I left Levelland almost eighteen years ago. I came back. I came back to this flat dusty part of Texas where I was born and raised. I just rejoined some of my old bandmates and we are going to start rocking again and kick up some dust.
I was born, raised, and lived my whole life in Brooklyn, NY and probably should have no business liking James McMurtry. But I guess talent always prevails. Needless to say, I am a big fan.
Ben Melman New York, as crazy as this sounds, is very much fits the bill of a Levelland-type of town in the song’s broadest meaning. The two places are probably very different in the specific, as evidenced by James McMurtry’s depictive lyrics. But NYC is a city founded on “great migrations west” and East. The things is we are so much more similar then most of us realize, even our country’s current climate.
Man, this is such a good song. I sometimes get irritated with folks bashing on the panhandle but I get the complaints and this guy bottles them up and serves them cold for everyone to enjoy. He really grasps the quiet desperation of living in the center of 500 sq miles of direct fields and telephone poles.
Agree with you for the most part. Only spent 5 years in Lubbock not to far from level land. Some of the nicest people and flatland country out there’re has it own beauty.
I'm sad for my favorite artists who all seem to have long streaks without commercial success, if it comes at all. However I'm glad their genius is uncorrupted by the demands of the industry.
cheers to you brother. Wish more people appreciated him though. Well..more people I know. They always say "that's good" and I believe them. But they don't get it. James Mcmurtry should be Bob Dylan for the next generation. He never got the recognition though. Too much standing in the way. It's ok though. His fans will be more loyal from it.
@@sirris4330 I feel the same way. I wish more people I know liked him. James is a hidden gem. I try to turn all my friends on to him. Either they get it or they never will.
@@sharilyntomlin2617 Absolutely. Most people are like...oh well ok...that's fine. But for example an ex girlfriend cried heavily from Ruby and Carlos. And it was wonderful at the time. Yes I was crying too:P
In college at Texas Tech early 02-06 used to birdhunt between lubbock and levelland. Gods country and people. Never turned down once for permission to hunt on farmers land for free. Some of the best times and memories where the land land is level. Wreck em Tech.
His greatest gift is to put a 48 year old man from Liverpool right into the place he is singing about even though that man has never been there or will probably never go there , but gets it. Be it Texas, Missouri, the Forgotten Coast. Saw James and his superb band in a tiny pub in Nottingham, injustice when you see gobshites selling out arena's and charging £ 70.
I'm sincerely envious that you saw him live: wish I'd done so. I think this song, like Choctaw Bingo, give some insight as to what's happening now in America, politically and socially. He has the same eye as his dad had in his writing as regards the American middle and its isolation and economic decline. I'm also from Liverpool and have seen that city's economic descent from what it was, but it's nothing compared to what many of those American mid-west towns are facing in the future.
This song is such a great portrait of small town fatigue that it can be felt by anyone who grew up in a place that was slowly dying. I grew up in small town Arkansas but I totally get where this guy is coming from
Mr. McMurtry has sure hit it out of the park more times than I can count. He's up there with the very, very best in my opinion. He finds the loneliness, sadness and disappointment deep down in the soul without ever being overly sentimental or maudlin. I live in Austin and go to see him several times per year - solo acoustic and with his band - and his consistency is remarkable. I try not to take him for granted for one day he won't be playing those weekly shows. He really is a very brilliant songwriter.
Its actually written about Floydada, but it didn't fit the measure, so he changed it to Levelland. The appeal of his storytelling is how universal it is.
I was a football coach in Texas during the 80's and every small town band learned to play smoke on the water and joy to the world. How he knew this and incorporated it into this song is amazing and shows his Texas roots. Amazing song
Texas roots? JM and I are the same age - and every small town high school marching band in California circa 1978 - when we were both 16 - made those songs staples of Friday night too. They were touchstones of an entire era - and today the song serves as a reminder of the death of that claustrophobic pre internet townie milieu.
This guy Blows my mind, I've been listening to him for years, One of the best song writers,with Rocking music behind him,that ever was.I respect the fact that even thought he never got the huge money and acclaim that he deserved. He just said Fuc* It and kept on Playin his stuff. Thanks James you are The real Deal
McMurtry out does himself with this song. And Dave Grissom's brilliant guitar work makes it really special. McMurtry is singularly able to intertwine story lines of a little dried-up west Texas town right out of The Last Picture Show; from which he tells his story making us all at once, mad, sad and weeping for the simplicity and dependability of our past. A brilliant songwriter and damn great perfomer. A unique and irreplaceable American musical artist.
I don't think this is limited to Texas. Memories of the Dust Bowl travel down the years here in Missouri as well. And with today's Trickled On Economics - well, Levelland has too many locations.
I agree. One of the best songwriters...ever. I can think of a lot of his songs relating to any small town, Minnesota, Texas, Nebraska, etc. Wish i could write a story line like he does into a song.
Frtemplin, I believe you're right, man. I just ran up on and old video of them from 1990. Grissom was playin' lead there, so he could very well have played on the "Levelland" video. I'll be glad to admit when I'm wrong, cause that just means I've learned something today. You never get too old to learn. GB
This is the best country song that never was. Even Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt have to tip their cap to McMurty on these lyrics. And I do say so myself. What a fantastic song. It deserves more recognition.
Those of you who might he's ridiculing the area and the people -- this song is about LOVE. McMurtry's song is fearsomely compassionate. It's more foolish to love a place on false sentimental terms than on true hardbitten ones; all it brings you is lies and self-deception. I lost some loved ones living there, and this song is about as fine an elegy for them as one could produce.
+Thomas Hofheinz You said that better than I ever could have done! My home is in the Pacific Northwest now, and I believe I'm here for good... but there's a part of my heart that is forever Texas (Rupert Brooke, forgive me). If you "get" Texas, if you can call it Home, then you never REALLY leave, not all the way; and I think that's what James left unsaid, but implied, in this masterpiece.
I just want to tell James from the UK how far out is his fine music. Thank you for bringing so much hope and pleasure. Your work is heard and your talent realised. Rock on man
The chorus: “levelland” sung by baritones. James McMurtry calls up Lou Reed and Bruce Cockburn especially, for me, but with consistently kickass Blues rock grooves when called for.
You grow up there and spend your time trying to figure how to leave it behind. You move on and see the world only to find that longing for that place where the sand blows. There is a hidden beauty in that country and some of the finest people I have ever met live there. It will always be home to me......
fiddlefolk I lived in Levelland for about ten years while growing up. Even though I’ve lived in several other towns in Texas since then, it still holds a place in my heart!
I've always been the black-sheep of the family. And, our family was always the black-sheep of the rest of the family for one simple reason, we were poor. I guess thats why I like this song so much. I've always felt like my minds been incomplete. GB
I heard this song playing in a music store in Greune Texas on a vacation to hill country. I asked who it was. Bought it. Fan ever since. Amazing lyrical storyteller through song. Interestingly, I'm a few miles north now of Levelland South Carolina. I know it's not about here, but it kind of is. It's meaning is not lost as it relates to a lot of forgotten flyover places. Like here.
My grandfather homesteaded in the panhandle of Oklahoma (both) my parents lived through the dust bowl at young ages. I grew up ranching in eastern Colorado and irrigation farming in the Arkansas Valley 50 miles east of Pueblo. This song is a great tribute to the people that reside there as well as all the people that have left. I have to revisit the area yearly just to make sure its all still there.
I'm from Central Pennsylvania....and this song hits home with me. As I'm sure it does with people all over the world. James knocked this one out of the park. Thanks to REK for exposing me to this song.
having grown up above the Caprock southeast of Amarillo, I have an appreciation for this song and McMurtry's ability to capture the essence of life and living in West Texas
I went to the college down in Levelland for a few years; they had a great country music program going that Tom T. Hall had thrown some hefty $$ at, building a nice facility with recording studios, etc. There were young folks from all over the world converging on Levelland, especially banjo players, since the college had lured banjo great Alan Munde to teach there. From Switzerland, Japan, France, Columbia, etc., and from all over the US they came--I came from Chicago. I guess McMurtry must have missed it--he could have played a gig there and had a good time with the house musicians--but instead he wrote this song running the place down; this song came out only a couple of years after I left there. It's a good song, especially the guitar solo, but I remember the place differently, I guess. The people were pretty friendly, and were always tolerant of people who were in "the program at the college," and proud of West Texas' musical legacy. Looking at his Wiki, I see he mostly grew up in VA, so maybe he never spent enough time in Levelland to get to really know it.
My cousin lived in Levelland for a few years and bemoaned being there. He was an agricultural pilot and recently died in a crash. This song is one of my favorite ways to remember him.
I keep going back to his music. It's especially relevant today, but I would love to hear what he's writing about since you-know-who came into office. We Can't Make it Here Anymore is even more heartbreaking now than it was when released. Is there anything recent that anyone knows of? "High on jesus and hooked on dope". I love how perfectly balanced that line is.
It's a humbling experience to go on stage at the Continental Club on Weds before James, Jon Dee and William. It was always fun as a child to travel to Levelland to visit family.
I was born in Levelland. My grandfather owned a concrete company there. We all migrated to Dallas in the late 70's. I returned to Levelland to specifically attend South Plains College where I studied in their sound technology program.
hockley county texas can definately be interesting with its horizontal snow and red dust storms. you have to be there to share the excitement. well my burger and cherry lime 7-up is ready at the chat-n-chew counter-
Rust Wrangler is the Chat ‘n Chew still there? My family of five used to go in there and order five chicken fried steaks. The waitress knew without looking who was ordering!
I was just thinking of my home town.. And looked up to see if any videos of it.. And I find this beautiful song about home... I live in South Orgeon now. But I will never forget were my life started.. Thank you for this wonderfully written song...
@se7enBC1 I saw that Levelland was hit by a storm and now is down but not out. This song means so much more now. I'm in north central Arkansas for thexpastc3 years now. God bless that little west Texas town.
That HAS to be levelland. I live there and I would know that railroad from anywhere. It goes straight past everything. The pics are exactly what i think of when i think of home. :D
One of the best understated songwriters and performers ever! Saw him on Letterman back in the day singing Painting By Numbers. It was awesome seeing him surprisingly open for Jason Isbell a few years ago.
I got the chance to speak to producer Don Dixon a few years back and told him that he should have won a Nobel Prize or at least a Grammy for production on this album. He said that the big secret was having McMurtry and drummer Dave Brock do about five days of rehearsal together, and then bring in the rest of the the musicians once the others had the rhythms locked down.
I was working overseas on a military base and IT friend did me up a 500 gig hard drive loaded with music and books. Among them was St. Mary Of The Woods . I haven't looked back. I'll go o see him in Austin before we die. Also discovered The Bottlerockets . Similar . Excellent songwriting with a Zeppelin edge. Or Conway Twitty....
I was stationed in Clovis, NM, for six years. So maybe, 1hr and 20mins from Levelland. It is crazy moving from Colorado Springs, Colorado to the Great Plains. How much I miss that region of that country. Being surrounded by cows, cornfields, and wind turbines gave a sense of calming loneliness and serenity that I’ve missed so much since moving back to the city. Along with Minot, Cannon could be considered the worst duty station in the Air Force. But man, there’s something about that place I want a piece of in Colorado.
This one hits home. I lived in Levelland as a kid before my family moved to Dallas. My aunt had a house near the high school where you could always hear the marching band practicing. I lived outside of Levelland where it actually looked like what you see in the video vs what you saw in town. I used to sneak out and go running around in the dust storms.
one of the best songs i've ever heard and a devastatingly written account of dislocation in your own hometown. in a perfect world this would be an fm radio staple.
I lived 2 years in Lubbock and went to Levelland some. It is definitely dry, flat, and windy but somehow beautiful to me. I guess it's the good memories I carried away with me when I left. I often wish I could travel back in time to the south plains and do it all again. This song and video do, in a small way, let me go back, Guns Up TTU
Used to jam this going burd huntin,pheasant quail dove and ducks and geese near levelland TX while at texas tech 02 to 06. Def gods country and nicest people you'll ever meet. Miss those days missed a lot of class chasing birds around these plains. Never had to pay a dime to hunt. Just toss some beer and birds to landowner and were good. Wreck em some of my best memories. This is true texas.
Heard this song first when I was out at SPC for college. My grandparents lived there so it was easy t lo go to school there. I ran those back dirt roads in my old truck and I can tell you exactly where that old gin is towards the end of the video. Still know the folks that live there, matter of fact. Ain't a single bit of a lie in this song and as soon as we cld, hubs and I left Levelland.
Gr8 Song from an exceptional talent!! The song & the video was like a trip back in time. When I was just a kid we used to live 20-miles from Levelland in a little town called Whiteface. The landscape was just the same. lol....I remember shopping trips into Levelland. lol Thanks for a great post!
I went to pilot training at an Air Force base near the town of Levelland Texas that is the subject of this song. I flew over it many tines...this song brings back memories to me of that time in West Texas.
I'm have a degree in Aerospace Engineering and Caesar; I do believe your the only one inhaling this so called aerosol. Totally bogus. Keep it up James!
James McMurtry is an American treasure. He is a very powerful songwriter, as witnessed in this song. I've seen him live and he puts on a fantastic show.
And there really is a town in Texas named Levelland. Just west of Lubbock. And how anybody can live in such a dreary landscape is beyond me. This video and James's music capture it so well.
the best American songwriter since Bob Dylan no question about it
I left Levelland almost eighteen years ago. I came back. I came back to this flat dusty part of Texas where I was born and raised. I just rejoined some of my old bandmates and we are going to start rocking again and kick up some dust.
I was born, raised, and lived my whole life in Brooklyn, NY and probably should have no business liking James McMurtry. But I guess talent always prevails. Needless to say, I am a big fan.
Ben Melman New York, as crazy as this sounds, is very much fits the bill of a Levelland-type of town in the song’s broadest meaning. The two places are probably very different in the specific, as evidenced by James McMurtry’s depictive lyrics. But NYC is a city founded on “great migrations west” and East. The things is we are so much more similar then most of us realize, even our country’s current climate.
Ben Melman Love the Finger Lakes area.
Head west....
His lyrics are significant to anyone living a life.
His music speaks to you, probably because we’ve all been here before.
Man, this is such a good song. I sometimes get irritated with folks bashing on the panhandle but I get the complaints and this guy bottles them up and serves them cold for everyone to enjoy. He really grasps the quiet desperation of living in the center of 500 sq miles of direct fields and telephone poles.
...cool
Such a beautiful written song
Agree with you for the most part. Only spent 5 years in Lubbock not to far from level land. Some of the nicest people and flatland country out there’re has it own beauty.
Used to jam this song around time it came out headed to level land to bird hunt.
Great song but haven't heard anyone who bashes the panhandle alone...everyone just bashes the entire state of Florida for being the worst!
Songwriters like this are meant to be secret, so people like us can enjoy the hell out of knowing we have something special to share with each other.
I'm sad for my favorite artists who all seem to have long streaks without commercial success, if it comes at all. However I'm glad their genius is uncorrupted by the demands of the industry.
cheers to you brother. Wish more people appreciated him though. Well..more people I know. They always say "that's good" and I believe them. But they don't get it. James Mcmurtry should be Bob Dylan for the next generation. He never got the recognition though. Too much standing in the way. It's ok though. His fans will be more loyal from it.
@@sirris4330 I feel the same way. I wish more people I know liked him. James is a hidden gem. I try to turn all my friends on to him. Either they get it or they never will.
@@sharilyntomlin2617 Absolutely. Most people are like...oh well ok...that's fine. But for example an ex girlfriend cried heavily from Ruby and Carlos. And it was wonderful at the time. Yes I was crying too:P
@@sirris4330 Ruby & Carlos has that same effect on me.
In college at Texas Tech early 02-06 used to birdhunt between lubbock and levelland. Gods country and people. Never turned down once for permission to hunt on farmers land for free. Some of the best times and memories where the land land is level. Wreck em Tech.
"don't think she's seen the sky, since we got the satellite dish" is such an incredibly sad line, 💔
Isn't it? Everytime I hear this song it brings me up short.
Frggin million incredible lines in this song
@@victormodjeski4173 ❤fantastic song!!
Love this whole stanza. Some of my favorite lines of any of his songs.
His greatest gift is to put a 48 year old man from Liverpool right into the place he is singing about even though that man has never been there or will probably never go there , but gets it. Be it Texas, Missouri, the Forgotten Coast. Saw James and his superb band in a tiny pub in Nottingham, injustice when you see gobshites selling out arena's and charging £ 70.
I'm sincerely envious that you saw him live: wish I'd done so. I think this song, like Choctaw Bingo, give some insight as to what's happening now in America, politically and socially.
He has the same eye as his dad had in his writing as regards the American middle and its isolation and economic decline.
I'm also from Liverpool and have seen that city's economic descent from what it was, but it's nothing compared to what many of those American mid-west towns are facing in the future.
Makes you realize we ware all brothers on some level.
This song is such a great portrait of small town fatigue that it can be felt by anyone who grew up in a place that was slowly dying. I grew up in small town Arkansas but I totally get where this guy is coming from
A lot of good ass country music in England.
I got to see him and his band a couple years ago in a tiny little theater in Auburn Ca…awesome show
Mr. McMurtry has sure hit it out of the park more times than I can count. He's up there with the very, very best in my opinion. He finds the loneliness, sadness and disappointment deep down in the soul without ever being overly sentimental or maudlin. I live in Austin and go to see him several times per year - solo acoustic and with his band - and his consistency is remarkable. I try not to take him for granted for one day he won't be playing those weekly shows. He really is a very brilliant songwriter.
Hands down the most accurate song ever written about West/Panhandle Texas ever written.
i live in levelland and thats levelland for sure
Its actually written about Floydada, but it didn't fit the measure, so he changed it to Levelland. The appeal of his storytelling is how universal it is.
MIss Emma, I lived in Lubbock for many years and the two things I remember is the flatlness and the awesome music. But that was yrs ago.
@@sierraharrop2827
Floydadaland sounds alright
One of James McMurty's best songs. PEACE!
I was a football coach in Texas during the 80's and every small town band learned to play smoke on the water and joy to the world. How he knew this and incorporated it into this song is amazing and shows his Texas roots. Amazing song
Texas roots?
JM and I are the same age - and every small town high school marching band in California circa 1978 - when we were both 16 - made those songs staples of Friday night too.
They were touchstones of an entire era - and today the song serves as a reminder of the death of that claustrophobic pre internet townie milieu.
This guy Blows my mind, I've been listening to him for years, One of the best song writers,with Rocking music behind him,that ever was.I respect the fact that even thought he never got the huge money and acclaim that he deserved. He just said Fuc* It and kept on Playin his stuff. Thanks James you are The real Deal
Ditto... vintage tiger said it just fine... Thank you James!
I've been listening to him for years without knowing it being a Robert earl keen fan. He writes amazing stuff.
He sucks
Larry had a great son. Love his musical poetry.
@@texasneon6741 You suck! llol
A truly great song! When I first heard it I would have sworn up and down that it was Bruce Cockburn!
Interesting comparison, Ottawa Ontario vs. Leesburg Virginia.
McMurtry out does himself with this song. And Dave Grissom's brilliant guitar work makes it really special. McMurtry is singularly able to intertwine story lines of a little dried-up west Texas town right out of The Last Picture Show; from which he tells his story making us all at once, mad, sad and weeping for the simplicity and dependability of our past. A brilliant songwriter and damn great perfomer. A unique and irreplaceable American musical artist.
I don't think this is limited to Texas. Memories of the Dust Bowl travel down the years here in Missouri as well. And with today's Trickled On Economics - well, Levelland has too many locations.
I agree. One of the best songwriters...ever. I can think of a lot of his songs relating to any small town, Minnesota, Texas, Nebraska, etc. Wish i could write a story line like he does into a song.
I agree with you to, he is a great Classic Rock singer/songwriter, but, I think that's Joe Ely on the lead guitar.
No that's David Grissom who played on Joe Ely's records in the late 80s/ early 90s.
Frtemplin, I believe you're right, man. I just ran up on and old video of them from 1990. Grissom was playin' lead there, so he could very well have played on the "Levelland" video. I'll be glad to admit when I'm wrong, cause that just means I've learned something today. You never get too old to learn. GB
His writing makes me cry. Beautiful and simple and true. He's an American icon.
This is the best country song that never was. Even Bob Dylan and Townes Van Zandt have to tip their cap to McMurty on these lyrics. And I do say so myself. What a fantastic song. It deserves more recognition.
This is a great song, but it's not a Country song. Amercian Folk is more appropriate.
He is a story teller. He loves the people he sings about even the red neck brother in State of the Union. Fantastic.
This is a great song but it's not really country.
@@mystmag7 Folk rock, probably inspired Richard Thompson who basically single handedly created that genre.
" Lookin' out through the bugs on the windshield.. "
Some of the best guitar, mandolin and banjo pickers I know learned their craft in Levelland at South Plains.
Too many great songwriters never get the public exposure that they deserve...James McMurtry is one of them.
James McMurtry is my Dylan.
Yup
hell yeah
This MV should have 677 million views not 677K views. Maybe that is what is wrong with the world today?
Those of you who might he's ridiculing the area and the people -- this song is about LOVE. McMurtry's song is fearsomely compassionate. It's more foolish to love a place on false sentimental terms than on true hardbitten ones; all it brings you is lies and self-deception. I lost some loved ones living there, and this song is about as fine an elegy for them as one could produce.
+Thomas Hofheinz You said that better than I ever could have done! My home is in the Pacific Northwest now, and I believe I'm here for good... but there's a part of my heart that is forever Texas (Rupert Brooke, forgive me).
If you "get" Texas, if you can call it Home, then you never REALLY leave, not all the way; and I think that's what James left unsaid, but implied, in this masterpiece.
wish this guy would live to 100 and keep making kick ass music!
Just saw James McMurtry in Denver for the first time ever...we were blown away...emotional
I just want to tell James from the UK how far out is his fine music. Thank you for bringing so much hope and pleasure. Your work is heard and your talent realised. Rock on man
The chorus: “levelland” sung by baritones. James McMurtry calls up Lou Reed and Bruce Cockburn especially, for me, but with consistently kickass Blues rock grooves when called for.
You grow up there and spend your time trying to figure how to leave it behind. You move on and see the world only to find that longing for that place where the sand blows. There is a hidden beauty in that country and some of the finest people I have ever met live there. It will always be home to me......
+fiddlefolk Yepper! It seems like the more you want to leave it behind the more you can't stand not being there. Does that make sense?
+John Hutchins Yes sir!
My Mom always said the best people are in West Texas.
Yup! :-)
fiddlefolk I lived in Levelland for about ten years while growing up. Even though I’ve lived in several other towns in Texas since then, it still holds a place in my heart!
Shawn Mullins introduced me to McMurtry and his music by playing 'Levelland' in a live show I saw a long time ago. Great song
I've always been the black-sheep of the family. And, our family was always the black-sheep of the rest of the family for one simple reason, we were poor. I guess thats why I like this song so much. I've always felt like my minds been incomplete. GB
He captures the vibe of living in this strangely hypnotic place. I've never left West Texas behind. It will always be part of me.
I heard this song playing in a music store in Greune Texas on a vacation to hill country. I asked who it was. Bought it. Fan ever since. Amazing lyrical storyteller through song. Interestingly, I'm a few miles north now of Levelland South Carolina. I know it's not about here, but it kind of is. It's meaning is not lost as it relates to a lot of forgotten flyover places. Like here.
Music is meant to be interpreted to fit one's own life!
My grandfather homesteaded in the panhandle of Oklahoma (both) my parents lived through the dust bowl at young ages. I grew up ranching in eastern Colorado and irrigation farming in the Arkansas Valley 50 miles east of Pueblo. This song is a great tribute to the people that reside there as well as all the people that have left. I have to revisit the area yearly just to make sure its all still there.
Cool story
Man, tough area to make a living.
Visit: yes, to make sure it happened.
This ballad hit’s pretty darn close to my home town of …… “Levelland”
I'm from Central Pennsylvania....and this song hits home with me. As I'm sure it does with people all over the world. James knocked this one out of the park. Thanks to REK for exposing me to this song.
I love this guy's music. Im a teen, and more into the blues, but my construction teacher introduced me to his song "whered you hide the body?"
Dave Grissom just crushed that solo.
My favourite James McMurtry song. Love this guy. Lyrical genius!
It also nicely sums up central Indiana.
And rural Australia
having grown up above the Caprock southeast of Amarillo, I have an appreciation for this song and McMurtry's ability to capture the essence of life and living in West Texas
I went to the college down in Levelland for a few years; they had a great country music program going that Tom T. Hall had thrown some hefty $$ at, building a nice facility with recording studios, etc. There were young folks from all over the world converging on Levelland, especially banjo players, since the college had lured banjo great Alan Munde to teach there. From Switzerland, Japan, France, Columbia, etc., and from all over the US they came--I came from Chicago. I guess McMurtry must have missed it--he could have played a gig there and had a good time with the house musicians--but instead he wrote this song running the place down; this song came out only a couple of years after I left there. It's a good song, especially the guitar solo, but I remember the place differently, I guess. The people were pretty friendly, and were always tolerant of people who were in "the program at the college," and proud of West Texas' musical legacy. Looking at his Wiki, I see he mostly grew up in VA, so maybe he never spent enough time in Levelland to get to really know it.
I wish the world would find out about James and his music. It is 21st century folk rock at its best. Keep'em coming James.
agree
Thanks to CZcams, we can discover this great music, and never turn on our FM radios again.
Not many writers of this caliber around these days and the guitar playing is sublime.
My cousin lived in Levelland for a few years and bemoaned being there.
He was an agricultural pilot and recently died in a crash.
This song is one of my favorite ways to remember him.
He is an an great songwriter and a fine person ..
Another McMurtry song that could be the national anthem, lol. And i'm not from anywhere near Texas
Fantastic as is all of James’ material
Gets better the more times you hear it
Great indeed
David Grissom's guitar playing is great!
McMurtry is a national treasure..... yet so slept on....
Among the best songs I have heard. This has character!
I keep going back to his music. It's especially relevant today, but I would love to hear what he's writing about since you-know-who came into office. We Can't Make it Here Anymore is even more heartbreaking now than it was when released. Is there anything recent that anyone knows of? "High on jesus and hooked on dope". I love how perfectly balanced that line is.
It's a humbling experience to go on stage at the Continental Club on Weds before James, Jon Dee and William. It was always fun as a child to travel to Levelland to visit family.
This twang thang gets my toes tappin' and my soul rockin'.
yep twang me baby!
done twanged. here comes another twang thang on FB
I live in North Texas not in the panhandle but also not too far from it and that line "Makes you wonder why they stopped here" gets me every time.
the simpicity of JMcM language and the depth of thought and image is just remarkable. And great hats...
I was born in Levelland. My grandfather owned a concrete company there. We all migrated to Dallas in the late 70's. I returned to Levelland to specifically attend South Plains College where I studied in their sound technology program.
Just discovered this fine songwriter and guitar player, purely by accident and I'm so glad I did.
hockley county texas can definately be interesting with its horizontal snow and red dust storms. you have to be there to share the excitement. well my burger and cherry lime 7-up is ready at the chat-n-chew counter-
Rust Wrangler is the Chat ‘n Chew still there? My family of five used to go in there and order five chicken fried steaks. The waitress knew without looking who was ordering!
We live on a flat level plain. ❤
I was just thinking of my home town.. And looked up to see if any videos of it.. And I find this beautiful song about home... I live in South Orgeon now.
But I will never forget were my life started.. Thank you for this wonderfully written song...
MrDeleon9999 Just did the same thing, still here though.
@se7enBC1 I saw that Levelland was hit by a storm and now is down but not out. This song means so much more now. I'm in north central Arkansas for thexpastc3 years now. God bless that little west Texas town.
I left there almost 40 years ago and get back every now and then to visit mom and family. This song is as much Levelland today as it was then.
Under appreciated genius American songwriter.
i appreciate him just fine
Yeah, been to Lubbock. James is pure Texan!
That HAS to be levelland. I live there and I would know that railroad from anywhere. It goes straight past everything. The pics are exactly what i think of when i think of home. :D
Good song nd everything tht described my home town Levelland TX
One of the best understated songwriters and performers ever! Saw him on Letterman back in the day singing Painting By Numbers. It was awesome seeing him surprisingly open for Jason Isbell a few years ago.
Just have never seen a more seamless, meaningful blend of uniquely American poetry, music and videography. Absolutely galvanizing. Thank you.
Born and raised in Levelland TX yep song and Video do it justice
I got the chance to speak to producer Don Dixon a few years back and told him that he should have won a Nobel Prize or at least a Grammy for production on this album. He said that the big secret was having McMurtry and drummer Dave Brock do about five days of rehearsal together, and then bring in the rest of the the musicians once the others had the rhythms locked down.
Thanks for sharing that...this is why I read the comments (even though many of them are less than worth it).
being a farmer and living in the plains this song kinda reminds me that i'm a lucky guy
don't spend yer trade war check all in one place now
I was working overseas on a military base and IT friend did me up a 500 gig hard drive loaded with music and books.
Among them was St. Mary Of The Woods .
I haven't looked back.
I'll go o see him in Austin before we die.
Also discovered The Bottlerockets .
Similar . Excellent songwriting with a Zeppelin edge.
Or Conway Twitty....
I was stationed in Clovis, NM, for six years.
So maybe, 1hr and 20mins from Levelland. It is crazy moving from Colorado Springs, Colorado to the Great Plains. How much I miss that region of that country.
Being surrounded by cows, cornfields, and wind turbines gave a sense of calming loneliness and serenity that I’ve missed so much since moving back to the city.
Along with Minot, Cannon could be considered the worst duty station in the Air Force. But man, there’s something about that place I want a piece of in Colorado.
This one hits home. I lived in Levelland as a kid before my family moved to Dallas. My aunt had a house near the high school where you could always hear the marching band practicing.
I lived outside of Levelland where it actually looked like what you see in the video vs what you saw in town.
I used to sneak out and go running around in the dust storms.
one of the best songs i've ever heard and a devastatingly written account of dislocation in your own hometown. in a perfect world this would be an fm radio staple.
Ain't nothin' wrong with Levelland. Fed lots a people, made lots of other people happy. Guess ya had to be there....
you must luv disney too
JAMES THANKS FOR YOUR SONGS "CAN'T MAKE IT HERE" ONE OF THE BEST. WRAPS UP ALL OUR PROBLEMS INTO A NEAT LITTLE PACKAGE. IM A NEW FAN. DETROIT
Great video thanks 😍❤️😻👍
I lived 2 years in Lubbock and went to Levelland some. It is definitely dry, flat, and windy but somehow beautiful to me. I guess it's the good memories I carried away with me when I left. I often wish I could travel back in time to the south plains and do it all again. This song and video do, in a small way, let me go back, Guns Up TTU
McMurtry is one of the great American poets of all time. It's all there, exposed and naked, a slice of America. And, yeah, the music is damn fine too.
This song captures the isolated feeling of the area, but doesn't come close to describing the friendly people of Levelland!
Great James & David Grissom
Used to jam this going burd huntin,pheasant quail dove and ducks and geese near levelland TX while at texas tech 02 to 06. Def gods country and nicest people you'll ever meet. Miss those days missed a lot of class chasing birds around these plains. Never had to pay a dime to hunt. Just toss some beer and birds to landowner and were good. Wreck em some of my best memories. This is true texas.
I'm was writing an essay about Owens Valley and the Los Angeles Aqueduct when I stumbled upon this... needless to say, 'm quoting McMurtry in it =)
solo makes me teary....
So glad my Father discovered him back in 90s! Great songwrotong and beatuful music
BRILLIANT,SONGWRITER, EXCELLENT GUITAR BY DAVID GRISSOM, A JOY TO BEHOLD,BEST WISHES FROM ENGLAND
So many levels his lyrics hit the mark on wry ironic observations it boggles my songwriter's mind...pretty much genius I'd say.
Heard this song first when I was out at SPC for college. My grandparents lived there so it was easy t lo go to school there. I ran those back dirt roads in my old truck and I can tell you exactly where that old gin is towards the end of the video. Still know the folks that live there, matter of fact. Ain't a single bit of a lie in this song and as soon as we cld, hubs and I left Levelland.
One of my favourites! Of course Stancliff’s Lament paint s a picture too.
have seen him 10 times or more a "wordsmith" he is a great writer
I've never seen anyone in concert who provides so much pleasure by glaring at you.
Gr8 Song from an exceptional talent!! The song & the video was like a trip back in time. When I was just a kid we used to live 20-miles from Levelland in a little town called Whiteface. The landscape was just the same. lol....I remember shopping trips into Levelland. lol Thanks for a great post!
James McMurtry brilliantly portrays the American experience through his lyrics. Each song could be a full movie script. Awesome!
I went to pilot training at an Air Force base near the town of Levelland Texas that is the subject of this song. I flew over it many tines...this song brings back memories to me of that time in West Texas.
I’m from Bakersfield California and this song hits home.
I'm have a degree in Aerospace Engineering and Caesar; I do believe your the only one inhaling this so called aerosol. Totally bogus. Keep it up James!
James McMurtry is an American treasure. He is a very powerful songwriter, as witnessed in this song. I've seen him live and he puts on a fantastic show.
I live here :)
And there really is a town in Texas named Levelland. Just west of Lubbock. And how anybody can live in such a dreary landscape is beyond me. This video and James's music capture it so well.