world
Daddy please, don't take the girl"

Same old boy, same sweet girl
Ten years down the road
He held her tight and kissed her lips
In front of the picture show

Stranger came and pulled a gun
Grabbed her by the arm
Said, "If you do what I tell you to
There won't be any harm"

And Johnny said
"Take my money
Take my wallet
Take my credit cards"

"Here's the watch that my grandpa gave me
Here's the key to my car
Mister, give it a whirl
But please don't take the girl"

Same old boy, same sweet girl
Five years down the road
There's gonna be a little one
And she says it's time to go

Doctor says
"The baby's fine
But you'll have to leave
'Cause his momma's
Fading fast"

And Johnny hit his knees
And there he prayed
"Take the very breath You gave me
Take the heart from my chest,

I'll gladly take her place if You'll let me
Make this my last request
Take me out of this world
God, please don't take the girl"

Johnny's daddy
Was takin' him fishin'
When he was eight years old.



8 comments:

  1. Congrats! Your first blog post! I loved it ! This song is fantastic, I can imagine the hot hormonal mess this song made you :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Thank you! Yes, in the shower, in the car, everywhere I heard it I dissolved!

      Delete
  2. Congrats on your first blog post! Wow, I am in awe that your baby came so late.... maybe you had a super comfy womb.
    Anyway, I do like your post very much and I too can see how this song may have made you very emotional to hear so much. It's funny how sometimes, the Universe grabs our attention through music. When I slept in my car (by choice) for a year, every night for a while, all I heard was, "You are not alone," by Michael Jackson.... it always made me cry, as I needed the confirmation that I would be okay....

    Thank you so much for this post. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for the kind words. 01 May was a typo, oops! It was supposed to be 20 May, so much for my proofreading abilities! Having slept in my car a few times, by choice (still wasn't much fun) and not by choice, I can imagine how a song would mean so much! So glad you made it!

      Delete
  3. This song was a favorite around my house when I was growing up, it still makes me teary eyed just to read the lyrics. Thank you for sharing your story, it was very sweet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and I'm glad you enjoyed it and that it brought back some good memories for you!

      Delete
  4. How great is it that this is your first post?! I'm honored to have been a part of that. (Sorry my original comment never went through. I often have trouble with Blogger's comment system.)

    Nice song choice. Even though I don't really listen to country music, I actually do have an experience with this song. The lyrics are very sweet. Way to start off this challenge. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so very much for the opportunity. I don't know if I would've actually taken the leap without it! As far as genres, I love them all! Looking forward to the next challenge!

      Delete