Ten Favorite Wind Songs: Crazy Wind (#5)

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Monday, Monday. We've made it through the first work day. We also survived the government shutdown. (The latter remark is sarcasm.) Let's celebrate with another song on my list of favorites that have "wind" in the title. Here's the next one on the list. #5: Crazy Wind - James McMurtry I've been blessed in countless ways in my life. One of those ways is through music. I got to see Lonesome Dove author Larry McMurtry's son, James, on his first tour for his first album in 1989. He was opening for the BoDeans. This song punched me between the eyes like a Mack truck. Drawing on the beautiful way with words that his father has, James McMurtry described a woman in an unhappy relationship who, after a drink ("he won't miss the whiskey, he knows it's not your style"), decides to get the heck out of the relationship and Dodge. Later on that BoDeans tour Tish Hinojosa opened, and she had recorded this song, too. Her version is just as haunting....maybe more intense, coming from the perspective of a woman instead of the third-person narration ("something's in the wind and it makes you crazy") that McMurtry provided. At any rate, this song still gives me chills. It's incredible. Both McMurtry and Hinojosa are out there in Americana music, where James has become quite the star. With a song like this on his debut album, was there any question that people would sit up and take notice. I know I sure did. Crazy Wind Written by James McMurtry Recorded by James McMurtry From Too Long in the Wasteland, 1989 Self-preservation, what can you say: