Having a bit of a break from writing my long (sometimes too long) posts, so here is what I’m listening to in the wee small hours of Sunday morning – Of late, this has become my favourite time of the week. Everyone else has gone to bed so I have the house to myself and can read, write, catalogue (yes really) and listen to whatever takes my fancy. Of course the next morning I suffer for such “night owl-ish” behaviour but still worth it for the feeling of having done something slightly irresponsible, but yet highly enjoyable – Another guilty pleasure which is a phrase that crops up a lot around these parts, but usually in relation to song choices (of an easy-listening persuasion).
This soulful song, Rainy Night In Georgia, was written by Tony Joe White who had moved from Louisiana to Marietta, Georgia after leaving high school, to live with his sister. He wrote this song based on his experiences of driving a truck for the highway department. When it rained he didn’t have to go to work so he stayed home, played his guitar and simply “hungout”, all night. The song is an ode to loneliness, as it finds the narrator outside in the rain with nowhere to go and with no-one to love them.
Rainy Night In Georgia by Randy Crawford:
This song was of course first popularised by Brook Benton in 1970 but my favourite version is by Randy Crawford – It reminds me of a time in the mid ’80s when all my friends’ relationships were crumbling, never to recover. Long evenings were spent listening to Randy’s dulcet tones on her 1981 Secret Combination album, this song being my favourite. Thirty years on and the same thing seems to be happening at the moment amongst my daughter’s friendship groups. A lot of relationships that have survived since schooldays are crumbling, and there has been a flurry of activity tonight with cars coming and going trying to work out how best to support the latest “victim”. They will survive, but not in that triumphant Gloria Gaynor way, but because they are young and time is a great healer.
As for me, I’ll stay up for a while yet in case I am needed. I probably won’t share this song with them but boy does it remind me of what they are going through. Not too keen on this getting older malarkey, but being young isn’t always easy either, on this ironically, very rainy night… in the Scottish Highlands.
Rainy Night In Georgia Lyrics
(Song by Tony Joe White)
Hovering by my suitcase
Trying to find a warm place
To spend the night
Heavy rains are falling
Seems I hear your voice calling
Alright
A rainy night in georgia
A rainy night in georgia
I believe that it’s raining all over the world
I feel that it’s raining all over the world
Neon signs are flashing
Taxis, cabs and buses passing
Through the night
A distant moment of the train
Seems to play a sad refrain
To the night
A rainy night in Georgia
Such a rainy night in Georgia
I believe that it’s raining all over the world
I feel like it’s raining all over the world
How many times I’ve wondered
It still comes out the same
No matter how you look at it often
It’s life and we’ve just got to play the game
I shake the rain from my sweater
Take out your letters to pass some time
Late at night when its hard to rest
I hold your pictures to my breast
And I feel fine, fine
It’s a rainy night in Georgia
Such a rainy night in Georgia
I feel that it’s raining all over the world
Lord I feel like it’s raining all over the world
Rainy night
Such a rainy night
It still comes out the same
What's It All About? 
I’ve never heard this version before, Alyson, but I love it! Randy Crawford has a great voice – an excellent choice. Some wounds take an awfully long time to heal, but it certainly helps to have the support of friends and family.
(I’ll respond to your email tomorrow – it’s off to bed now!)
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Thanks – my favourite version. Was just going to post the song but as usual got a bit more “wordy” than I meant to!
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An excellent song for the wee small hours
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Yes indeed but keep being drawn back to this place when I was trying to go cold turkey for a wee while – Too many interesting posts like your new Bob Dylan series!
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Great song, and I envy you the late night. I used to love staying up till the wee small hours but a combination of a small child, a crushing teaching schedule and the fact I have to get up at 6 every morning (well, 6-30 on weekends…wooeee!) means such delights are but distance memories now…
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I’ve been there but trust me you come out the other end and have time for late nights again (of the pleasurable variety). Then again new issues arise like the one in my post but all part of life’s rich tapestry!
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Alyson,
I doubt cold turkey will work (unless, of course, you’re far more disciplined and strong-willed than I am!) I’ve tried to abandon my blog so many times (and failed) that I’ve become the laughing stock of the music blogging world. I’d be sad to have you vanish for an extended period. Your posts are so well-written and the tunes you choose are a treat . (I do love it when you venture back to the ’50s and ’60s, especially.)
For the first two years, I’d be at the computer until 3 or 4:00 A.M. – talk about being obsessed! Of course, back then there would be a hundred or more visitors a day (before Spotify and others began vying for a slice of the attention pie – and that was low compared to other sites that I visited back then.) Now, I try to limit myself to a stint in the morning (about 3:00 p.m. your time) and a wee drop-in in the afternoon.
If there are any requests that you`d like to hear, don`t hesitate to let me know. If I have the songs it would be a pleasure to post them.
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Hi – No you are right, I have absolutely no chance of stopping and wouldn’t want to but I’m going to try to stick to one short(ish) post per week for a while as have definitely neglected exercise and the family this year. More and more new sites all the time as you say and a limited number of followers so got to do it mainly for the enjoyment.
Here is one for you. I was going to follow on with Frank Sinatra’s “In the Wee Small Hours” but would be too much having 2 posts with the same title in succession – Do you have that one? Would be a real treat.
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