For the Sake of the Song: John Hartford “In Tall Buildings”

Image taken from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Image-John_Hartford_playing_at_Merlefest,_North_Carolina_(2000)-fls.jpg?uselang=en#Licensing

Who would have thought such an innocuous title could resonate so deeply?  I first heard this song when Hannah Read performed it as she opened for John Smith at Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, in September 2021, and it was utterly captivating. With a delicate and thoughtful intro and simple yet poignant, profound, and reflective content. Of course, John Hartford is the well-recognised and decorated composer, musician, singer, and songwriter of countless such gems. Perhaps his most successful and well-known work being three-time Grammy winner ‘Gentle on My Mind’, made famous by Glen Campbell.

But, back to ‘In Tall Buildings’. First released in 1972 on Hartford’s ‘Radio John’ album, ‘In Tall Buildings’ has since been covered an untold number of times. Artists who have covered it other than Hannah Read, to name but a few, include Max Gomez, Gillian Welch, Billy Strings, and Molly Tuttle. There is also an exceptionally sentimental duet by Nanci Griffith with Jamie (son of John) Hartford.

In Tall Buildings’ sentimentally critiques the conventional path of modern life, notably the transition from youth to adulthood and retirement. The first verse begins with a young person contemplating their future as an adult and the ensuing loss of freedom and individuality that conforming to the corporate world is perceived to mean. “Someday, my baby, when I am a man, and others have taught me the best that they can, they’ll sell me a suit, they’ll cut off my hair and send me to work in tall buildings“. Such thought-provoking and universal concerns continue through the second verse with the words: “When I’m retired, my life is my own, I made all the payments, it’s time to go home, and wonder what happened betwixt and between, when I went to work in tall buildings“, showing a sense of regret that pursuing a career may have led to missing out on other more meaningful life experiences.

Hartford’s use of simple, evocative language, the charming melody, and the recurring chorus drive home the emotional weight of the transition as it captures the daily grind of urban life: “It’s goodbye to the sunshine, goodbye to the dew, goodbye to the flowers and goodbye to you” – all things that are at the cost of personal well-being. “I’m off to the subway, I must not be late, I’m going to work in tall buildings“, symbolising an environment that demands punctuality, routine, and even, at times, a sense of urgency.

Written at a time when the US economy was emerging from a recession, you would think having work to go to would be considered a good thing. But the song is about more than that. Yes, it critiques modern societal expectations to follow a conventional career path, suggesting that it is at the expense of personal fulfilment and connection with nature. Furthermore, though, it is an insightful analysis of the values and priorities that drive modern life for the masses, perhaps urging a balance between professional ambitions and preserving one’s inner self. Something, it would seem, musicians in their droves ascribe to, given not least to the number of covers that are out there.

Please take a moment to listen to it by Hartford, any of the performers mentioned above or below, or any of the myriad others who have covered it, for that matter. Admire its beauty and wonder why it is largely under the radar – that is one of life’s many mysteries.

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Alan Peatfield

An almost lost classic. Thanks Viv.

Viv Fish

Thank you!

Johnny Cashbook

The Rockingbirds did a lovely wistful cover of this on their trailblazing first album.

Richard

I’ll second that opinion!
They take the song in a different direction and made me seek out the original – once I realized Alan Tyler hadn’t written it!
At first I was disappointed by the original but can now see both version are sublime.

Viv Fish

I agree. Thank you, Johnny & Richard.

Jeremy Courtnadge

A lovely piece. Thank you. John seemed to me to be one of those musicians who was best appreciated by other musicians; less so by the music buying public. He was so vital in the change of acoustic music, and Bluegrass in particular, in the ‘post-Monroe’ era. Sam Bush loved him and performed with him regularly. Sam did my favourite version of ‘In Tall Buildings’, on his own tribute album ‘Radio John’, released on Smithsonian Folkways in November 2022 and available via Bandcamp

Viv Fish

Wow, I’ve just watched the Sam Bush version on YouTube and it is stunning. Thank you for bringing that one to my attention, Jeremy; I think it might be my favourite version now, too!

Huibert C. Bos

Great write-up by Viv Fish (Thanks Viv !)
I did not know the song ‘in tall buildings’, so I checked out the samples and found that the music is quite nice.
But the subject of the song appealed to me quite a lot.
At the time of the first release of the song, I had just left school, and after serving conscription, I had to find a job.
Like in the song, all good citizens were supposed to go neatly dressed, with ‘decent’ haircuts and clean shaven.
And find boring jobs in boring buildings…
Fortunately I did not though.
Not that I was aware of being ‘bourgois’ or anything at the age of 19-20, but I just did not like suits and neckties.
The last time I wore a necktie was in the army.
So I was always dressed ‘casually’ and let my hear grow…
Or maybe I was just lucky that it was accepted in society when you did this ‘naturally’ (not in protest, I mean).

OK, back to music…
The song reminded me of a song called ‘Gold Watch Blues‘ by the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan, quite popular in
the 1960’s and -70’s.
It is about a young guy who applies for a simple cleaning job, but gets interviewed as if he came for a career of 50 years…

Below is a link to Donovan’s song in YouTube, if anyone should be interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHg__kkXKY4

Regards, Huibert – NL

Viv Fish

Thank you, Huibert.