One of my favorite songwriter/storytellers is Tom T. Hall – a country singer from 30 years ago for those who are unfamiliar with him. The song below, while humorous, gives a glimpse of the way things could be in some of the more rural communities in the U S at that time and before. I don’t know if there are parts of the country that are still like this – but I wouldn’t be surprised.
Tom T. is a bit of a humourist, sometimes tinted with some pathos. But I like his stuff. I’m not really able to describe it right now, but he captures a lot of the “Southern Country Americana” (if that term even makes sense) in his songs. “I Love” was on both the country and pop charts in early 1974 which might be why it’s more familiar. It’s a little too sentimental, I think. I prefer his more humourous stuff, like “The Little Country Jail” (above).
Anyway, the thread isn’t really about the man, as much as it is about the song. The story he sings about is more than likely true. There were very rural areas of the Southern U S where you could get a traffic ticket even for sitting at a stop light if you seemed to be from “out-of-town.” I was just curious if there are communities overseas where things like that are not uncommon. Anecodotes anyone?
Will - I think everyone has heard the old “speed trap” stories - where you better slow down while driving country roads because they look specifically for out of town license plates.
I grew up in an area that was rural, beginning to move to residential. Unfortunately, the local sheriffs there are today dealing with a murder of a 13 year old girl by a suspected molester, who left the area and probably murdered 2 other people so far.
I think those guys would love to go back to the way it was…
I know what you’re saying about the desire to go back to the way things used to be. I grew up in a little country town in Missouri where we never locked our doors or our cars (or took the keys out of the cars for that matter.) Your sad story shows that the things once associated with the larger cities are now too much of a reality in that seemingly secure smaller world in which we grew up. I was surprised when I learned that the folks in my hometown are now locking their doors at night as well as their cars. Even the church has begun locking its doors (which was TOTALLY unheard of when I was a kid).
There’s a difference between getting caught in a speed trap and being hauled in on “trumped up” charges while sitting at a red light. Not to say this kind of thing was common, but it did happen in some locales. I don’t know if it was true, but a friend of mine in college used to talk about when he was driving through South Carolina on a state road. He was pulled over by the local police (not a state trooper), who approached him with a screw driver. He was told to take off his license plate, which the officer then promptly confiscated and wrote him a ticket for driving without plates on his car. He had to pay the officer or risk going to jail. He blamed it on his long hair and that he was driving a German-made car (Volkswagen Beatle).
Perhaps this thread is getting a little too political/controversial for this forum My fault.
I can’t listen to it right now because I’m in math class and the instructor might bite off my head, but I wanted to say that I love that little smiley face. It’s so happy and good and wonderful and I wish it was used more often.
It’s not meant to be political.
