I played this song early this morning and turned to find my bride weeping. Yes, it is sentimental, though it tracks a lifetime relationship in three verses starting with the wonder of first love and ending with the connection that a lifetime can bring.
It is funny how those closest to us, those we love the most, may become the ones we take for granted: they are steadfast, always there. Yet our world’s have been changed by that love, impossible to imagine without that person who has always been there.
Mattea’s husband Jon Vezner and Don Henry wrote “Where’ve You Been” based on a true story about Vezner’s grandparents. In the final verse, the now aged married couple are hospitalized on separate floors. Claire, suffering from memory loss and unable to speak, recognizes Edwin when he visits her room and says, “Where’ve you been?” The lines found inspiration from a moment Vezner witnessed with his grandparents.
I first heard this song at one of the Fast Folk concerts at the Bottom Line back in the 1990’s. Mattea’s star had already begun to climb in the country world, but she appeared among the folkies and stunned the audience to silence performing this song.
#Songoftheday #spreadinghappiness #love #mattea #kathymattea
YouTube: https://youtu.be/0ZAaf5CaIa8?si=GdztWmkaut27vSNx
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6FKaKKygpsFsWPzxkBSPB2?si=2f1b0ce252d844cf