You've heard the old joke about what happens when you play a country and western record backwards, right?. The wife returns, the dog comes back to life, the home foreclosure is cancelled and the boss re-hires the the singer. It's an old joke. Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen made a joke out of sad country songs along the same line. In "Seeds and Stems" Bill Kirchen sings "You know, my dog died just yesterday and left me all alone, the finance company dropped by today and repossessed my home, but that's just a drop in the bucket compared to losing you, and I'm down to seeds and stems again, too." Hi-yuck. Stoner country.
I happened on a couple cuts from a Monument Records compilation that are what the poster called countrypolitan which I'm assuming is psuedo-country sung by fancy city folk, at the least country light. Regardless, whether cry in your beer or cry in your martini, these are sad sack gold. "The Runt" is about bullying and "Apology at Bedtime (My Little Boy)" is sung (or spoken) by a dad to a sleeping son, apologizing for riding him too hard. Don't get me started about the latter. An apology is all fine and dandy, but when the kid is asleep? What good is that going to do? Sure, real sincere apology there. From a dad too cowardly and egotistic to apologize when his son is awake. And, no, my dad's name isn't Jim Mann. There's a B-side in there someplace.
Dave Rich - The Runt mp3 at Internet Archive
Jim Mann - Apology at Bedtime (My Little Boy) mp3 at Internet Archive
Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airman - Seeds and Stems (streaming) at YouTube
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