Kids. Shit. Campbell recorded that in 1969. I was lucky. My wonderful, widowed mother bestowed on me an extremely beautiful college deferment that I would drop in my last year of college (72) hoping for a good draft number. Again I got lucky. I knew it was about Viet Nam. Everybody knew it was about Viet Nam. It was nineteen sixty fucking nine. In Albuquerque some lucky kid wrote a song called I Can See the Lights of Albuquerque that made the airwaves. Basically the same song except: Jimmy Webb’s best song. And he had a bunch. I don’t know why the song hit me so. Great melody. I’m not going to say great production, they were all produced like that. But Galveston made me quiver. Seriously. Webb’s acoustic ballad version proves it’s perfect. It’s a beautiful song.
It was very infrequently played on oldies stations in my parts growing up. If I heard it it was only enough to retain a title and it seems to have no verbal tag beyond that or that espouses a point of view or view. You have to understand I’m a music guy and don’t mind if I miss the lyrics of a lot of pop, so I have no idea of any story at all. There is a tendency here to call things vietnam related. Billy don’t be a hero was one thread.
I certainly was.
I listened again, and I now hear the war references.
But now I think Galveston was the girl’s name.
Yeah, I’m sure it’s common to refer to girls in this way:
Before I watch your seabirds flying in the sun
At Galveston at Galveston