THE SPOOKY OLD TENNESSEE WALTZ

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted October 11, 2005)

I was thinking today about the Tennessee Waltz.... the song.... not the recent FBI sting.

It was in 1965.... 40 years ago.... when it was adopted as our state's 4th official song.
Of course, Tennessee now has 5 official state songs, though it's a rare person who can name them all.

While the Tennessee Waltz is unquestionably beautiful, it's also a song caught in a strange Twilight Zone-ish time warp.
I recall first discussing this with college pals more than 40 years ago, so chances are you've thought about the same thing.

The Tennessee Waltz was written about itself.

The composers (Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King) wrote lyrics lamenting the end of a romance, which dissolved while a band, somewhere, was playing a song called the Tennessee Waltz.

It begins:
I was dancin' with my darlin'
To the Tennessee Waltz...
When an old friend I happened to see...

And the lyrics end:
I remember the night
And the Tennessee Waltz
Now I know just how much I have lost
Yes, I lost my little darlin'
The night they were playing
The beautiful Tennessee Waltz.

Think about it.
It could just as easily have ended this way:
Yes, I lost my little darlin'
The night they were playing
This song I'm composing right now.

How could the composers possibly remember the night the band was playing the Tennessee Waltz, when they hadn't even written it?

Don't get me wrong, the Tennessee Waltz is beautiful... it's a classic.
It became the signature song for Patti Page.... it made lots of money for Redd Stewart and Pee Wee King.... and is Tennessee's most recognizable state song.
And I still enjoy hearing it.

Hmmmmm.... maybe if I write a song about remembering the night I won Powerball.............

Perhaps I need some rest.

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