Mike: Both great, moving songs. It's easy to understand why ballads are often so visual, because they often tell a story in vivid detail. I could come up with a long list of powerful ballads that I can see when I sing them, or hear them played. There are also many long ballads that are just long ballads for me... they may start someone else's projector going, but I'm just looking for a polite way to get out of the room.

Then, there are 0ther songs that have a vivid description in them... like John Johanna:

"I pulled in to the station, I chanced to meet a friend

Allan Catcher was his name, although they called him Cain

His Hair hung down in rat-tails below his under jaw

He said he run the best hotel in the State of Arkansas

and:

He stood seven feet six inches, as tall as any crane

It's early in the morning and it's been awhile since I sung that song, so I'm not sure how these lines fit into the song, but I guess that's the point. These are the lines in the song that create such a strong image of a character in my mind.

And Kat: I'm not sure that instrumentals generate visual images for me, although they certainly create emotions. I'll have to think about that... hmmmnnn.. maybe 40 Miles of Bad Road by Duane Eddy. :-)

Jerry