Back in September of 2008 I wrote a post I called Sappy Songs. I think it's about time for some More Sap. As I said back then, "sometimes it's just nice to hear a feel-good song about people doing the right thing or just a sappy love song." In these trumpian times, it's even more important to hear about people doing the right thing or about sad things that touch your heart. The cruel healthcare bill arrived at in secret by 13 male republican senators has been received with the revulsion it deserves. It's been exposed for what it is - a huge tax break for the richest Americans and big corporations and bad luck for the poor. I remember during the Occupy Wall Street protests a woman carrying a protest sign which read, "I'm carrying this sign because I can't afford to bribe a congressman".
These songs are not all written after those on my first Sappy post. Some I just wasn't aware of when I first went sappy. The songs are in no particular order. After the artist and song title, the names of the songwriters appear in parenthesis. I had not begun to include the songwriters on my first outpouring of sap back in '08.
David Nail - "Babies" (Scooter Carusoe, Lee Thomas Miller & David Nail)
"But for every thrill that I chased down
It's easy to confess
I found a better kind of crazy
Now that I've got babies"
Georgia Middleman - "Now That You've Met Molly" (Georgia Middleman and Sam & Annie Tate) single mother song. The song about 6 year old Molly and her mom begins and ends, "I've seen that look before, here we go again".
Chorus:
"So if you're gonna break my heart, if she's gonna change your mind,
if it's gonna tear apart what seems so hard for girls like me to find,
then maybe you should tell me now, if you plan on backing out,
I'm not the only heart here on the line, now that you've met Molly"
Georgia Middleman - "Table 32" (Georgia Middleman and Sam & Annie Tate) a song without a chorus
"They were laughing and I was thinking
Oh man she's half your age,
Why don't you go on back home to your wife?
But some things you can't say"
surprise ending:
"Thanks for waiting on us
It's been a night I won't forget
See this handsome man's my father
Until tonight we never met"
Tim McGraw - "Humble and Kind" (Lori McKenna)
The song, penned solely by Lori McKenna, has some great advice:
"Hold the door say please say thank you
Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie
I know you got mountains to climb but
Always stay humble and kind ..."
and
"When you get where you're goin
Don't forget turn back around
Help the next one in line
Always stay humble and kind"
Little Big Town - "Happy People" (Lori McKenna and Hailley Whitters)
"Happy people don't cheat
Happy people don't lie
They don't judge, or hold a grudge, don't criticize
Happy people don't hate
Happy people don't steal
'Cause all the hurt sure ain't worth all the guilt they feel"
Luke Bryan - "Most People are Good" (David Frasier, Ed Hill and Josh Kear)
from chorus:
"I believe most people are good
and most mamas oughta qualify for sainthood" ...
"I believe you love who you love
Ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of" ...
Bridge:
"I believe that days go slow and years go fast
And every breath's a gift, the first one to the last"
Sunny Sweeney - "Bottle By My Bed" (Lori McKenna & Sunny Sweeney)
"It's an empty room at the top of the stairs
Watchin' the evening news with a couple of beers
I only call my husband baby because I love the word
Never wanted something so bad that it hurts
Even give up these damned old cigarettes
If I could have a bottle by my bed"
James Otto - "Where Angels Hang Around" (James Otto & Monty Criswell) about St. Jude's Hospital.
"There's a place for children
Where God sends his mercy rainin' down
In the heart of Memphis
Where angels hang around"
John Berry - "The Balloon Song" (Casey Beathard) a young boy writes to his mama on a balloon and
lets it go outside
"I can still see his excitement
Him pointing, and smilin' and
When it was gone as it could get
He turned and asked me
think it's in heaven yet?"
Joey & Rory - "To Say Goodbye" (Rory Lee Feek, Joey Martin Feek & Jamie Teachenor) stories about a husband lost in the WTC in the first verse and a wife lost to Alzheimer's in the second
"She wants to tell him that she loves him so,
And will until the day she dies,
It ain't that she can't let him go,
She just wants to say goodbye"
Gary Allan - "Tough Little Boys" (Don Sampson & Harley Allen)
"So I didn't cry when I got a black eye
As bad as it hurt, I just grinned
But when tough little boys grow up to be dads
They turn into big babies again."
Lisa Brokop - "Now That We're Not a Family" (Phil Dillon)
"He told me he and mom couldn't get along
It was time for him to leave
I said, "Now that it's not your home
Who's gonna sing me off to sleep
Now that you're on your own
Who's gonna answer when I call you"
Middleman Burr - "I Thought You'd Never Leave" (Gary Burr & Georgia Middleman)
In the first verse we have a little leaguer who fails to hit whenever his father is at the game. In the second, that little boy has just been dropped off at college. The bridge and last verse always get to me, especially when I haven't heard the song in a while. The tears well up I freely admit.
Bridge:
"Can't believe I ever didn't want you hangin' round
When I'd give anything to have you back right now"
Final Verse:
"I thought you'd never leave
I thought you'd be here forever, taking care of me
So I guess the fault is mine
I could have sworn we had more time
Cause I thought you'd never leave
I thought you'd never leave"
Kenny Chesney - "While He Still Knows Who I Am" (Georgia Middleman, Dave Berg & Tom Douglas) I've heard Georgia sing this song at the Bluebird and prefer her version. Hope she records it someday.
"This time I'm gonna kiss him
Instead of just shaking hands.
Gonna tell him that I love him
While he still knows
Who I am."
Victoria Shaw - "Never Alone" (Victoria Shaw, Gary Burr & Sarah Buxton)
Chorus:
"Never alone
Never alone
I'll be in every beat of your heart
When you face the unknown
Wherever you fly
This isn't goodbye
My love will follow you, stay with you
Baby, you're never alone"
Lady Antebellum - "I Was Here" (Victoria Shaw, Gary Burr & Hillary Scott)
[Chorus]
I want to do something that matters
Say something different
Something that sets the whole world on its ear
I want to do something better
With the time I've been given
And I want to try
To touch a few hearts in this life
Leave nothing less
Than something that says "I was here"
Sherrie Austin - "Streets of Heaven" (Al Kasha, Paul Duncan & Sherrie Veronica Krenn)
"And it must be kind of crowded,
On the streets of Heaven.
So tell me: what do you need her for?
Don't you know one day she'll be your little girl forever.
But right now I need her so much more."
Radney Foster - "Everyday Angel" ( Radney Foster) 3 stories - a lady who fed the hungry, a battered woman, a 9/11 hero.
"She was an everyday angel, the kind without wings.
Walking around in this world, just like you and me.
Angel, living out love.
The kind of people we could use a lot more of.
Just an everyday angel, everyday angel."
here's the old sap:
9/29/08
I like sappy songs. There. I've said it. I'm not the macho type anyway. At 5' 6" and weighing about 140 with no muscles to speak of, it's kind of tough to be macho. Strength is my weakness. The only fight I ever had as a teenager lasted two punches. I was playing basketball in a schoolyard. Going for a steal, I accidentally fouled my much larger opponent. He punched me and I punched him back. Then I immediately went to my strength. I ran like hell.
Some don't want to admit that a song almost moves them to tears. It's a sign of weakness I suppose. While I wouldn't want to listen to one sad song after another, I like them on occasion. I know the criticisms. It's too corny, goody-goody, saccharine, etc. People like to make fun of tearjerkers. Get out the kleenex. Tune up the violins. But sometimes it's just nice to hear a feel-good song about people doing the right thing or just a sappy love song.
One of the all-time tearjerkers was Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey" back in 1968. There have been plenty of more recent vintage:
Father-daughter songs have been very popular lately. Heartland's "I Loved Her First", Chuck Wicks's "Stealing Cinderella", Crystal Shawanda's "You can Let Go" and, a while back, Suzy Bogguss's "When She Smiled at Him" and John Berry's "How Much Do You Love Me". Parents staying together has been the theme of duets by Wynonna and John Berry on "We Can't Unmake Love" and Hal Ketchum and Lisa Brokop on "Keep Mom and Dad in Love".
There have been many great songs about kids. Jimmy Wayne's "Paper Angels" talks about missing children. Rascal Flatts "Skin" tells of a young girl with cancer (truly moving video). Blaine Larsen's "How Do You Get that Lonely" tells of teen suicide. Tammy Cochran's "Angels in Waiting," tells about her brothers who "always knew they wouldn't grow old". Martina Mcbride's "God's Will" is a word play about a handicapped boy named Will. In Mark Wills's "Don't Laugh at Me" I like the line about "the kid on every playground who's always chosen last". Other songs about kids I like include "Let Them Be Little", versions by Billy Dean and Lonestar, Melissa Manchester and Collin Raye's duet on "A Mother and Father's Prayer", Collin Raye's "I Wish I Could", Paul Overstreet's "Heroes", Brad Paisley's "He didn't Have to Be" and Kathy Mattea's "Who's Gonna Know", in which an adult who was an only child reflects on who will know besides her when her parents pass on.
Songs about soldiers include Tim McGraw's "If You're Reading This" and John Michael Montgomery's "Letters from Home" while Emerson Drive's "Moments", Doug Stone's "Nice Problem"and Gene Watson's "Someone's Child" are thought provoking songs about the homeless.
Martina Mcbride's "All the Things We've Never done", Kathy Mattea's "Where've You Been", Clay Walker's "I'd Love to Be Your Last", Joe Nichol's "I'll Wait for You", Darryl Worley's "I Miss My Friend, Trisha Yearwood's "Heart Like a Sad Song", Keith Urban's "Tonight I Wanna Cry", "In Heaven" by Suzy Bogguss, Lonestar's "I'm Already There" and Diamond Rio's "One More Day" are some of my favorite sappy love songs. Other sappy songs of note include Tammy Cochran's "Life Happened", Alabama's "Angels Among Us", Blake Shelton's "The Baby", and Collin Raye's "She's Gonna Fly" about a woman afflicted with alzheimer's disease.
I'm sure that I've named only a small percentage of sappy country songs. What are your favorites? (Or are you afraid to admit you like any.)
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