So I was driving to Goulburn this morning before work (gee our life is hectic at the moment) and I started singing this song outta no where...
THE KING OF OAK STREET
KENNY ROGERS
Like a leaf caught in the wind he drifted a while
With no purpose or direction to his life
He tried to get himself together and pacify his mind
And forget about the things he left behind.
A cryin' woman he left standing in his door
With a two- month- old baby in her arms
His little black book he left torn upon the floor
God only knows he never meant to do her wrong.
A careless weekend on the other side of town
Has torn the king of Oak Street's Castle down
And all week long he's tried to phone her but she won't let him explain
Now Sunday morning finds him walking in the rain.
He sits now in a phone booth and he prays
That she'll forgive him and she'll believe he's changed his ways
With shaking hands he deposits his last dime
And he's still praying that she won't hang up this time.
Then the sweetest voice he's ever heard says “hello”
Breakfast's almost ready baby, come on home
I've thought the whole thing over and I think I understand
That the king of Oak Street is just an ordinary man.
I've thought the whole thing over and I think I understand
That the king of Oak Street is just an ordinary man.
So I fell in love with this song as a young girl. It might not be considered 'cool' but these schmaltzy country ballads are my favourites...
But because I fell in love with it as a girl, I always wondered what the husband and wife were fighting about for the whole week he didn't go home. But in the end I just dismissed it and enjoyed the song.
UNTIL TODAY!
Being a bit more worldly than I was as a teen, when I got to the line about 'his little black book left torn up on the floor' I completely baulked. With a big out loud "OH MY GOD! WHAT A PIG!" right there in the middle of the song driving the car with the kids in the back (oops - big OOPS!). Bonnie will probably tell me again thats how you drive like she's told my friends before - I swear my road rage incidents are few and far between and she still thinks you drive along shouting abuse at people... So when I got out of the car in Goulburn I asked Glenn what a little black book was (just to confirm my suspicions) and found my suspicions were right.
The couple in the song were fighting because his wife with (I assume) their baby of 2 months found the book with all the numbers of his booty calls in it!
I always thought that it was so sweet that the wife came around in a loving 1950's way and forgave him and understood him. I thought it would be a romantic to be so understanding and forgiving and then just go back to being the loving wife like nothing happened. I also always thought it would be nice if a man was hung up on you enough to mope around for a week trying to call you after a massive bust up trying to get back together with you...
But after today? I just think you stupid girl - he diss'ed you in the biggest way! You should have left him out in the rain FOREVER!
I'm not sure I still like the song... Tell me I've interpreted it wrong so I can put it back in my love box :'(
“A careless weekend on the other side of town
ReplyDeleteHas torn the king of Oak Street's Castle down
And all week long he's tried to phone her but she won't let him explain
Now Sunday morning finds him walking in the rain.”
>Sounds like he had definitely goofed. Part of our human condition – not many of us can take the high ground and say WE would not err. Wait until the planets align, you may circum. It also appears she let him know of her hurt – “she wouldn’t let him explain...” and he appears to have been kicked out!
>They reconciled which demonstrates to me their love was true. Forgiveness is so important and a critical element if a relationship is going to survive “our human condition”. None of us are perfect.
>I love this song and enjoy Thomas Alexander Harvey’s honest lyrics.
Get a load of this Kenny Rogers song - this one's a bottler. A double murder which he justifies by saying she'd done the wrong thing! But never the less a great song...
ReplyDelete"Buried Treasure
As I'm walking behind this plough
I keep turning over memories
buried treasure
of a past once filled with you
this old ground, i know it's hard
and i've worked it so many times
and the rain it's been prayin' for
is fallin' from my eyes
waitin' for the settin' sun
when a hard day's work is done
we'd sit down
and rock the baby in our dreams
but you turned it all around
with this other man you found
and you never thought I'd figure
out your scheme
And there's buried treasure
hidden in the ground
precious memories
of a love (that couldn't die??)
you couldn't be a simple wife
you had to lead the cheatin' life
and you led me down a road i hate to ride
now the neighbours, they all knew
they had seen him leave with you
but what they didn't see
was i followed close behind
and the next days paper read
that a man had been found dead
and the lady he'd been seen with,
they can't find.
and there's buried treasure
hidden in the ground
precious memories
of a love (of you and I??)
you couldn't be a simple wife
you had to lead the cheatin' life
and you led me down a road
i hate to ride.
as I'm walkin' behind this plough
I keep turnin' over memories
buried treasure
of a past once filled with you
this old ground, I know is hard
and I've worked it so many times . . .
rowell phillips"
i have always loved this song; it is beautiful and it will always make me cry, i reckon.
ReplyDeletei feel funny about your reflections on the topic, megs. you said: 'i always thought that it was so sweet that the wife came around in a loving 1950's way and forgave him and understood him.' how are love and forgiveness products of the nineteen fifties housewife? love is still going strong in the twenty first century. also you said: 'i thought it would be a romantic to be so understanding and forgiving and then just go back to being the loving wife like nothing happened.' we don't know that this is how it plays out. after he wandered around in the rain for the weekend, sure she invites him to come back home. but megan, we have no idea what happens after the lyrics reach their conclusion. i'm pretty sure the two of them will have some serious issues to address. there is no doubt in my mind that it will be a long time before things are peachy again. by the same token, it seems as if the king of oak street has learned a pretty serious lesson. i think the road ahead is rocky for these two, but they seem to have the love that will be required to carry them through.