“Every girl should be given an electric guitar on her 16th birthday”
- From the Movie/Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains
With the passing of Dolly this week, I thought it would be good to feature some female songwriters and their words.
Tacoma/Caitlyn Smith: She's a native of Minnesota but now she lives in, of course, Nashville. The first time I heard this song I thought, boy, I think she's probably lived some version of this.
Might make it the Memphis
But if that ain't far enough
I'll speed down the highway to Tulsa, Missoula
So fast the hurt can't catch up
I'm burning your memory
One mile at a time
All the way to Tacoma
By then you'll be out of my mind
Mercy/Suzanne Santo: Santo's is a musician and an actress. In addition to her solo work she was part of the LA based Americana outfit, HoneyHoney. She's pretty okay.
Your mama came runnin' out of the house
With a wild look in her eyes
You trailed her all the way down the block
Till she sat right down and cried
Curtains swayin' in every window
Cracked Venetian blinds
Yea, it could be anyone of us, with a broken mind
Yea, it could be anyone of us, with a broken mind
And I learned about mercy
I learned about mercy
For everyone else, and myself
I learned about mercy
Evidence/Allison Pierce: I have read a handful of funny books in my life, but not many. I've read a lot of books that have funny parts and are clever and witty, but I'm talking abut just flat out funny all the way through…there aren't that many. Why? Because it's hard to do. If I were asked to name my top four funniest books, they would be: Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (My all-time favorite book), Richard Russo's Straight Man, Bill Bryson's The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, and the funniest of all, The World's Largest Man by Harrison Scott Key. It was his first book. It was the kind of thing I wouldn't have wanted to read in public for fear that people might think me mentally ill, alone, laughing like a loon.
I've had a couple of interactions with Harrison Scott Key. The first one is a fun story but not pertinent here. The second time was in Memphis at a book tour appearance for his second book. I showed up a few minutes early and took a seat. As he was waiting for folks to file in, he had some music playing on a stereo up front. It caught my ear, the music. I liked it. Who was it? I chatted with him for a few minutes after he finished his talk. He remembered our first meeting and we laughed about that. We shook hands, I turned to leave but then I remembered, “By the way, who was that you had playing earlier on the stereo?" It was a friend of his from Birmingham named Allison Pierce. She had just released her first solo album, he said. Good to know. Thanks.
Here we go, we are taking it slow
Pushing our way through the crowd
Wait, he said, got the devil in his head
Singing his song out loud
Count to four and kick the devil out the door
And watch him walk away like a prince
Once again he's original as sin
But there ain't nowhere to run
I got the evidence
Anyone have anything from the ladies?