“So very fine… so stimulating, so intoxicating…, C’mon…, Love is the only thing that matters anyhow”. These lyrics describe a bygone era where American attitudes were more in line with just drink up and don’t worry about the future. Afterall, it was only 1969 and most Americans were still a bit isolated on the world scene. [The internet was still a solid 25 years from formation]. I’ve been wondering about these song lyrics because this one has been playing in my head for a few days now.

Remember as teens when we weren’t old enough to buy liquor but somehow we worked around it and scored a bottle of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill? I’m really not into Strawberries or any sweet wines, I do buy Cherries on occasion though. Boone’s Farm sold a popular Apple wine at that time as well. Okay – never mind, same headache the next morning. And I never forget the source of a hangover, so much so that when I was on a cruise ship as we were about to dock in Barcelona, Spain the Captain had the crew hand out glasses of Sangria wine to all passengers. I made a futile attempt to refuse but was unsuccessful. Upon the first sip I discovered after all those years that sweet wine still hadn’t grown on me… Sangria is very popular in Spain, yuck!

Talk about things everlasting, Tommy James is still around. And man did the Shondells write some classic songs or what? Titles like “Crimson and Clover”, “Crystal Blue Persuasion”, “Hanky Panky”, and “Dragging the Line”, so many great ones that “Sweet Cherry Wine” wouldn’t necessarily be on anyone else’s radar, but my head is still holding onto this one [for some reason]. I was compelled to explore why and that will continue past this admission. I think that living in the U.S. [for me] today and maybe most of us is more a forced as opposed to a natural “Kumbaya”? I think that’s what this song is referring to, just go about business everyday and never worry over the future. I’m thinking after all these late 60’s lyrics were a product of that “Peace, Love, and Understanding” movement that pervaded at the time. Nice thought however virtually impossible for most Americans to land anywhere near this these days. You know what they say though, “Ignorance is Bliss” and I suppose they were right. One day I’ll work through all this and find that silver lining [hiding somewhere]. 🙂