Hee Haw and Grandma and Grandpa
Hee Haw and Grandma and Grandpa
When I grew up, rock and roll was king and I was one of its willing subjects.
I also spent a lot of quality time with my grandparents and, at their house on Saturday nights, Hee Haw was king. Back in the Dark Ages, most homes only had one TV, two at the most, and at their house the second TV was in their bedroom. So, if, while visiting, I wanted to watch TV on Saturday night, I was forced to sit through an hour of country music, which I despised at the time because it wasn't cool like rock and roll. It was for old folks, like my grandparents. Despite the fun of staying at the farm over the weekend or for the week, I dreaded that hour on Saturday night. They knew it and they thought it was funny.
There were a few things on the show I tolerated or even liked, though, back then, I refused to admit it. One was the Hee Haw Girls, like Nurse Goodbody. The other was the comedy sketches, such as “The Cornfield,” “PFFT! You Was Gone!” and Junior Sample’s unforgettable “BR-549.”
The most memorable, at least for me, was a catchy little ditty called, “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me!” The words went:
Gloom, despair and agony on me
Deep dark depression, excessive misery
If nit weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair and agony on me
Imagine four old hillbillies sitting around whining and crying about their misfortunes in life, singing this mournful song and explaining between verses why they were in such a
sad state.
Years and years later, long after Hee Haw had disappeared and I no longer had to go through the agony of watching it, for no reason, I would often find this melody and those
words running unbidden through my head. It brought not only amused laughs and grins to my face, but, also fond memories of my grandparents and the farm, and times when life seemed better.
Then, along came this invention called YouTube. One night, out of nowhere, like always, “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me” came around to my head—and I thought I sure would like to see and hear the real thingonce again instead of just rerunning it through my mind. Then I thought, hey, somebody might have put that on YouTube, heck, they’ve put everything else under the sun on there. So I looked it up and there it was. Unfortunately, all I could find was a bare handful of all the performances of the skit and song on Hee Haw over the years. But I also found it was just as good, just as funny and entertaining as I hoped it would be after all the time that had passed since I had seen it live on TV. It still retained not only its humor, but also its timeless musical
quality, which long ago either bridged or transcended my distaste of country and my love of rock.
Both of my grandparents have since passed on from this world. But a little bit of them still remains with me because I almost always think of them when I sing in my head (and sometimes out loud when no one else is around or listening) “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me.”
Jeff Vanderslice
When I grew up, rock and roll was king and I was one of its willing subjects.
I also spent a lot of quality time with my grandparents and, at their house on Saturday nights, Hee Haw was king. Back in the Dark Ages, most homes only had one TV, two at the most, and at their house the second TV was in their bedroom. So, if, while visiting, I wanted to watch TV on Saturday night, I was forced to sit through an hour of country music, which I despised at the time because it wasn't cool like rock and roll. It was for old folks, like my grandparents. Despite the fun of staying at the farm over the weekend or for the week, I dreaded that hour on Saturday night. They knew it and they thought it was funny.
There were a few things on the show I tolerated or even liked, though, back then, I refused to admit it. One was the Hee Haw Girls, like Nurse Goodbody. The other was the comedy sketches, such as “The Cornfield,” “PFFT! You Was Gone!” and Junior Sample’s unforgettable “BR-549.”
The most memorable, at least for me, was a catchy little ditty called, “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me!” The words went:
Gloom, despair and agony on me
Deep dark depression, excessive misery
If nit weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair and agony on me
Imagine four old hillbillies sitting around whining and crying about their misfortunes in life, singing this mournful song and explaining between verses why they were in such a
sad state.
Years and years later, long after Hee Haw had disappeared and I no longer had to go through the agony of watching it, for no reason, I would often find this melody and those
words running unbidden through my head. It brought not only amused laughs and grins to my face, but, also fond memories of my grandparents and the farm, and times when life seemed better.
Then, along came this invention called YouTube. One night, out of nowhere, like always, “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me” came around to my head—and I thought I sure would like to see and hear the real thingonce again instead of just rerunning it through my mind. Then I thought, hey, somebody might have put that on YouTube, heck, they’ve put everything else under the sun on there. So I looked it up and there it was. Unfortunately, all I could find was a bare handful of all the performances of the skit and song on Hee Haw over the years. But I also found it was just as good, just as funny and entertaining as I hoped it would be after all the time that had passed since I had seen it live on TV. It still retained not only its humor, but also its timeless musical
quality, which long ago either bridged or transcended my distaste of country and my love of rock.
Both of my grandparents have since passed on from this world. But a little bit of them still remains with me because I almost always think of them when I sing in my head (and sometimes out loud when no one else is around or listening) “Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me.”
Jeff Vanderslice
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