Lyric: A Background of Blue
©2002 Wayne Krewski (SOCAN)  All rights reserved.

"A Background Of Blue" can be found on the CD    "Toe Tappin' - No Rappin'"
It can also be found on the live CD   "The Miners Hall Concert"

In the mountains of North Carolina, in the winter of '49,
Eddy Merle Watson was born under weather unusually fine.
The weather stayed warm and smiled on the newborn, hinting at things to come.
But Merle learned early where the blues came from and what it takes to overcome.
Polio struck him at six, for two months paralyzed from the waist down.
But the gift of a bike from a friend of Doc's helped him with his limp and got him up and around.
For the rest of his life, he was often in pain, but he never let it hold him down.
His spirit and his music overcame the pain; music far and wide renowned.
 
Refrain  Like the tinkle of chimes in a gentle wind, the bubble of a small waterfall,
The gurgle of a brook and the patter of raindrops, the Wood Thrush singing his call;
Merle picked a song and the notes washed over you, delicate, gentle, and true.
His harmony with Doc like a rainbow of colour, seamless on a background of blue.
 
Only months after learning his first chords, Merle joined Doc on the road.
Twelve thousand people heard him play for the first time; fifteen years old.
Later that year they recorded their first LP “Doc Watson and Son”.
Four million miles on the road was the price for the Grammies they won.
They played at concert halls in the cities and kraals in the African veld.
Each a master, together unique for the way their guitars would meld.
In 1985 Merle won “Best Finger-Picker of the Year”,
But he never knew; before he heard his death brought an end to a stellar career.
 
It was late October in the middle of the night and Merle lay awake in his bed.
He went to the basement to trim some panelling and try and clear his head.
The saw blade jammed and a splinter kicked back and embedded itself in his arm.
He knew he needed help so he fired up the tractor and headed for the next farm.
The first three neighbours all knew him well but no door opened until,
Weak and cold, he found a house where a light was on at the top of a hill
But the splinter was huge and the folks where afraid to try and take it out they claimed.
So Merle said “I'll do it myself. Can you give me a knife and something for pain?”
 
All they had was wine, so he sterilized the knife in the wine then drank.
He grabbed the knife and he dug for the wood, but the wood felt big as a plank.
He got it out and they bandaged the wound; he was weak and he left in shock.
He got on the tractor and drove away, but going down the hill the tractor brakes locked.
The tractor slid off the driveway and rolled down the bank and Merle was thrown.
When everything came to rest, he was under the tractor; he'd died alone.
From the pain in his hip to the pain in his heart for his loss when his marriage was through,
His life was a tapestry of bright shining lights always grounded on a background of blue.