Gone Like A Candle In The Wind

I'm always finding new favorite songs-my latest one is Gone Like A Candle In The Wind which I believe was written by Randall Hylton. We've been singing it for the last few months. See if you like it too:

Gone Like A Candle In The Wind

There’s two country graves on a hillside And a farmhouse that’s wasting away Fields that I know a man once tended with love Grow nothing but tall weeds today The old barn is sagging and falling Roses grow wild ore the land The old place don’t look like it did when it was the pride of my momma and her man Where is the boy with the sling shot Who guarded the homestead back then And where is the life that I used to call mine It’s gone like a candle in the wind

I’ve seen daddy work in the cornfield Till sweat soaked the shirt on his back Making a living the best way he could With hands that were callused and cracked Time has made so many changes In these forty years I’ve been gone Well I told mom and dad that some day I’d be back But, I guess I’ve waited too long Where is the boy with the sling shot Who guarded the homestead back then And where is the life that I used to call mine It’s gone like a candle in the wind

Now mom and dad are just a memory And here I am standing alone Sadly remembering a line someone wrote That said you can never go home Where is the boy with the sling shot Who guarded the homestead back then And where is the life that I used to call mine It’s gone like a candle in the wind

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Now that I've shared the lyrics with you-check out the tune in the video below. (*Before you watch the video you need to stop the music player-the music controls are along the top of this page on the far left side-just above the Blind Pig logo. Click the center round button to stop the player)

I hope you enjoyed the song as much as I do-we learned it from a Charlie Louvin Album.

Just in case you're interested: Photo #1 is an old house near where Pap's family lived when he was a boy; Photo #2 is Pap in the cornfield-you have to look close but he's there; Photo #3 is Pap lost deep in thought at another old homeplace from bygone days.

Tipper

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Comments

[Theresa]

Seemes like the older I get the more songs like this touch my heart strings. I miss where I grew up, but I followed my husband here and so this is where I live, but I miss the desert prairies of Wyoming. Funny how "home" often seems to be where one is from rather than where one is. We live in a manufactured home that is not all that great, but it's a roof over our heads and it's so funny, my eldest granddaughter who lived with us when she was young, up until about the age of 6, still considers this her favorite place. Perhaps love is what binds us to places, or the memories we cling to? I've been in a melancholy mood all week and the song is lovely and it sort of all fits together. Thank you for sharing.

[Tipper]

Stephen-thank you for the comment! If you click on the cornfield picture it will open up larger and I bet you can see Pap then. Look for the bill of his cap and the check of his shirt : )

Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
www.blindpigandtheacorn.com

[Tipper]

Bill-thank you for the comment! For sure the Louvin connection drew me to the song-I grew up listening to The Louvin Brothers so much that I felt like I knew them personally : ) But mostly just the bittersweet lonesome tone of the song is what I like.

Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
www.blindpigandtheacorn.com

[Helen G.]

Ah, Tipper... what a great choice in this song today. It brings back some great memories while on the flip side brings it home for sure that you can't go back home. I think it brings words and music to the visual we get when we go back to places of our childhood that always look much smaller than we remember them.

Thanks for sharing.

[Ed Ammons]

Sallie-I'll bet your mamma is back with her people right now! The rest of us will be along in a little while.

[Bradley]

Tipper,

I saw Pap in the corn. The dark bill on his cap and checkered shirt was what gave it away.

[susie swanson]

This one really touched home.. Those words will bring tears.. Great song..Thanks Tipper

[Sallie aka granny Covolo]

I'm always dreaming about moving back to the North Carolina Mountains but it just isn't going to happen. My little momma used to always say, "I want to go back to "my people". Poor Darling, I did not know how to break it to her that her people were all gone. I used to cry when we first left the Mountains.

[kay dallas]

made me cry!.beautiful

[Bradley]

Great song! This one really hits close to home Tipper.

[Ed Ammons]

B.Ruth-my daddy was Mr. Ammons. My name is Ed.

[Ken]

Tipper,
I agree with Dolores about the loss of Princess Diana. Right
beside my two daughters and above
my old drafting table, hangs a
big smiling picture of England's Rose. I really enjoyed Paul and Pap and the Gang's version of
"Gone Like a Candle in the Wind."
...Ken

[Miss Cindy]

Tipper, how in the world did Ed see that flag? He gets an A+ in attention to detail!

Beautiful pictures, thoughtful words, and heavenly music. Fine post full of memories. It hurts my heart to see the fine old homes gone and forgotten, in a world too busy to pay attention. But, you don't forget. You document their honor for all to see.
Thank you Tipper, for all you do for Appalachia!

[Ron Banks]

Thanks Tipper for helping me to remember those carefree days of my youth guarding our fort (home) from the foes of my imagination. What a wonderful time of my life! The song as always was great. R.I.P. Dad & Mom!

[B. ruth]

Tipper,
Guess I just about don't have nothin' to say...Ms. Jones 'bout said it all...and Mr. Ammons I wonder also about the flag and the story behind it...
Thanks Tipper, beautiful rendition of the song....

[Glynda]

Tipper, Great song, loved the singing and the words to the song are so beautiful. I had never heard the song before so thanks so much for sharing it with us. I can see how it would be your new favorite song.

[Sandy]

There are 50 stars on that flag. And yes I counted them. There is also 128 double stitches in a baseball.

[Sand]

Why the house is so old and the flag looks so new? Probably the flag has no story. At least not an old one.

[Gary Miller]

Tipper,
Today’s blog entry was wonderful, and mirrors the reflections I have of my own life. Your entries always make my mornings a little better, however today was especially meaningful to me. Have a great Sunday!
Gary

[Bill Burnett]

Great job as usual, I don't know if Thomas Wolfe originated the line "You can't go home again" but his writing goes well with the song. The esculated property values when many outsiders bought a "piece of Heaven" that we were lucky to be born and raised on prevented many from retaining their homeplaces. Now many of these properties have been placed in protected status that allows them to return to wilderness. I have read that Charlie Elzer Loudermilk & Ira Lonnie Loudermilk aka known as "The Louvin Brothers" on stage had/have relatives in Clay County. Could it be the Wolfe & Louvin connections with WNC that drew you to this song?

[Stephen Ammons]

Tipper
Great song but I have yet to spot Pap in the corn field ?? Hope Stephen King doesn't visit this blog today or he is sure to write another movie about it.:)

[Sue Crane]

old houses like that have always fascinated me -- made me wonder who, what, when and how they came to left empty and alone. Kudos to Paul/Pap - it's a great song and they do a "right smart job" of it.

[JOHNIE T. ARANT]

TIPPER
I I REAIY ENJOYED THIS ONE IT
TAKES ME BACK TO WHERE I GREW UP
THE OLD FARM HOUSE AND BARN I TO
HAD A SLINGSHOT, SOMETIMES I WISH
I COULD GO BACK TO THE GOOD DAYS
BUT IT WOULDN'T BE THE SAME.
MOM AND DAD MOST OF MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS ARE GONE.
JOHNIE IN ARK,

[dolores barton]

I am enjoying your version and the words to this song. However, whenever I think of Candle in the Wind I am reminded of Princess Diana and her loss to the world. I am truly amazed how great your family works together. Thanks for sharing!

[Gorges Smythe]

Good tune, but the words alone are a tear-jerker.

[Ed Ammons]

Did anybody else notice the "old red white and blue" on the front of that poor old neglected home? On the right side next to the window. I wonder if it has it's own story?

[Mamabug]

Loved hearing that song this morning and the photos just fit right in. Have a great Sunday!

[Ed Ammons]

Thanks Tipper for a totally new tune to whistle while I work. Paul's picking approaches pure perfection as does Pap's tenor harmony and rhythm guitar playing. There is also a kickin' bass line coming from some unknown source. I've noticed it in many other of Paul's and Pap's tunes. How do they do that?

[kat]

Good job as always.

[Sheryl Paul]

I thought I would hear your rendition of A Candle in the Wind sung by Elton John. This is equally as heart tugging. thank you

[Ethelene Dyer Jones]

Tipper, You and your Blind Pig Gang amaze me! Whatever it is you think up to blog about, it seems right away Pap, Paul and the twins can come up with a song to play and sing to accompany your subject! That takes real teamwork! And for Paul to know all the words, and Pap to harmonize on the chorus (with no apparent prompt cards, no less!) amazes me. What an amazing memory they must have to learn the words to the songs! The choice for today touched me, for how many times have I observed an old homeplace, dear to my childhood, going to decay because no one was there "with a slingshot" to guard it--or with the money necessary to keep the developers from buying the old homeplace and turning it into something completely unlike what we grew up knowing. Once, when some of my father's 'old homeplace' was being 'sold off' by one of a younger generation who then owned it (through inheritance), I asked, "Why was I not notified? I might could have bought this?" And the reply I received was, "You don't have enough money to buy it!" I probably didn't, but I was never given an opportunity to bid. And now there are modern houses, close together, in the fields where I used to hoe corn, sorghum cane, fields of green beans, Bell peppers, and collard greens. Only the memories remain, as "Gone Like a Candle in the Wind" so sadly recounts. I like the song-writer's use of simile. That is a very strong one! I think we mountain people are good at using metaphor in our speech and writing. This song proves that. Your song made me sad this morning, but I loved it anyway. I think it's always good to remember our roots and how deeply they run into what we were grounded in--a wonderful way of life!

[Jim Casada]

Tipper--That song is new to me, and it's a sho' 'nuff dandy. The image of a boy with a sling shot takes me straight back to childhood, when I carried a sling shot with great pride and dreamed boyhood dreams of standing off hordes of rampaging Indians or a passel of renegades with nothing but my trusty little catapult.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
Jim Casada
www.jimcasadaoutdoors.com

[Luann]

Liked the song, had not heard it before.