here I am
stuck in a little town
that I have never heard of
but one thing I am sure of
I’d rather be home
I sang it all
but nobody listened
and no one even tried
and now I need someplace to hide
I feel so unknown
and I’ve been thinkin’ that
maybe I should pack up my suitcase
and leave while I’ve got something left
maybe I should go to Nashville
and write love songs like everyone else
all my friends
they just see the spotlight
and they think I’ve really got it made
but when the glory fades
they’re nowhere in sight
no one sees
the times when I’m hurtin’
and I still have to put on the show
and nobody really wants to know
what I’m feelin’ tonight
and I’ve been thinkin’ that
maybe I should pack up my suitcase
and leave while I’ve got something left
maybe I should go to Nashville
and write love songs like everyone else
but You’re still here
at two in the mornin’
tryin’ to get through to me
and oh, so tenderly
I can hear you say
“Follow me.
I’ve been there before you.
Do you think it was easy to die?
So just keep your hand safe in mine.
Let me show you the way.”
so I’ve been thinkin’ that
maybe I should unpack my suitcase
and strengthen what little remains
maybe I should not go to Nashville
cause this wand’rin’ heart’s
home to stay
Reviews
Awesome! —Dianne R.
I love it, and I’m not a bit surprised by that! —Diane S.
Wow – You sound fantastic —Susie F.
Wow, Doug this song brought emotional tears to the surface from the journey your song lead me through. Great musical work of art and kudos to you for singing one syllable words into 4 and 5 syllables!!!! That takes talent! —David H.
I forgot about that B. J. Thomas thing. I reminisced listening to several other songs on your YouTube channel. Thanks for sharing. —Dan L.
Never knew it. Wow —Ralph H.
Your version is a lot better then the BJ —John C.
I enjoy your heartwarming lyrics and vocals. You are a gifted artist! Thank you for lighting the way! —Pam N.
I want to comment on this but I’m moved beyond words… —John K.
2020 Notes
Remember what a 45 is? A 45 rpm record? Of course, that’s what a “single” used to consist of before the digital and internet revolutions hit in rapid succession. A 45, with A and B sides. I only put out one of these things as an artist, a single from the Bluer Than It’s Ever Been album, “Love that Comes Too Late.” The B side was “Roads.” Produced by Mike Kuzma, with background vocals by Barb Young (from the YFC group I’d been a member of for a couple years, New Jerusalem), it got some airplay on small Christian radio stations across the country.
After it had been out for awhile, I got a call from an up-and-coming Christian artist and producer, Chris Christian. He’d heard “Love that Comes Too Late” on a Christian station while driving through Las Vegas, and wanted to record it himself. OK, I admit it. I was pretty excited! I talked it over with Mike, and ended up signing a “first-refusal” contract with Chris for awhile.
This began a period of many excitements—and corresponding disappointments, as you might expect. I started recording simple demos of my songs and sending them to Chris. Once while performing in LA, I got to meet him in Beverly Hills, along with his lovely wife, Shannon. We sat by their swimming pool, looking out over the hills, and talked music and the music biz. This was a new thing for me, to put it mildly, and about as far from my Michigan farm upbringing as I would ever get.
It was exciting talking about all the possibilities—he was producing some of the biggest names in Christian music at the time—and before long, we went into his studio where I played some of the new songs I’d picked out to show him. He signed four of them right then and there, through a sort of “use-or-lose” contract. One of those songs ended up on one of Chris’s albums, and “Nashville” was recorded by B.J. Thomas of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on my Head” fame. B.J.’s first Christian album, Home Where I Belong, was the first Christian album to go platinum, and he had become the biggest Christian artist of the period. Thomas had just moved to the MCA/Songbird label, and “Nashville” was included on the debut For the Best album.
The song got a little attention, and was included in an appearance
B.J. made on the popular TV show, Pop Goes the Country (Season 7). Unfortunately, when the M.C. asked him who wrote the song, he couldn’t remember. And the MCA/Songbird label unfortunately didn’t last long, for whatever reason. So goes the music biz!
Anyway, as you’ll find out if you listen to both versions, the song B.J. recorded was quite different from the original. (You can check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhopTKwm8Iw&feature=youtu.be&t=1311.) The original was thought to be too long for commercial radio, so half of the first verse was combined with half of the second, and one of the choruses removed. A couple of the lines were changed, too, because they were too—well, down, or problematic, as I remember. So you may understand why I’ve been hoping ever since that time to record a version of my own, one with all the down, problematic lyrics intact.
Whether or not you’re an itinerant musician, there’s a lot of lonely road in between the spotlights. There’s a beautiful gospel song that says it well. “Follow Me,” by Ira F. Stanphill, which I’ve performed a few times. I guess you could say that “Nashville” is my own take on the sentiments that touched me so deeply in Stanphill’s song:
I traveled down a lonely road
and no one seemed to care
the burden on my weary back
had bowed me to despair
I oft’ complained to Jesus
how folks were treating me
and then I heard him say
so tenderly…“My feet were also weary upon the Calvary road.
The cross became so heavy, I fell beneath the load,
Be faithful weary pilgrim.
The morning I can see.
Just take your cross and
follow close to me.”
Hope you enjoy it, and that it encourages you to “strengthen what little remains” in those moments when you feel like running away.
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