Tom T. Hall has written hundreds of songs including a dozen number one hits. Some of the songs are not worth the wax on which they were originally recorded, some are mediocre, mere filler, some so full of melodrama that diabetics cannot go near them, but there are some songs that justify his nickname as The Storyteller and “Homecoming” is one of them.
Written and released in 1969, it captures the subtleties of complex family relationship not too dissimilar another song of that era, “Ode to Bilie Joe.” There’s as much meaning in what is not said as there are in the lines we here.
A touring musician has returned to check in, however briefly, on his father. It is as if a time traveler has returned from another world to an earlier time. We only hear one side of the conversation, but can imagine the impact of the silent father, just looking at his son.
I know I’ve lost a little weight
And I guess I am looking kind of pale
If you didn’t know me better, dad
You’d think that I’d just gotten out of jail
The prodigal visitor may be a star with hit records and fake diamond rings, but standing before his father, he’s a child trying to explain the clothes, the girl in the car and a lifestyle his farmer father doesn’t understand and doesn’t approve.
No, we don’t ever call them beer joints
Nightclubs are the places where I work
You meet a lot of people there
But no, there ain’t no chance of gettin’ hurt
As in so many families, the mother provided the glue and the arms to keep everyone together. Only she has passed and the son did not make it home for her funeral. He lives in a different time and place and the love and relationship with his father has vanished. It is painful to hear because it is so true.
#Songoftheday #spreadinghappiness #tomthall #homecoming
YouTube: https://youtu.be/xkDMlooqxm0?si=PzyCB6LRua957hgD
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5Lb38fmngYVaPkLYHuAThe?si=d3fb69d2677247d1