Re: Songs about obscure places.
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:57 am
About a year and a half ago, I traveled scenic New Mexico State Highway 456, paralleling the Dry Cimmaron River between Folsom, New Mexico (near Capulin Volcano National Monument) and the highpoint of Oklahoma, Black Mesa (near Kenton). Seventeen miles of that highway consists of red dirt, which is the main thing that sparsely populated and lightly traveled area is known for. If it weren't for all the attention Cimmaron County, Oklahoma gets for being the epicenter of the Dust Bowl, it would be just about as obscure an area as can be. There are lots of other songs about the region's dusty past, some by famous songwriters, but most don't get very specific about place names beyond listing well known cities, or states that folks fled to, through, or from. Of course, highpointers are fond of the far northwestern portion of the panhandle, and the obscure part of New Mexico just across the border has some nice red rock and scenic volcanic mesa terrain, but that doesn't mean many songs focus on more than dust and its results.