I remeber this song being very popular on AM radio (WIP Philadelphia) when I was a kid. It makes me chuckle now that we had the radio on as entertainment in the house back then. Color TV was still kind of a novelty even then, in 1969. Personally I think this song says a lot about the human tendency to have inflated expectations about life-you see it in many people. Holidays, birthdays, even presidential elections-excitement runs high, then hopes are suddenly dashed.
So, I think this song is sort of a jaded or sarcastic view, and is just trying to say, let's not get too worked up about anything. FIre destroyed her home, but she had her apparently loving Dad. She saw the circus, but maybe it was not as good as she had hoped. She fell in love, but maybe the boy had reservations or maybe went off to war. Life is like that. I think you can read a lot into the song and it seems a little too close for comfort and that is it's appeal-we have likely all felt this way. The danger in it is it's alcoholic and suicidal suggestion (again that is what got the attention of everyone I think) however.....if you take a step back I think all the writers were trying to say is, everyone, please relax, enjoy the moment you are in and not the one you were hoping for, because it is all we have. You can avoid a lot of disappointment by enjoying and being present in the moment. A hard lesson to learn, but it can be done! Finally, I don't think anyone could do this song like Ms. Lee did. She had a strange person a that came right through the TV as I remember-kind of boozy, narcotic, and a great voice. She told stories with her songs. Thanks for reading!
I remeber this song being very popular on AM radio (WIP Philadelphia) when I was a kid. It makes me chuckle now that we had the radio on as entertainment in the house back then. Color TV was still kind of a novelty even then, in 1969. Personally I think this song says a lot about the human tendency to have inflated expectations about life-you see it in many people. Holidays, birthdays, even presidential elections-excitement runs high, then hopes are suddenly dashed. So, I think this song is sort of a jaded or sarcastic view, and is just trying to say, let's not get too worked up about anything. FIre destroyed her home, but she had her apparently loving Dad. She saw the circus, but maybe it was not as good as she had hoped. She fell in love, but maybe the boy had reservations or maybe went off to war. Life is like that. I think you can read a lot into the song and it seems a little too close for comfort and that is it's appeal-we have likely all felt this way. The danger in it is it's alcoholic and suicidal suggestion (again that is what got the attention of everyone I think) however.....if you take a step back I think all the writers were trying to say is, everyone, please relax, enjoy the moment you are in and not the one you were hoping for, because it is all we have. You can avoid a lot of disappointment by enjoying and being present in the moment. A hard lesson to learn, but it can be done! Finally, I don't think anyone could do this song like Ms. Lee did. She had a strange person a that came right through the TV as I remember-kind of boozy, narcotic, and a great voice. She told stories with her songs. Thanks for reading!