CS Musical Dissertation // Tennessee

Where are the horseshoes?!?

(Chorus) 

"Take me to another place, Take me to another land
Make me forget all that hurts me, Let me understand your plan"

Man, this song takes me back to 1992. That year our family reunion and it was in the great state of TN. So you already know this song was in heavy rotation. Just hearing the first bars of it remind me of backyard cookouts, lemonade out of glass jars and sitting around listening to stories with my great-great grandfather of the days when the turn of the century just occurred and the changes there were for black folk.

A few days ago it came on the radio while I was cleaning the car, and just taking time to LISTEN to the words had me ponder on the depth that it goes into. Arrested Development, man the songwriting is awesome.  The lyrics that hits home the most are these:

"Where the ghost of childhood haunts me
Walk the roads my forefathers walked
Climbed the trees my forefathers hung from
Ask those trees for all their wisdom"

Damn.

I know at the time I was too young to get the whole jist of the message, but my goodness, this song is so spiritual and just full of meaning. It made me appreciate it even that much more. Made me appreciate those talks with my great-great about how he'd seen almost a century of change, pain, power & glory that had been bestowed upon our people as a whole.

I urge you to take a moment and let yourself be taken to Tennessee...