I am a lineman for the county...

[no name no slogan]

I am a lineman for the county and I drive the main road
Searchin' in the sun for another overload
I hear you singin' 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

And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line

[no name no slogan]

1. Aw, c'mon, it's GLEN FREAKING CAMPBELL

[leftofthedial]

6. actually, it's Jimmy Webb

who also wrote "Galveston" (A deadly good anti-war song) and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix"

Check out Jimmy's record "Ten Easy Pieces"

[Karenina]

28. Jimmy Webb is an American treasure

and a wordsmith of the highest order!!!

Other gems from my 'favorites' list:

All I Know
Didn't We
Easy for You to Say
The Highwayman
The Moon's a Harsh Mistress
Up, Up and Away
The Worst That Could Happen

Linda Ronstadt did some WONDERFUL versions, but NOTHING beats Jimmy pounding on the piano, croaking out his own tunes.

[texas1928]

2. I know this song by heart.

My grandfather was a lineman for the county.

[no name no slogan]

3. I LOVE that song

Very simple lyrics, but what a story they tell. I prefer Glen Campbell's interpretation the best out of all of them out there.

Glen Campbell doesn't get any props for what he's done. He's a very talented singer and guitar player, and plays many styles. In fact, he was Brian Wilson's touring replacement when Wilson stopped touring with the Beach Boys in the mid-60s.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. He's an excellent guitar player...

and a class A asshole :D

[no name no slogan]

21. agreed and AGREED

Indeed, he is a class A Asshole! :rofl:

[borlis]

4. Glen Gampbell is all we listened to on family driving vacations

when I was a kid. Great memories here.

[City Lights]

7. Don't forget Sinatra.

I first remember hearing Sinatra's voice en route to CA in the family truckster when I was 12 or 13.

Then there was that band that Joe G. liked - can't remember their name - but the song was "Number 54. House with the bamboo door." Remember that gem?

[borlis]

11. It's all coming back now!!

LOL :rofl:

[Arugula Latte]

5. That song is tied with "If You Could Read My Mind, Love" as my

worst earworm ever. I had that thing inexplicably stuck in my head for more than a week, playing on a loop. I tried to replace it with "Galveston, Oh Galvestooooooon" to no avail ... x(

[RandomKoolzip]

8. Great song.

INCREDIBLE production. The Flaming Lips would give their immortal souls to make one of their records sound as beautiful and twisted.

The Scud Mountain Boys did a decent, stripped-down version of this song back in 1997.

[XNASA]

9. Jimmy Webb rulez.

[Burma Jones]

13. Art Garfunkel did a Jimmy Webb song - "All I Know"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Webb

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. I love that song...

I bruise you
You bruise me
We both bruise too easily
Too easily to let it show
I love you and that's all I know

All my plans
Have fallen through
All my plans depend on you
Depend on you to help them grow
I love you and that's all I know

When the singer's gone
Let the song go on...

But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast
They come too fast
But they pass to slow
I love you and that's all I know

When the singer's gone
Let the song go on
It's a fine line between the darkness and the dawn
They say in the darkest night, there's a light beyond

But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast
They come too fast
But they pass to slow
I love you and that's all I know

[Burma Jones]

27. It has very nice Orchestration

That whole album is very good.....

[GoddessOfGuinness]

29. I'll have to get a cd...

I've got so much vinyl that I haven't replaced yet!

[sendero]

10. Jimmy Webb..

... wrote some beautiful songs. And nobody sang them better than Glen Campbell, regardless of how great or small a human being he might be :)

[alarimer]

12. Didn't he also do Macarthur Park?

well I guess all songwriters can produce a dud now and then.

"someone left the cake out in the rain...

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

15. Flame away, but I loved the song MacArthur Park...

But then again I was 14 when it was released in 1968 and I adored Richard Harris...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

26. I adored Richard Harris too...

But I can't get into soggy, ant-encrusted cake. :P

[Karenina]

30. Jimmy rants that it's

the one line he's written that he wishes he could retrieve.

[sendero]

19. He did..

... you know, that song is the poster child for "bad", but IMHO that had more to do with Richard Harris' overwrought rendering than it did with the song lyrics.

They were a little wacky, but remember it was the sixties :)

[alarimer]

20. I seem to recall another version besides Harris'

Could it have been Diana Ross? guess I need to get on Napster and find out.

On edit: It was Donna Summer I was thinking of- sort of a disco version.

[sendero]

22. I think...

... several folks recorded that song.

[MissMillie]

14. I like "If These Walls Could Speak"

but this one is nice too.

[jane_pippin]

16. I like that song. Especially when

The Living Marimba's Plus Strings play it in instrumental form.

[Swede]

18. I love Campbell's music.

He's a flawed human,with chemical addictions. I won't judge the man.

[Dr Fate]

23. I picked up his greatest hits on vinyl for .99 cents- great stuff...

...he played on some Beach Boys & Monkees records too...

[enigmatic]

25. timeless lyrics and chords

And is there a more perfect lyric about love in few words or less?

"And I need you more than want you
And I love you for all-time...."

The Scud Mountain Boys did a typically haunting rendition, too:

http://www.subpop.com/bands/scud/website/earlyyear/earlyear.html