Flowers on the Wall

This song was recorded well before my time on this earth, but it’s a classic that I think transcends generational gaps.  Originally recorded by The Statler Brothers in 1966, it peaked on the country music charts in the mid sixties at number 2.  Seemingly fitting for such a song that was about the daily task of wasting time, in hopes that someone you cared about would call asking you back, would come in 2^nd to others songs four weeks in a row.  You know, because someone else had better things to do.

Despite my parent’s love of country music, I wasn’t introduced to this song until the fall of 1994.  I was spending that Christmas break from my freshman year of college visiting my extended family. I was staying with my Grandparent’s by day and hanging out with my cousins by night. Riding home with my older cousin who was finishing up her academic career at a much larger and prestigious college than my own one night, she proceeded to tell me of this awesome movie that she had been to see four times before the break from school, and was thinking of going to see it again that week.

In those days, all movies had a soundtrack, and that soundtrack was coordinated with the release of the movie.  This may still happen in the world of today, but it really doesn’t seem as big a deal as it was back then.  On this soundtrack was Flowers on the Wall by the Statler Brothers.  The movie, as most of you well know, is Pulp Fiction.  Ground breaking stuff at the time, it is still one of my favorite movies of all time.

The song is the response of the song writer to someone he cares about very much that doesn’t care for the song writer anymore.  You still care for someone, but they want nothing to do with you, but you still make yourself available just in case they still might be interested.  Flowers on the Wall just details the extent to which people will go to make themselves available just in case. Counting flowers on the wall, that don’t bother me at all.  Playing solitare till dawn, with a deck of 51.  Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo.  I’ve never seen an episode of Captain Kangaroo or played solitare without a full deck of cards.  I would venture to say that if it weren’t for Microsoft, most people today wouldn’t know much of anything about the card game of solitare. 

I think we have all felt that way about someone at some point in our lives.  Maybe I like this song because I’ve felt that way about certain people I’ve had relationships with.  Maybe I like this song because of the “don’t tell me attitude” that is a byproduct of the main point of the song.  Maybe, I like this song  just because I like it…