I know it’s too late in in my life to do something so over the top as going to a honky-tonk bar and meet a real honky-tonk girl but I can’t stop wondering what it would be like.
I guess this urge has been in me untainted ever since I first heard Loretta Lynn’s captivating song “Honky-Tonk Girl” back in the day. I enjoyed listening to it often over the years. Right now it is on my playlist, begging me to play it again.
Loretta’s song urged me to open up my mind. So what I learned lately is about honky-tonk bars and what goes on behind those closed doors. They usually open at nine in the evening and continue full blast as long as there are patron’s present. This type of bar is best described as a beer-battered and dimly lit one, frequently linked to some violence. It provides that quirky country music to entertain those that can’t help but become hooked on it.
These establishments were more common in areas of the Old West composed of a mixture of bawdy (vulgar) women, cheap music and a dance hall and along with a brothel (possibly). The origin of the term honky-tonk referred to bawdy variety shows back then. Fortunately a few of them exist to this present day and so are of great interest to me.
The first music genre to be known as honky-tonk always contained stories about religion, family and hard luck. The style of piano playing related to ragtime but emphasized rhythm more than melody or harmony. More often than not, these poorly cared for pianos tended to be out of tune and have some non-functioning keys.
Many people describe honky-tonk as, “Messing around, dancing and drinking in a cheap bar, then going to church on Sunday, honky-tonk again on Monday, without it being anybody’s business”
The honky-tonk girls, often looked gnarled and weathered due to their busy schedule. With no particular skill other than to entertain any men they meet in the bar, dancing and drinking alongside them. While doing so, they become carefree and happy in their role, ensuring too that men feel important about themselves for the endurance of the evening.
The mystery in meeting a honky-tonk girl is intensified when someone or something else in your life has made you so lonely that you could cry. I can imagine approaching such a saloon with a heightened heartbeat. Upon entering into it, observing only shadowy figures at first but grasping at a long-time goal now within a moment’s reach. Already my blues are subsiding. Dance instructions were about to begin so I grabbed a partner and joined in with renewed vigor. Everyone was friendly and genuinely having a good time. The instructor moved across the floor like a landslide, smiled patiently at our scuffling feet and swung each of us around the shiny wooden floor in turn, as the band from Nashville started to set up in the background.
Afterwards, capturing one of the few barstools available, I soon detected the presence of someone sidling up to me. I turned and instantly knew it was a honky-tonk girl – rather more of a woman than a girl though. I was so thrilled that I spilled my beer all over the countertop and onto both of us. We laughed together; a conversation was struck up.
Already, she was extracting from me all that I was sad about. Her attire never acceptable for a fine-dining restaurant but her smiling eyes made up for that and more, a pleasing welcome anywhere. Her charm chased away my remaining semblance of darkness. We chatted for hours, about her and about me, drinking stale beer that tasted smoother over time – my bar tab piling up also. I recall her saying, “Honky-tonk is pure country played in a beer joint for real people.” That was my evidence in pin-pointing the atmosphere of this place, its addictive music and camaraderie. But it was the time to depart. Heading for the parking lot I felt so much more relaxed than earlier.
Unlike many who need sex, drugs, and rock and roll to forget despair, I will stick with a few hours in a run-down bar chatting with a spirited honky-tonk girl to make my misery vanish.
