Wanda Jackson - Tunnel of Love/Funnel of Love

Here's a reverse cliche, a new snowclone, if you will: I don't love rockabilly, but I do love a great song. And there's a lot of personal taste, a mix of memories and emotions, and a whole laundry lists of intangibles that make up why someone loves a song, or thinks it's great. I want to dive into those gray areas and hear all about it. I don't want to resort to cannons, or dismissals or overly academic discussions of meter or key.

You might not like Wanda Jackson and might not have even heard of her. Apparently she has a new CD out called "I Remember Elvis" and if you want some Queen of Rockabilly hype, her website is gag-inducingly chock full of it. It would be easy to write this song off as movie soundtrack fonder or maybe something you heard on the Country Music Channel once, but for me there is something that sticks. Maybe I have a soft spot for those low, growly vocals, or maybe I can still hear this song the way I heard it first: in a low lit Airstream on the outskirts of Orange County. Maybe it's impossible to divorce your identity from music.

And I think I'm glad for that.

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