Track 14—From When We Were Young (2011)

That’s How I Got To Memphis

Tom T. Hall, Unichappell Music, Inc.

If you love somebody enough, you'll follow wherever they go
That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis
If you love somebody enough, you'll go where your heart wants to go
That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis

I know if you'd seen her you'd tell me, ‘cause you are my friend
I've got to find her and find out the trouble she's in
If you tell me that she's not here, I'll follow the trail of her tears

That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis

She would get mad and she used to say, that she'd come back to Memphis someday
That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis
As I rambled I haven't eaten a bite, or slept for three days and nights
That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis

I've got to find her and tell her that I love her so

I'll never rest 'til I find out why she had to go
Thank you for your precious time, forgive me if I start to cryin'
That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis

That's how I got to Memphis, that's how I got to Memphis

“The Storyteller” Tom T. Hall was born in Olive Hill, Kentucky, in 1936. He has written songs for notables like Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings, Alan Jackson and Bobby Bare. One of his earliest successful songwriting ventures was “Harper Valley PTA” that was recorded by Jeannie C. Riley in 1968 and sold over six million copies.

Tom T. has an uncanny ability to capture the spirit of rural life and rural people. He also has a gift to capture human emotions. Written in 1968, “That’s How I Got To Memphis” captures the desperate quest of a man trying to find the woman he loves.

I've got to find her and tell her that I love her so

I'll never rest 'til I find out why she had to go

Prior to the era of cell phones and the Internet, it wasn’t always easy to get a hold of someone. When I first moved to the mountains of North Carolina, I didn’t have a phone. As I rambled from a friend’s house to an old farmhouse, I didn’t have a permanent address either. I would write a letter to my parents (remember the envelope and stamp?) and share an address and phone number of a friend if they needed to contact me. It often took several days to get a message to me.

Without Facebook, Twitter, or a simple cell phone number, finding a lost love in Memphis would involve either driving or hitch-hiking to the city to begin your search “on foot.” The only social networking system available would have been person-to-person, coffee shop to coffee shop, bar to bar.

The song does not reveal if the lost love was ever found or not. I believe the tension created by this “unknown” is what makes the song so appealing and such a classic. In a way I’m glad that advanced technology wasn’t around in 1968—it would have ruined this song.