SATURDAY 9: FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES (1990)
Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.
Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Garth Brooks tells us he wore boots to a black-tie affair. When did you most recently get dressed up? What did you wear?
A. I last dressed up last night for my stepmother's birthday dinner. I wore my nicest slacks and a new short-sleeved shirt, along with my nice earrings and a little eye makeup. (I've about given up on makeup with the pandemic.)
2) The lyrics refer to The Oasis, which was a real bar in Concordia, Kansas. What's the name of the last bar or restaurant where you ordered a beverage? (Yes, Dunkin' counts.)
A. Coach & Four, where I was last night. I ordered water because that's all I drink. Incidentally, this is also the establishment where my husband proposed to me in July 1983.
3) Garth was having a stellar 2021. He kicked the year off by performing "Amazing Grace" at President Biden's inauguration in January, and then over the summer he received the prestigious Kennedy Center Honor. Now that we're past the halfway mark, how's your year going?
A. It is going ok. I had hoped we would be beyond the Covid 19 virus by now, but as it appears to be gaining steam in the form of the Delta variant, we have given up on trying to make vacation plans or otherwise do anything other than keep ourselves as safe as we can. Even going to a restaurant last night was chancy, we thought, but we did it anyway. It was the first time we'd been in a restaurant since March 2019. Looks like we will continue ordering take-out and having car picnics in parking lots.
4) But earlier this month, Garth cancelled the remaining August and September dates of his big concert tour. He's provided refunds for the 350,000 tickets that were sold. How do you tend to react when plans change? Are you easily annoyed, or do you roll with it?
A. It depends on the annoyance, but generally I accept it and move on. I had plans to see Melissa Etheridge in March 2020, and that was cancelled, and she rescheduled, and that was cancelled, so I asked for a refund. She is now touring and is scheduled to play here September 20, but I would not go even if I had tickets because of the rampaging virus. Personally, I think she should be cancelling her tours. I understand that she needs to perform, and people need to get out and do things - even an introvert like me can feel housebound - but we're nowhere near safe. We are appalled at the unfortunate deaths of 13 members of the military but shrug off 630,000 deaths from Covid. What does that say about our society, I wonder?
5) Before he sang about having friends in low places, Garth hung around in some. When he was as a struggling performer, he supported himself as a bouncer. What's the most physically taxing job you've ever had?
A. I guess farming, although my husband does all the heavy work. When I was younger, I helped my father on his farm.
6) According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), Garth surpassed The Beatles as the top-selling recording artist of the last 30 years. Who do you listen to more often: Garth or the Beatles?
A. I don't listen to either one of them very much, but I occasionally listen to the Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band album by the Beatles. I never listen to anything by Garth Brooks.
7) Garth and singer Trisha Yearwood have been happily married for 15 years now. Trisha says that as much as she loves her husband, his whistling drives her crazy. Come clean: what's your most annoying habit?
A. I talk during the weather forecast. My husband thinks the weather forecast is the most important thing he has to listen to, and I forget. Usually I haven't seen him all day and he wants to watch TV instead of hear whatever I have to say.
8) In 1990, when this song was a hit, Soviet President Gorbachev traveled first to Ottawa to meet Prime Minister Mulroney and then to Washington DC to meet President Bush. Do you have any travel plans? We want to hear about them, even if you aren't meeting any politicians or heads of state.
A. I have no travel plans. We were considering day trips, and if the Covid numbers drop we still may, but for now it looks like we will be staying close to home.
9) Random question: Your dear friend spends weeks planning a party. After just 30 minutes, you find yourself having a terrible time. Would you leave at the earliest (polite) opportunity? Or would you stay till the bitter end out of loyalty?
A. I think it would depend on when the party was ending. I would stay as long as I could, but unless I'd volunteered to help clean up, I would go when I could without looking like I really wanted to get out of there. I don't do parties well anyway, so any of my good friends wouldn't be surprised if I didn't stay long, I suspect.
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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
I'm a massive Beatle fan, but I seldom listen to Sgt. Pepper, so I was surprised that's the album you singled out. I think maybe it's because I was little when I first heard it and it was too sophisticated for me at the time. I don't know. But since you're a musician, you may listen to things with a different ear than I do.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read that you went to the "Coach & Four" my first thought was when were you n Connecticut?
ReplyDeleteThere was a tavern by that name in northwest Connecticut that has been around since the mid-1700s n the stagecoach line between Hartford and Albany. When I was little I thought it was so neat that we were stopping at a place where people ate and slept in the colonel days.
13 vs 650,000--that was a very insightful comment. I wonder what it DOES say about us as a nation. I'll be thinking on this today.
ReplyDeleteSgt. Pepper was the first CD I ever got--it started my collection.
ReplyDeleteLove Coach and Four, but we haven't been there in an age!!
ReplyDeleteI used to wear eye makeup, but had to quit when my eyesight got so bad I couldn't see to put it on.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to wear eye makeup when I can't see up close. I bet you felt nice when you dressed up. I think I would love daytrips if I lived in your area. Just city stuff over here.
ReplyDeleteI am appalled about the covid deaths and the military deaths. My son Josh has a classmate in the marines in Afghanistan right now. He has posted on facebook, so he is ok, but right at first we were all very worried. We are still worried about his safety. Covid has ruined everything. I am vaccinated, but I do not feel safe. It is all so upsetting. I am more worried now than I was last year, but I hear some people feel less worried, so maybe I just need to calm down. hahahaha
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you got to go to Coach and Four with your husband. Loved your answers! Have a great weekend!
https://lorisbusylife.blogspot.com/
It does seem that we are too chatty during the news. I get irked when my husband tells me to be quite so he can hear. It's a trigger for me. I grew up with my adopted dad always shushing me to hear something on TV. I get that once in a while something really is important to hear, but I got the message loud and clear that whatever was on TV was always more important than anything I had to say. It bugged me to no end, but you didn't talk back to my dad if you knew what was good for you. So now when my husband does it, it's not unlike waving a red cape in front of a bull.
ReplyDelete