The Momma 'n' Daddy Collection 47

The time has come to fill one or two gaps in this series, and the first of them concerns Waylon Jennings. Not only one of the all-time Country Music greats, Waylon is also a particular favourite of mine. But, you know, Momma 'n' Daddy isn't the first kind of song that comes to mind when you think about him: renegade, outlaw. 'Good Hearted Woman', 'Honky Tonk Heroes', 'Ladies Love Outlaws' - that sort of thing, yes. Or click through the link here to the 'Hangin' Tough' CD and listen to a snatch or two: Waylon singing 'Crying don't even come close to the way that I feel'; or this...

I wish that's the way that we could be
But love is up to love and not to me

I can't help the way that I don't feel
Take what isn't there and make it real
You're where I should be going but my heart is at the wheel
And I can't help the way that I don't feel

It's the deep wisdom of the Country song, but it ain't Momma 'n' Daddy. Hence my oversight to this point. However, on the same 'Hangin' Tough' album you will find a classic of the genre, and I bring it to you now. The one and only Waylon singing 'Between Fathers And Sons':

My father had so much to tell me
Things he said I had to know
Don't make my mistakes
There are rules you can't break
But I had to find out on my own
Now when I look at my own son
I know what my father went through
There's only so much you can do
You're proud when they walk
Scared when they run
That's how it always has been
Between fathers and sons

Chorus
It's a bridge you can't cross
It's a cross you can't bear
It's the words you can't say
The things you can't change
No matter how much you care
So you do all you can
But then you gotta let go
You're just part of the flow
Of the river that runs
Between fathers and sons

Your mother will try to protect you
Hold you as long as she can
But the higher you climb
The more you can see
That's something that I understand
One day you'll look at your own son
There'll be so much that you want to say
But he'll have to find his own way
On the road he must take
The course he must run
That's how it always has been
Between fathers and sons

Repeat chorus

You gotta let go, you're just part of the flow. I'm saying it again, people: never underestimate the wisdom that can be contained in a Country song.

[The Momma 'n' Daddy Archive, containing all the details of the series, is here.]