And the “Wichita Lineman” is stuck in my mind

“‘And I need you more than want you/and I want you for all time’ is simply a genius couplet, no doubt about it.”

The song Wichita Lineman, written by Jimmy Webb and performed by Glen Campbell, keeps popping up in my life.

First I was watching a segment of CBS Sunday Morning (aired on July 31, but I watched later), where Webb was interviewed. He indicated that, after he’d given Campbell “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”, Campbell wanted “another ‘Phoenix'”. Webb replied that he didn’t have ANOTHER ‘Phoenix’. He wrote most of “Wichita Lineman”, but he wasn’t finished; nevertheless, Campbell recorded it, using a guitar solo where Webb thought the song was incomplete.

Then Campbell, who had announced that he had Alzheimer’s in June was interviewed by ABC News in August. He shared the fact that the favorite of his songs was Wichita Lineman, as he noted his favorite lyrics. As Johnny Bacardi noted here: “‘And I need you more than want you/and I want you for all time’ is simply a genius couplet, no doubt about it.”

Here’s the studio version and here’s a live version.

What songs are currently stuck in your mind?

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