Tom T. Hall “Me and Jesus” / “(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine”

I used to play a Tom T. Hall song (“Coffee, Coffee, Coffee”) and I might have some more records by him. This is an irresistible, 1972, single, due to the song titles alone. I think they were both released as singles in other combinations, as well, but I’m not getting into all that. “(Old Dogs, Children and) Watermelon Wine” is, as you might expect, a nostalgic, sentimental, cornball, but it’s framed in such a ridiculous way it’s kind of charming. He starts by telling the story of talking to an old-timer working in an airport lounge, who happens to be the age I am now (that always gets my attention), who claims these three items are the only thing in the world of value—which our narrator thought to jot down, then dreamed about, then wrote this song, with it’s like 17 key changes. Naturally, you can make wine from anything with sugar in it, and I assume there’s a reason we’re not ordering watermelon wine with, even, pasta primavera, but somehow I missed out on trying WW during my drinking days—which I guess strikes me as kind of tragic. The gospel anthem,“Me and Jesus,” is the best Jesus song I’ve ever heard, and while it’s recorded with the excellent Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church Choir, that piano player, whoever it is, is the real rockstar on the song. And it is a rock’n’roll song in its purest essence. Should your particular congregation ever proclaim rock music to be a sin, have the elders give this a whirl, and the next thing you know there’ll be singing, dancing in the aisles, and no one’s falling asleep during the sermon. If Jesus doesn’t love this song, I’d be really surprised.

7.31.26