Country Music and Broken Hearts
Jul 14 2009

When I was in high school in Lubbock, Texas, I took a part time job at Mr. Gatti’s Pizza because one of my friend’s worked there and I wanted to earn some extra money.  I even worked there on my 18th birthday and served my very first beer.  I remember the thrill of pulling the tap and angling the plastic, chilled mug to get the right amount of beer and foam top.

I also remember a few other things from that time and one was one of my co-worker’s statements about country music.  I can’t remember his name, but I remember how he looked when we had the conversation.  He was short to medium height, average looking, with curly light brown hair and was wearing the Mr. Gatti’s uniform (tan pants, white buttoned shirt, and apron).  I think he was in his early 20’s.  We were standing in the front area by the register.  At the time, I couldn’t stand country music.  I told him how lame, annoying, and stupid it was.  He looked at me and said something like “You obviously haven’t had your heart broken.  Come talk to me about country music after you have had your heart broken.”  I looked at him and thought to myself “Well, I better not let anyone break my heart then.”

Well for me Happiness was Lubbock, Texas in my Rear View Mirror (Mac Davis) and I have no interest in being buried there in my jeans. 🙂

As I grew older and had my heart broken, I did come to appreciate country music.  I’m still not an avid fan of the entire genre (broken trucks, everyone leaves, the dog dies, somebody kills themselves, etc.) but artists like George Strait, Willie Nelson, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, John Denver, Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain really know how to sing to a broken heart.

Broken hearts come in many forms but the kind involving personal relationships hurts the most.  I’ve had my heart broken a few times in my career, two of which have partially happened while I’ve been blogging (2 years now) and you, my readers, have been along for the ride.  Once when I learned about my first company’s/baby’s death and wrote a post called The Entrepreneurial Ledge.   My heart broke when I left the company back in 2001 and it broke some more when I found out it was gone in late 2008.  The other is of course having to find a home for Babble Soft, but I’m still optimistic that there will be a good outcome and it will live on in some form or fashion.

So if you want to shed some tears, relieve some tension, and appreciate the learning/yearning from some of your broken hearts check out some of these country songs on You Tube:

You Look So Good In Love – George Strait

Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue – Crystal Gayle (quasi-country)

Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash

Walk the Line – Johnny Cash

Landslide – Dixie Chicks (via Fleetwood Mac)

Always On My Mind – Willie Nelson

Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain – Shania Twain and Willie Nelson

As they say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”  My heart will hopefully be stronger (with some duct tape, stitches, and super glue) on the other side.

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