And I need you more than want you,
and I want you for all time
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line…
Love that song.
Thanks for the post. I’m hearing the song in my head as I write this.
Can’t say much more than “one of the most universally loved songs”. It’s history and awards say it better.
Brilliant. I have a signed copy
Love Glenn Campbell guitarist
Adore Jimmy Webb. Great songwriter.
The song is haunting and doesn’t leave your head, easily.
You literally see the vast, empty, lonely space he’s working in, from above, and the sheer isolation jarringly brings that “need you” more than “want you” palpably to your heart.
You feel life is sadly solitary and the gift of another who loves you is everything. Then you realize she, too, is alone, save for you and your marriage.
In the end, the song seems brutal in its effect, while teaching you the desperate lives we have are nothing without love and God.
Beautiful song; so poignant.
As someone who spent so many months away from my wife and family, this song always put a lump in my throat. So many missed anniversaries, birthdays, Christmases, Easters, thanksgivings, and even the birth of my child. That missed time is my sole regret of my career choice, and I thank God I am finally home for good.
One of my faves.
Alias - Wichita Lineman (Marshall) - Glen Campbell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWRxpooc06E
I think at one time it was the most played song on all of AM radio. in fact, it may still hold that record. It’s a really great song and Glen did a great rendition of it.
great song. don’t get me wrong, i love three chord songs ala Creedence, but Webb doesn’t write 3 chord specials. i remember working out the chords on guitar so i could perform it. for me (no, i can’t sing as high as Campbell.), it used that bass riff to on C, then goes to G, and then the voice comes on on fdim7 to Em. but then the song goes to G, C, G, D; and then is keyed on A.
then to G on ‘and i need you more than want you...’ then can go to D-Dm on ‘and i want you for all time...’ then back to A on ‘and the Wichita Lineman....’ to and E chord resolve!
then back to F to G on that wire singing petal point... and then you have Campbell’s iconic bass guitar solo...and back to the verse.
amazing changes throughout. what a song. the guy and his songs sure inspired a bunch of us string players to take up the guitar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9oF22Im2SQ&list=RDr9oF22Im2SQ&start_radio=1
I’ve been thinking about this song a lot this past week. My wife and I are on an epic road trip. Maryland to Colorado. Side trip to anew Mexico with short excursion into Texas and Oklahoma. Yesterday we decided to shoot into North Dakota for the day.
It’s mainly a quest to check off states. We bought an overland camping rig last year. By tomorrow we’ll have driven into 28 states with it.
Seeing the endless line of poles along the shimmering and lonely roadways makes one think of how all that has been built and maintained by the Wichita linemen.
I get goose bumps every time I hear that song.
“greatest song ever written” - Bob Dylan
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/bob-dylan-song-greatest-ever-written/
I thought the song was about a football player.
The Sooner State is also featured in "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," which recounts a road trip from Arizona to Oklahoma.
Southern Nightd.