[ Thursday, January 01, 2004 ]
"I love you CHARLIE oh yes I do. I don't love anyone as much as you."
::except for, of course, Willie::
::and oh yeah, Waylon::
::and on rainy nights--live, private Goosecreek shows::
::and a cab driver lovingly named Jimmy Boy::
::and almost everyone in Section 15 Row Y::
New Year's Eve. Rupp Arena w/ Montgomery Gentry, Charlie Daniels, Dierks Bentley and that other dude whose name we couldn't remember unless we were looking directly at the ticket stub.
I finally got to hear Dierks Bentley sing "What Was I Thinking"! It's been well documented that the song is a touching tribute to well, me. Except I'm not from Alabama & I'm not an actual beauty & the chick in the video didn't look a thing like me. But my name is Becky. And that's the first word of the song. And that makes it mine. Plus, the original chorus went like this: "I was thinking 'bout a 2x tank top sitting right there in the middle by me." Apparently, fat-friendly lyrics don't sell country music. My 2x tank top became "little white tank top", any reference to Kentucky wiped out and I got no call to appear in the video.
At least I know the truth. Big girls get no love.
Charlie Daniels was the greatest thing I've ever seen onstage. I got kinda teary eyed when he sang "Long Haired Country Boy." That song, for me, is just an absolute anthem. I can't tell you how many times we forced Ricky John to play it at the cabin / his house / in the woods / around a campfire / drunks singing / beers swaying / feet stomping / tambourine accompanying. Last night all that flooded back to me & I couldn't believe I was actually hearing the living legend singing the song that has soundtracked so much of my life. AND THEN....in tribute to Johnny Cash, Charlie sang "Folsom Prison Blues". I thought I would go absolute ape shit.
Montgomery Gentry was good though I can't remember a whole lot toward the end of the night. The beer supply was too close to our seats and we were buying two at a time & toting them back. I got on a lovey-dovey life is beautiful drunk and hugged Lisa & Sam & some other people? about a thousand times.
LOL. Santa Claus sat next to us. I noticed him speaking to a security guard who was pointing in our direction. He finally made his way toward us & found his seat next to us. Which cracked me up endlessly. Because of the probably 19,000 there, one man dressed up in a Santa costume & somehow we end up right next to him chatting away. Things like that just always seem to happen. Gene Autrey Allen (aka Santa) had bigs plans to rush the stage. I was a little concerned that he might have had dynomite strapped to himself underneath the costume. I asked him to please give us fair warning if he decided to blow anything up. At one point he practically layed across me, Lisa & Sam talking and adjusting his hat. He admitted he'd been drinking & I had visions of him falling backwards into the crowd & maybe body surfing if anyone caught him. He kept patting our heads & telling us how beautiful we were, that we were beautiful, good hearted people & that the world needed to know about us. It was so funny but kinda sweet in a way. During one break I asked why he had chosen to wear a Santa costume to the concert. He said he felt invisible. That kind of sobered me up ( for two seconds ). I really didn't know how to interpret it. I didn't know if he meant it in a straight jacket type way...if he really thought he was invisible without the costume or if he was speaking metaphorically. That he just felt invisible. A lot of his conversation seemed to be centered on feeling unloved so I'm kind of siding with the latter. Of course I could be wrong & Charter Ridge could be searching for its latest escapee as I type.
Sometimes you really can't tell about people & that's troubling.
The countdown to midnight is a little blurry. I do remember locking lips with a stranger at the stroke of midnight. That's usually just a given. The last song was Sweet Home Alabama with John Michael Montgomery joining his brother onstage.
After that the three of us walked out of the building with arms linked. Not one of us could walk a straight line & thank god for security posts which stabilized us while we waited on our little yellow taxi and peeked into tinted limo windows.
Jimmy the cabdriver rocked. He was as country as country gets and said the word bonafide at least once when referencing his girlfriend. AND gunned it down a back alley when we asked him if ever raced his cab. Cab Drivers who race other vehicles for sheer pleasure kick big ole ass. Cab Drivers with Mullets kick big ole ass. Cab Drivers who take you where the prostitutes are just because you want to see a modern day hooker walking the streets KICK BIG OLE ASS.
And yes. We've had those drivers. Plus a few more.
Because a night out with the girls just isn't a night out unless you find yourself at some point, intoxicated in the back of a cab watching lights whirl by & either joking it up with the driver or thinking that you absolutely love the place you're in.
Sometimes, both happens.
Last night was that for me. It still is today. I love that I shared New Year's Eve with Lisa, Sam & Charlie Daniels. I love that Dierks Bentley with his flannel shirt reminded me of Ricky. I love that "Long Haired Country Boy" brought back memories so strong I could smell campfire & feel mud on my legs.
Last night I wished a whole lot of people were there with me. To take it in. To see what I saw. To feel how I felt. And just to laugh with. But in so many ways they were. And I'm incredibly thankful for that.
It doesn't get any more beautiful.
~ Rebecca 8:56 PM [+]
