To conclude my “Gentle” theme of the week, the tune Gentle on My Mind is right up there as a candidate for the best lyrics ever penned for a tune. Songwriter John Hartford wrote the four time Grammy-winning song after seeing the movie Dr. Zhivago. As he noted:
I get the Zhivago reference only because that was the first date/movie I took the ex to way back when. However, I do remember the movie as having some very cold scenes. How the movie influenced Hartford to write what he did I’m not sure; but I do know that he came up with some great lyrics as follows:
“I still might run in silence
Tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me till I’m blind
But not to where I cannot see
You walkin’ on the back roads
By the rivers flowin’ gentle on my mind.”
Glen Campbell’s version is the one that won all of the Grammy awards. However, the Band Perry recently did a very nice remake of it even if the first minute drags a little. Stay with it.