Song Of The Day 11/22/2012: Loudon Wainwright III - "Thanksgiving"

TUMWATER, WA -- I suspect our Thanksgivings' mileage varies according to who our families are. I'm pretty lucky to have spent each of my last eleven Thanksgivings with a great family. Thanksgiving never feels as sadly rote as Loudon makes it sound in this song. Perhaps it will someday, in line with the way our kids mature and develop their own skepticism, or shape their own biographies in context with the way they were raised. But from my own musical vantage point, the Wainwrights, flawed as they might have been, are a great family. Eventually they were able to relate to each other through their differences. You can hear that in the gentility of Loudon's singing here -- the subject might be tense, but the hope in his wistfulness still comes clear. You might not think about Thanksgiving as intricately as either Loudon or I do, but regardless -- It'll come to you. Happy Thanksgiving.