Tag: #jimreeves

Songwriters are pretty special people. They have the ability to pull you into a story in a very short period of time. That story may leave you smiling and laughing, or pretty sad and wanting to cry. We all have a list of our favorites.

One of mine is a song written by Harlan Howard called The Blizzard. From what I could research, Jim Reeves recorded it first on October 4, 1960, releasing in February 1961. It had many other talented people record it after that. Just goes to show what a great story it is! I won’t share the words on here since the Jim Reeves lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. But you may listen to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2fyFumisiU

If you would like to hear some other recordings, this is a site I found: https://secondhandsongs.com/work/54004/all

As we all feel with a favorite song, we never get tired of hearing it. Songs can take us back to a time and place, even bringing to mind certain smells and emotions we experienced when hearing the song for the first time. Christmas songs are probably the most familiar for transporting us to other days, and recreating memories in our minds.

At Christmas time during my childhood, Christmas music was played from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. Hearing it at any other time shakes me out of that happy place of Christmas memories and is comparative to a cold-water dousing. So of course, I’ve never been a fan of Christmas in July! When I was 17-18 years old, we lived in Tucson, Arizona. The scenery did not bring a New England Christmas to my mind. I think our entire family felt the same. So, my mother played the music, decorated as she always did and baked. She also sprayed all the windows with fake snow, and ran the air-conditioner. We arrived home from school those weeks of the Christmas season, lugging school books and our winter coats. The area we lived in near the base of the Catalina Mountains was known for being frigid, with maybe a dusting of snow in the early morning, but hot by afternoon.

It was a bit of a shock to walk into the house after a long day of trudging around the school campus. But my mind instantly went back to Christmases spent in Colorado, Vermont, and upstate New York.

Another ingredient I think is a trademark of a great story, is the ability to give you an emotion at the end…no matter how many times you hear it, read it or watch it. Each time I listen to The Blizzard, I am shocked at the end. As if that time, he would have made it to Mary Ann, or encouraged Dan to get up and walk home.

So now, if you’ve never heard The Blizzard, you know the ending. But have a listen anyway. It’s a great song! Happy Tuesday everyone!