Jimmy Webb’s three-minute opus about a lonely Kansas phone
cable repairman may or may not be the greatest pop, country and
folk song ever written, but if nothing else it eliminates all doubt
about Jimmy Webb’s status as a songwriting genius.
Why genius? First of all, he was able to write a hit song about
a lonely Kansas phone cable repairman.
Second of all, if any songwriter living today can write eight better
lines than ones that make up “Wichita Lineman’s”
two verses and its simple refrain, I will personally take my treasured
first-edition vinyl copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club
Band, place it in the oven, melt it down, and drink it through a
straw:
I am a lineman for the county, and I drive
the main road
Searchin' in the sun for another overload.
I hear you singing in the wire, I can hear you through the
whine,
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line.
I know I need a small vacation but it don't
look like rain,
And if it snows that stretch down south won't ever stand the
strain.
And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all
time,
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line.
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“Wichita
Lineman” was the first song in the aging but still-velvet-voiced
Glen Campbell’s recent performance at the National Arts Centre.
Nothing else was necessary to reinforce a love affair that, like
all love affairs, is an inexplicable and eminently private matter.
The problem is, I’m not sure whether its Glen or Jimmy I love
more.
~Peter
Webb is a singer-songwriter of several recordings. He is currently
working on his PhD in Canadian War Literature at University of Ottawa.
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