Cotton Mill Joe

   A lot of people don't know it, but C writes music as well as performs it. Over the years he has written a song for each of his children and me. One of my favourites is the song he wrote for his Dad. It is titled "Cotton Mill Joe".
  The title refers to the job he held most of his life. Like many people in the south at that time, Mr. Warren, my father-in-law, worked at the cotton mill. That's what you did. I'm told he started out as a weaver before he went overseas in World War II. After the war, he came back a was a loom fixer. That meant it was his job to repair the looms when they broke and to make sure they kept running well. This was an important job because production had to be maintained and broken looms are bad for profits.
  The song was written as an instrumental. It starts out with sort of a lazy melody. I can picture Mr.Warren sitting on a front porch,a glass of sweet tea nearby either rocking on a porch swing or visiting with his bothers on a hot weekend afternoon in South Carolina. Maybe he and his brothers are trading stories, maybe they've all got their guitars out and are picking or strumming them.
  Then the song takes a turn. It is faster, not so lazy and rhythmic. I can hear the shuttles going back and forth on the large looms. The weaving room is loud and hot. Mr. Warren is walking the floors checking out the looms looking for any that need maintenance. Maybe he's got a toolbox in hand and is looking for the broken loom he has been called to fix.
  The song ends with a few fast ninth chords and a last bell-like strum on the strings. I can see Mr. Warren,hot,sweaty, covered in dust and tired walking home from a hard day of work. It would be nice to think that he would be going home to a nice house, with dinner and his family waiting for him. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. When Mr. Warren returned home from Europe he was among those who returned "not as God made them,but as war left them". (An apt quote from Bob Schieffer.) The painful memories of the things he saw and perhaps did to defend his country,were sometimes too much for him. His marriage fell apart and he was left to care for his older daughters and young sons as best he could while living with those searing memories.
   I have always wanted to write lyrics to that song, to honor Mr. Warren. I have never been able to find the words. Maybe I never will, but then again maybe I don't need to......

For Mr. Warren You are loved,you are missed.