Today is quite a big day for me and one I am strangely excited about. It’s not often that you celebrate getting older but when it comes with a monthly remuneration attached, not quite so bad. To be clear, it’s not my birthday, it’s just that anyone born after the 6th of April 1960 is part of the generation that will now miss getting their monthly remuneration at age 66. By 6th April 2028 everyone will have to be 67, but they’re doing it incrementally until then. To celebrate we’re going out for lunch with DD and Mr DD. She will no doubt be telling me all about the new album she purchased yesterday, Like A Virgin, by Madonna. It came out 10 years before she was born but she has a really good knowledge of older (to her) music, so much so that whilst on holiday recently she and Mr DD won the music quiz held one night in their hotel. They were up against teams of up to seven people of all ages. I was very proud!
But what else has been happening this week? We’re getting ready to go on our first big adventure post-“remuneration” (I can’t bring myself to say what it’s really called). Going on holiday used to be simple – just pack the kind of clothes you think you’ll need, some toiletries, money, your passport and you were set. Now everything is booked online so you need many, many apps, but you also need a photoshot of what’s on the app in case you can’t get a signal, and ideally a hard copy in case you run out of charge. Talking of which you need to make sure your phone will work abroad with the correct roaming settings and an extra powerpack with connectors for the charge issue. Special front-facing, anti-theft bags have to be acquired to thwart sneaky pickpockets and multiple credit cards taken in case the one you usually use doesn’t work! Whatever happened to traveller’s cheques? Where am I going I hear you ask. Well here is a clue featuring one of Mr WIAA’s favourite songs and by the end of this post I’ll fill you in.
Last time I wrote a tribute to Dolly Parton who very sadly passed away at the end of August. There was an awful lot of news coverage about her life and legacy in the days afterwards and it must have had an effect on the great British public as it was looking for a while as if she might finally make it to the No. 1 spot on the UK Singles Chart. But no, that was not to be, although she did reach the No. 5 and the No. 6 spots with 9 To 5 and Jolene respectively. Unbelievably the highest chart positions she ever reached.
So if Dolly isn’t No. 1, what is? After 23 weeks at the top spot, it is no longer Rein Me In by Sam and Olivia, it is this song, Choosin’ Texas, by Ella Langley. I wasn’t surprised as it’s been gradually creeping up the chart since January, but now, perhaps because so many of us have enjoyed hearing an abundance of country music courtesy of Dolly’s sad demise, it’s top dog. The song was written by Ella with help from Miranda Lambert amongst others, and is about the sting of watching someone choose the open road and the Lone Star State, over the relationship. Maybe I’m wrong but it feels like quite a while since someone who performs country music has topped the UK chart. It must have something to do with Dolly as not many of us on this side of the pond will ever have had to drink “jack” all on our own because our Texan, cowboy boyfriend just can’t cope with living in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.
But back to my forthcoming trip. As you will probably have guessed, I’m not going to Tennessee or Texas, but somewhere a lot closer to home, relatively speaking. Later on this week I’m heading to Rome for a few days after which we head down to Naples and then on to Sorrento for a more relaxing holiday. Troublingly, the weather there has been at heatwave levels for quite some time but it seems as soon as we arrive, the temperature is going to drop and it will rain for the following 10 days. In some ways that’s great for my fair Scottish skin but I get plenty of rain at home so I did hope for some blue skies. Long-range weather forecasts are notoriously inaccurate though, so cross-fingers we’ll get both the lower temperatures and less rain.
If anyone has been to either of these places, do let me know. You may have some hints and tips we’ve not discovered yet. Our trips to the Vatican and to Pompeii have already been booked and our attempts at picking up basic Italian phrases are going well (although Mr WIAA keeps mixing his Italian up with his Spanish). All being well I shall return here in two weeks with tales of our trip. As I’m not an expert in the pop music of Italy, I’m going to finish off with a clip of a band I had all forgotten about. Way back in 1983, Roman Holiday had a hit with the song Don’t Try To Stop It. Very upbeat and jaunty – just the thing to get the suitcases packed to.
Until next time…
Choosin’ Texas Lyrics
(Song by Ella Langley/Joybeth Taylor/Luke Dick/Miranda Lambert)
Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee
I shoulda known better than to take him back to Abilene
I put him right back into her arms
I wasn’t a match for that kinda spark
She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way
He’s two steppin’ ’round the room
And judgin’ by the smile that’s written on his face
There’s nothin’ I can do
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosin’ Texas, I can tell
Well, I guess he forgot about the Smoky Mountain rain
Them old Hank tunes, the Memphis blues we used to sing
He always loved Amarillo By Morning
I shoulda taken that as a warning
She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way
He’s two steppin’ ’round the room
And judgin’ by the smile that’s written on his face
There’s nothin’ I can do
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosin’ Texas, I can tell
When I’m eastbound and down and I can’t help but cry
‘Cause I-40 gets lonelier with every mile
I’ll know that his mind wasn’t ever gonna change
‘Cause his heart still belongs to the Lone Star State
She’s from Texas, I can tell by the way
He’s two steppin’ ’round the room
And judgin’ by the smile that’s written on his face
There’s nothin’ I can do, nah, yeah
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosing Texas, I can tell, no
Drinkin’ Jack all by myself
He’s choosin’ Texas, I can tell
Come on, baby
Oh, yeah
Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee
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