Country Music

Dave Matthews sang this song when he inducted Willie Nelson into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He performed it again at Willie’s 90th birthday celebration. And then just last week I saw Willie perform it at his July 4th picnic in Philadelphia.

Willie wrote it in the early 60’s and it was recorded by Billy Walker in 1961. Walker’s release reached number 23 on the Hot C&W charts. Willie recorded it himself on his debut album “And then I Wrote” consisting of many of the hits he had written that had been recorded by other artists. (“Crazy” by Patsy Cline probably comes first to mind.)

Since then the song has been recorded by countless artists ranging from Brenda Lee and George Jones to Elvis Presley and Dr. John. It is a classic Willie Nelson song that I never get tired of playing or listening to.

Rodney Crowell

It ain’t over yet, ask someone who ought to know
Not so very long ago we were both hung out to dry
It ain’t over yet, you can mark my word
I don’t care what you think you heard, we’re still learning how to fly
It ain’t over yet
“It Ain’t Over Yet,” Rodney Crowell

I recently discovered this song. It’s a few years old. But it spoke to me…and probably speaks to a number of my friends as well. It’s about second chances. Regrets replaced by hope. About “keeping on keeping on.”

I and a number of people I know and love are either going through some big changes or preparing to. I had one friend quit her job to spend more time with her adolescent daughter, only to be blindsided by her husband’s abandonment. She went looking for anything that could pay the bills. Another lost his job when some powerful people complained about his style of teaching. He landed on his feet, heartbroken but resilient.

Then there are others who are voluntarily leaving their jobs. A teacher friend of mine is quitting to be a full-time photographer. Another returned to Ireland.

They are all of a certain age. I could go on and on.

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said “there are no second acts in American lives.” Rodney Crowell would dispute that idea. Throughout his song he lists his faults and his regrets, his successes and failures, his highs and his lows. But he insists in the “hook” of the chorus: it ain’t over yet. And by the end of the song, he’s in a good space.

I am quitting my teaching job in June. I quit once before but came back to it eleven years later. I’ve been doing it a long time.

A lot of people ask me worriedly what am I going to do with myself. I have plenty to do. I have my writing, which has been on hold for a few years–a novel needing a final draft, dozens of poems and short-stories to polish. (There’s a reason this is first post in 2019.) I have my painting, which I had been working hard on and then just ceased.

And then there is my music. (Click here for future show dates.)

I’ve played about 35 gigs in 2019 and I am enjoying them and I think I’m getting better with each of them. I started out doing only covers but now am including 5 or 6 originals in each show. As I said, I think I am getting better.

And at my gig today, I am covering the Rodney Crowell song, “It Ain’t Over Yet.” I think of it almost as a fight song, fist in the air defiant: IT AIN’T OVER YET.

Here’s a wonderful video of Rodney Crowell performing with John Paul White and Roseanne Cash. I don’t know about you, but I think the words speak to a lot of us.