People, People, please - I merely post the songs; I do not always endorse the messages they contain (when they do contain a message, which they don't always; they are sometimes only a breath upon the wind, a sentiment, a tale of love or loss or, occasionally, libido). My postbag bulged with protests about the last one, as if I might have been commending the consciousness of the smug male. I was not. To hammer home the fact that I wasn't, today I post another song from Michael Martin Murphey, showing that even for him a song is just a song, and not a deep political commitment. This time, instead of peddling male insensitivity he's telling how the permanence of the most fundamental relationship - momma to daddy and dad to mom - is passed down from father to son. Nothing could be more simple. 'Long Line Of Love', friends, 'Long Line Of Love':
I bought a beautiful diamond ring
Offered it to the sweetest thing I know
And she said she would take it
We started makin' some wedding plans
She looked at me and she took my hand and said
Do you think we can make it?
I said my granddad's still in love with my grandma
I said my dad still thinks my mom's
The sweetest thing he ever sawYou see, I come from a long line of love
When the times get hard, we don't give up
Forever's in my heart and in my blood
You see, I come from a long line of loveYears went by and we had a son
Son, you come from a long line of love
Now he thinks that he's found the one for him
And they're planning a wedding
He called me up on the phone today
Just to see what I had to say to him
Did I think he was ready?
I said what his grandfather used to say to me
It's been handed down for ages
It runs in the family
When the times get hard, you won't give up
Forever's in your heart and in your blood
Son, you come from a long line of love
Yes, you come from a long line of love
Father to son and down again a generation - what more could you want? Sung here by Paul Overstreet, and here by Michael Martin Murphey.
[The Momma 'n' Daddy Archive, containing all the details of the series, is here.]