"So How Come" is a country record by Don Gibson, produced by Chet Atkins. It is a plaintive ballad, where the singer asks "So How Come...nobody loves me?"
I don't know much about country music. This came from a pile of 45 records I bought earlier today and that I am currently listening through. So I don't know anything about Mr. Gibson, or even know such things as what year this song was recorded. But certain things pop out at me, already.
There is a dichotomy between croon and swing. At the time this record came out, presumably, "croon" was still the dominant partner. The type of straight-forward, earnest lyrics crooned out over hi-fi sets at suburban parties before rock n' roll came to town. I can hear the cocktails clinking and smell the tobacco smoke, as men in suits and women in evening gowns eat some heart attack plate. But at the same time---there was swing. A little bit of rhythm in the singing, and of course the ironic, sad complaint:
If you ask who the loneliest people in the world can be
The ugly duck, the little black sheep...and me
And I can imagine it coming out of a
jukebox at a
crossroads tavern while a man cries in his beer.
So while I don't know the history of country music, the history of the performer, or even what year this song came out, I can still see the appeal-- smooth enough to go with the easy listening tastes of middle America, but just rough enough to be interesting. And while it does seem stylized, I felt it refreshingly free of the affectedness that I find in much country music.
The B-Side of my single is "We're Really In Love", a Hank Williams cover. At least, since it is a single, I assume it is the B-Side.