Glen Campbell Lyrics

    ------ About the song Impossible Dream (the Quest) performed by Glen Campbell

When one has taken on the task to champion the cause of correctness, they must face the endevour with all the vigor, voraciousness and vocabulary or dictionary at hand. As such in viewing the lyrics of the above song it was impossible for me not to assist you in becoming the paragons of perfect parables by pointing out that one must "right the unrightable wrong", not "write the unwriteable wrong". Seriously, thank you for this web site and the myriad of lyrics you make available to us all, it is a godsend! And count on the fact that if I come across another faux pas I will try to help you keep you standard supreme.

    ------ About the song Gentle On My Mind performed by Glen Campbell

of sorts. In fact, I was listening to it today in my car, and I started the song over several times in an attempt to "soak everything in." Well, reading the lyrics here, I still find that it's somewhat impossible to grasp/understand this song completely. The barrage of associations is hard to follow, but the images in the song are gripping, and it does "work." It lacks just a tad in clarity department, however. As for Bob Dylan, his songs do not lack clarity. This song is a masterpiece because the meaning of the song, ie "the whole" is emotionally moving, and the recurring major image, ie the woman being "gentle on his mind by the backroads of his memory" is a profound image that makes the song by itself. But technically speaking, Bob Dylan blows this away. Still a very good and a very emotional song. Emotionally speaking, this song is better than Dylan, and the imagery matches Dylan, but Bob Dylan is much more cerebral and a better writer, imo.

    ------ About the song Folk Singer performed by Glen Campbell

Have had this song on a Capitol Tape TC-SENC-9845 for years and to me it is one of his best.It is played frequently.I was delighted to find Johnny Cash had ahand in writing it.Also I can not find any other artist who has performed it.

    ------ About the song Gentle On My Mind performed by Glen Campbell


Jim Webb was a genius then and a genius now. If your maturity, family background and experiences allow you to understand him, great. If not, your missing something. As a writer, I stand in awe of his work. It is something for me to aspire to and he IS THE LAST WORD IN MUSIC, along with BOB DYLAN, although there are obvious differences.
I don't care about "todays" standards, because there ARE NO STANDARDS today in the current lost trash generation.

    ------ About the song Gentle On My Mind performed by Glen Campbell

This is poetry, forget the sophomore comment. Remember these are lyrics to a song, poetic none the less and when you write a song there are no rules to metaphor or lyrical limitation. He felt these were the appropriate sentiments to get his story across to the listener and he sure did!

    ------ About the song Gentle On My Mind performed by Glen Campbell

I guess one could say the same thing about Shakespeare: too wordy. But neither Shakespeare nor Gentle On My Mind should be called a "flawed masterpiece." For its time, as well as ours, its beautiful. It's one thing to critique the lyrics by themselves, it's another thing to critique the whole song. Granted, the lyrics seem to come from a guy who is harsh, gruff and odd, even hard to accept -- he's a COMPLEX DUDE. But his masterful poetry, his elegant intellect, his love of words and women are to be admired! And that special lady who keeps haunting his travels, that is a woman every guy would love to have:) The whole song is winsome, lovely, beautifully lonesome and a perfect masterpiece that we're blessed to hear.

    ------ About the song Gentle On My Mind performed by Glen Campbell

For starters, this is an UN-flawed masterpiece, given the genre it was written. It is easy in the year 2007 (2008) to criticize something that was penned over 3 decades prior.

And while, admittedly, the song would not "work" in today's pop culture (if a true one still exists), it did work in its time, which is all that matters.

It is by far Campbell's best recording...even "By the Time...Phoenix" is a distant second.

    ------ About the song Gentle On My Mind performed by Glen Campbell

I understand the 'anon' review, but respectfully differ...indeed there is 10 lbs of imagery shoved into a 5 lb plot, BUT it's all good -really good!...terrific imagery...my problem is with the premise...we have, dare I say, a freighthoppin' hobo who leaves multiple nubile females at the brink...crying to their mama.
Either this guy was mysogynistic, moronic, or a loser of titanic proportions.
The love of his life is there - at his beck and call - but he chooses trainyards, cracklin' cauldrons AND presumably smelly, shiftless, ne'er-do-well dregs over this woman.
I'd love to talk to the late John Hartford about his inspiration!

Nonetheless, the lyrics are extraordinary

    ------ About the song Gentle On My Mind performed by Glen Campbell

A great song, without a doubt...but, dare I say it, somewhat overwritten. The avalanche of descriptions and metaphors, crammed in line after line, is a bit "too much" to anyone who's matured enough to appreciate literary economy. This is the sort of thing that sophomores write in school, and that a good editor will take a robust blue pencil to if it crosses his desk. But of course it's the Dylanesque word-abundance of the song that is also its charm. Overall, it works. Again, a great song, one I love, but one that definitely falls into the category of "flawed masterpiece."

    ------ About the song Gentle On My Mind performed by Glen Campbell

7th line from the bottom:
I dip my cup of of soup back from a gurgling, crackling cauldron in some train yard

@of is one too many
So the line should go:

I dip my cup of soup back from a gurgling, crackling cauldron in some train yard