Friday, March 17, 2017

Song Analysis: You Gave Me A Mountain

Frankie Laine is best known for his hits from the 1940s and 1950s, like MULE TRAIN and MOONLIGHT GAMBLER---and others like those.

But he was still alive and well and still active well into the 1960s, and still making the occasional "cameo appearance" on the mainstream singles charts, "slipping one in", from time-to-time.

In early 1969 he had a minor/moderate single hit with YOU GAVE ME A MOUNTAIN (a song written by Marty Robins.  Hence, the first line "Born in the heat of the desert").

This song, essentially, is an anthem about your quintessential "loser".  The type of guy for whom anything that's either normal, or that most people have no problem attaining, he has to strain himself and go out of his way to acquire the same.

When his wife leaves him, and he loses custody of and visitation rights to his only son whom he loves dearly, he (more or  less) cries out to God "That's the last straw!  All my life you put one obstacle after another in my way, but I made it through somehow.  But this one will break me for sure!  There'll be no recuperating from THIS divine atrocity!"

2 comments:

  1. Elvis sung this live a great deal during the 70's, the so-called "Vegas" years. I felt it summed up his feeling after his wife left him.

    Actually I often feel this way after dealing with my mother.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The feeling conveyed by this song is that of "being backed into a corner with no way out".
      At least that's the impression I get from this song.

      Delete