‘Homecoming’ by Tom T. Hall - Olive Hill, KY - Immortalized in Lyrics on Waymarking.com

I was driving along Interstate 64 in Kentucky one time when I saw a sign for Olive Hill. I knew that Olive Hill was the hometown of Tom T. Hall from the cover of an album my uncle had that showed a memorial plaque against a backdrop of the town. I decided to drive through Olive Hill to see if I could find where they put the plaque. I found it in a small park which I believe is now called John “Hop” Brown Memorial Park. The coordinates are for this park, but I think the plaque has been relocated to the grounds of the Olive Hill Center for Arts & Education.

Tom T. Hall has mentioned Olive Hill in his song lyrics (‘Looking Forward to Seeing You Again’ comes to mind) but the song that went through my head then was ‘Homecoming.’ This song, which Hall admits is largely autobiographical, is about a singer/performer who comes home to visit his dad after being away many years. I don’t know if it was Tom T. Hall’s intention, but the son comes across as somewhat selfish who may have had ulterior motives for his visit. For instance, he apologizes for missing his mom’s funeral: “I'm sorry that I couldn't be here with you all when Momma passed away…”

I’ve always liked the song ‘Homecoming’ which, in my opinion, has one of the best last lines of any song (right up there with Harry Chapin’s ‘Taxi’):

And by the way if you see Barbara Walker
Tell her that I said, "Hello"

Musician: Tom T. Hall Name of Song: Homecoming Relevant Verse: I guess I should've written, Dad to let you know that I was coming home/ I've been gone so many years I didn't realize you had a phone... Location website: [Web Link]

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