After the signature APM music, one hears what is called "Tishomingo Blues" with the following lyrics:
I hear that old piano from down the Avenue
I smell the pine trees, I look around for you
Oh, my sweet, sweet, sweet old someone coming through the door
It's Saturday and the band is playing
Honey, could we ask for more
It's funny to think about how long I've been listening to A Prairie Home Companion with my wife and how it was a program that the whole family looked forward to on Saturday night. For a while, APHC was the touchstone of our week. It gave a needed lift and a connection to something that was missing in the rest of the week. But when I saw that Garrison was retiring once again, I got a feeling that this time he truly would. And that was more okay with me than you might think. It's not that I don't listen to the show every week but more about when. Usually, around Tuesday, sometime during the day. It's not a mandatory Saturday night ritual anymore. Some is due to how I have changed, some due to how the program has changed, and the rest due to NASCAR racing.
I would describe the transition of the show over the years, fairly or unfairly, as going from down home to pop. For me it was like when The Walton's started having all the same modern day problems as was seen in the popular culture. It's hard to keep Johnny down on the farm once he's seen the bright lights of the big city. Johnny here would be Garrison. If you followed the show at all, you are familiar with the theme. I suspect it was one that was held by many of the listeners as well. There was certainly a connection with those who remembered or still were seeking simpler times. Perhaps a respite from the drone of stressful demands.
There have been many great sponsor and advertising bits over the years and even some great moments in the not so funny and/or clever bits. From Martha's Kitty Boutique to Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery, from Powder Milk Biscuits to Ketchup, from English majors to Rhubarb, they were all tongue-in-cheek realities of everyday life. The things you want to laugh about. The various skits that came to be rather plentiful too often struggled to find their way. Often over laden with sound effects and predictability, they left you with a who's fooling whom feeling. Similarly, some of the songs that Garrison made up seemed more like filler than a tribute to the city they were visiting. You can't be on the air as long as the show has without a few misses but toward the end, they seemed to be more repetitive. Perhaps Garrison stayed at the well too long. But not so long as to take anything away from his success and place in American life.
Despite having been raised in Christian fundamentalism, Garrison had a gentle approach to religion. He made the most fun of Lutherans but could accurately poke at all other forms of Christianity. Overall, the place of weekly church attendance came through as the unquestioned duty of anyone who hoped to get God's notice in the hereafter. Another theme was the inescapable fact of family interaction whether you wanted it or not. The phone calls from Mom skit best bore this out with Garrison usually doing what his mother wanted him to do in the first place. The brief exchanges with his father were always sublime. And of course, the theme of community came mainly across in the weekly News from Lake Wobegon. The believable town where the last thing you would want to do is embarrass yourself, but somehow did it anyway.
The News had a running cast of characters that Garrison fleshed out over time to the extent you could compare them to those in your own life. Even if you never were to a hot dish supper, you would swear that you had. And for those who had, you recalled memories of inventive as well as traditional casseroles served with ham and red-eyed gravy in a grange hall where all the adults were getting along better than usual. In the News and elsewhere, Garrison made note of the weather, followed the seasons, marked the holidays, read poetry, commented on politics, told jokes, provided some musical history and occasionally reported on his love life both past and present. In some ways, APHC was Mr. Roger's Neighborhood for adults.
The demise of radio didn't come as was once predicted. I think mainly because the TV reception in cars was pretty bad for so many years. ...I suppose there could have been other reasons as well. But Garrison brought a "the way things used to be" kind of program with a spectrum of musical quests and witticisms that entertained all that had the time to drift away for a couple of hours. Soon to be over and fondly remembered, A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor will be one of the best things that ever happened to NPR.
