As country music swung back toward traditional styles in the 1980s, an inheritor of the soulful honky tonk style of Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard rose to the top of the business and notched hit after barroom hit. Sometimes he was known simply as "the Voice." Born in Woodland, AL, Vern Gosdin idolized the Louvin Brothers and the Blue Sky Boys as a young man and sang in a gospel quartet called the Gosdin Brothers.
When he was in his late teens, his family moved to Birmingham and began hosting The Gosdin Family Gospel Show on a local radio station. Gosdin and his brother, Rex, moved to Long Beach, CA, in 1961.
They began performing bluegrass music in the milieu that gave birth to country-rock, joining a group called the Golden State Boys which evolved into The Blue Diamond Boys in 1962 when future Byrds member Chris Hillman joined them on the mandoline. Shorty after they would rename again to The Hillmen which disbanded in the summer of 1964, when Chris Hillman left to join the BYRDS. During this time the group recorded an album, which was released by Together Records in 1970 as "Don Parmley And The Five String Banjo". Vern and Rex teamed up to sing country music as the Gosdin Brothers once again, had a Top 40 country hit in 1967 with "Hangin' On," and opened for the Byrds on occasion.
Gosdin moved to Atlanta in 1972, raising a family and running a retail shop. But he never gave up on music completely. He performed at local clubs and began to gravitate toward Nashville, where Emmylou Harris, a friend of Gosdin's from his California days, was laying the foundation for a neo-traditionalist style of country music. Around 1976 Gosdin and Harris cut a demo single consisting of "Hangin' On" backed with a newly written song, "Yesterday's Gone." The demo got Gosdin signed to the Elektra label, and both songs cracked the country Top 20. In the late '70s he notched several major hits, including "Till the End" (with Janie Fricke), "Mother Country Music," and a remake of the Association's "Never My Love."
In 1980, after the demise of Elektra's country division, Gosdin quickly moved through several contracts and landed with the independent Nashville label Compleat. He made the Top Ten consistently in the early '80s, really hitting his stride when he teamed with Max D. Barnes as a songwriting collaborator. The pair specialized in songs of cheating and barroom romance, often delivering an over-the-top emotionalism that got Gosdin compared to the ultimate legend of honky tonk vocals, George Jones. In 1983, Gosdin had two Top Five hits — "If You're Gonna Do Me Wrong (Do It Right)" and "Way Down Deep." The following year he had his first number one single with "I Can Tell by the Way You Dance (You're Gonna Love Me Tonight)" and had two additional Top Ten hits. His career hit a lull in the mid-'80s, but in 1987, with the new traditionalist movement in full swing and Warner Bros. artist Randy Travis roosting at the top of the charts, he was tapped by the Columbia label. He bounced back into the Top Ten that year with the tortured "Do You Believe Me Now," and in 1988 he hit number one once again with the perennially popular Ernest Tubb tribute "Set 'Em Up Joe." Gosdin's "Chiseled in Stone," co-written with Barnes, won the Country Music Association's Song of the Year award in 1989. His 1989 album Alone was a rarity: a concept album in a traditional country style. It chronicled the dissolution of Gosdin's marriage. Vern's popularity is again on the rise as 2008 sees the release of his life's works on a 101 song Box Set titled 40 Years of The Voice. This living legend continues to represent pure traditional country.
Catch the Wind
Vern Gosdin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of uncertainty
I wanna be
In the warmhold of your loving mind.
To feel you all around me
And to take your hand
Along the sand,
When sundown pales the sky
I wanna hide a while
Behind your smile,
And everywhere I'd look, your eyes I'd find.
For me to love you now
Would be the sweetest thing,
'T would make me sing,
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind.
Diddy da da la da da da da da
Ya da da, da da, la da.
When rain has hung the leaves with tears
I want you near
To kill my fears,
To help me to leave all my blues behind.
For standing in your heart
Is where I wanna be
And I long to be,
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind.
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
The song "Try and Catch the Wind" by Vern Gosdin is a poignant love song about a person's yearning to be with the one they love. The lyrics speak of uncertainty and fear but also of a deep desire for the comfort and security that can only be found in the warm embrace of a loved one. The opening lines set the tone of the song with the singer expressing a desire to be in the warm hold of their lover's loving mind during times of uncertainty. The lyrics go on to describe the desire to feel the presence of the loved one all around them, taking their hand and walking along the sand, but ultimately realizing that love is like trying to catch the wind, something intangible and elusive.
The second verse of the song continues the theme of the singer's longing, using imagery of sundown paling the sky and wanting to hide behind their lover's smile. The singer expresses a desire to love the one they long for, to be with them always but acknowledges that it feels like trying to catch the wind. The third verse of the song uses the image of rain hanging the leaves with tears and wanting to be near their love to kill their fears and leave the blues behind. The singer expresses a longing to be in their loved one's heart but ultimately accepts that trying to catch the wind seems easier than trying to capture the love they desire.
Line by Line Meaning
In the chilly hours and minutes
Of uncertainty
I wanna be
In the warmhold of your loving mind.
During times of uncertainty and doubt, I desire to be in the safe and comforting space of your mind filled with love.
To feel you all around me
And to take your hand
Along the sand,
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind.
I yearn to be close to you and hold your hand, but I understand that achieving this may be as futile as trying to catch the wind.
When sundown pales the sky
I wanna hide a while
Behind your smile,
And everywhere I'd look, your eyes I'd find.
As the day comes to an end, I want to take refuge in your smile and be surrounded by your presence wherever I look.
For me to love you now
Would be the sweetest thing,
'T would make me sing,
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind.
To love you in this moment would bring indescribable joy, but it may be just as impossible as attempting to catch the wind.
Diddy da da la da da da da da
Ya da da, da da, la da.
This line does not have a clear meaning and may simply serve as a musical interlude.
When rain has hung the leaves with tears
I want you near
To kill my fears,
To help me to leave all my blues behind.
During times of deep sadness and despair, I seek your presence to comfort and free me from the weight of my troubles.
For standing in your heart
Is where I wanna be
And I long to be,
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind.
To be in your heart is my greatest desire, but I understand it may be as impossible as attempting to catch the wind.
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
The repetition of this line emphasizes the futility of the artist's desires and the impossible nature of achieving them.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Donovan Leitch
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@RonjasCCQ
Lyrics:
In the chilly hours and minutes
Of uncertainty
I wanna be
In the warmhold of your loving mind
To feel you all around me
And to take your hand
Along the sand
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
When sundown pales the sky
I wanna hide a while
Behind your smile
And everywhere I'd look, your eyes I'd find
For me to love you now
Would be the sweetest thing
'T would make me sing
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
When rain has hung the leaves with tears
I want you near
To kill my fears
To help me to leave all my blues behind
For standing in your heart
Is where I wanna be
And I long to be
Ah but I may as well try and catch the wind
...
@Debj1951
I miss hearing Vern. One of the greatest who never received the recognition that he deserved.
@slowgynman1234.
I SO AGREE! Hey
@connie5594
I heard this song when I was a teenager. I didn't know he sung this song until years later. Always loved it.
@jameswest2692
Me too
@thomasbaine4047
I love Gosdin.
@patriciaferrell9418
Love his music
@audreybrewster8232
miss youvern you will always be the best
@all95621
LOVE HIS SINGING......RIP
@sebastiaoperes6275
Parabéns , adorei a musica .