Ten Favorite Rock State Names Songs: Oklahoma (#6)

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DISCLAIMER: NOT the musical Oklahoma! song!! I won't keep you in suspense about that! Now, onward with the trip to various US states by way of songs with a state's name in the title. I had ten country songs with a state's name, and now it's rock and roll's turn. And for today, boy, do we have a rock and roll band. #6: Oklahoma - The Call Yesterday I mentioned that the write-up on the YouTube video of the Silos' song called them "grossly underrated." To me, the poster child band for the term grossly underrated in the 80s was The Call. They had a few FM rock songs before FM rock playlists got ridiculously stupid and tightly controlled (I remember hearing "The Walls Came Down" early in their career), and "Let the Day Begin" was shown frequently on 120 Minutes on MTV. Despite the lack of commercial success, The Call had a very devoted following, in both rock and Christian circles. Front man Michael Been was a devoted Christian (he even played the apostle John in The Last Temptation of Christ [and for trivia buffs, David Bowie played Pontius Pilate]), and a number of Call songs have subtle Christian themes (such as "Everywhere I Go," "I Still Believe (The Grand Design)," and "What's Happened to You"). But they also have the line "from my mother's arms I was cruelly torn and they whipped my ass on the day I was born" in the song "In the River" (and he's not talking about a donkey!). The song "The Walls Came Down" has the obvious Biblical reference ("they blew the horns and the walls came down, they'd all been warned"), but it also throws a political jab ("I don't think there are any Russians, and there ain't no Yanks, just corporate criminals playing with tanks"). And I must say that they were one of the best concerts I ever saw. Been had a powerful presence (that's only partially shown in the video linked below). He was a showman, true (watch how he played bass), but there was more than that. Been was born in Oklahoma, so that probably explains why this song of destruction and hope is set there. It's a powerhouse song. I got to meet Michael Been (and the rest of the members of the band) the second time I saw them. Been died at the age of 60 in 2010 of a heart attack while on tour with his son's band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. His son has subsequently appeared with surviving members of The Call in tribute concerts. What a ferociously underrated band. Oklahoma Written by Michael Been Recorded by The Call From Reconciled, 1986 How was I to know?