Today’s post was written by Paul.
Back in the mid 90’s, I used to sometimes stop at Wayde Powell, II’s house on my way home from Young Harris. We would talk, and Wayde would usually share some music with me. One day, he played some songs from a Country Gentlemen album (Souvenirs), which was new at the time. He played one from it that he said he really liked. I immediately liked it too. It was “Hunker Down.”
Though Pap was not a Georgia farmer, I identified with the song because the fatherly advice in the song is very similar to things Pap told me throughout my life. The only difference is that instead of saying “hunker down,” Pap usually said “bear down,” which really meant the same thing.
When I was a kid, there was a sitcom (I think it might have been Happy Days) with a character who frequently said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” So I was familiar with that idea or philosophy. According to Google, that phrase is attributed to Jack Kennedy (JFK’s father).
Pap told me once about a particular sergeant or officer in the Marines who seemed to want to make his life miserable by pushing him to the breaking point physically at every opportunity. Pap said that he was struggling so much that he thought he would surely fail, when a corporal or some other sergeant took him aside and said, “Wilson, you’re looking at this wrong. You need to tell yourself, I can take anything he can dish out.” It may seem like a simple thing, but Pap said these words of motivation helped him tremendously. He dug down deep into his determination and fortitude and carried out all the long distance running and marching with a smile. Soon, the man who was trying to break him stopped, either because he was satisfied or because he saw that there was no breaking Pap.
Though I’ve never faced anything like that, I reminded myself of that story during difficult times in my life, and it always helped me.
A very good teacher that I worked with once told me that one of the worst things you could do is tell someone not to worry. She said they would think you were dismissing their worries and it would not help them at all. I didn’t argue with her, but I disagree with that belief. If someone tells me that things are going to be alright, and it’s someone that I have great trust in, I immediately feel better. I take hope and courage in their reassurance. In other words, I’m truly encouraged just upon hearing it. That’s the way it always was with Pap.
I remember two different times when I was in the passenger seat of a car that was sliding round and around in the road, to where the back of the car was where the front should be and vice versa. As crazy as it sounds, I wasn’t at all worried or scared because Pap was behind the wheel, and I had that much trust in him. In both cases, we were fine, and the car wasn’t even damaged. This trust and confidence allowed me to benefit from any motivational advice that Pap gave me, especially after I got out of my adolescence and grew less stubborn.
Some people might listen to “Hunker Down” and say that it’s easier said than done, and rightfully so. However, I truly believe that, while grit and determination cannot make a serious problem go away, a tough attitude can make dealing with problems far better than giving into sorrow or self pity. I think the hunker down approach becomes even more effective when combined with faith and trust in the Lord. I have seen several family members and friends face terminal illness and tragedies with a tough, positive attitude, and I hope I can do the same if/when I encounter those kinds of moments.
Joel Bruce Spalding wrote “Hunker Down.” Perhaps he had a father much like Pap who inspired this great song. I could not find the Country Gentlemen’s recording of it on YouTube, but you should be able to hear it on Spotify or other music platforms.
The phrase “hunker down” comes from a Scottish word that describes squatting low to the ground in order to prepare for a difficult situation or protect one’s self. It may have originated from an even older Scandinavian word “huka,” which also meant to crouch.
I hope you enjoyed the video!
Paul
Original singles released on Spotify.
Hunker down is sorta like the farmer’s squat! Another new song on me, Paul. Are you familiar with Hank William’s SINGING WATERFALL? I would love to hear you sing that old ballad with your velvety voice!
Great one that will be added to my list of favorites. Thank you so much, Paul. Your music plays often in our home, enjoyed by all.
Good singing and playing Paul. Austin knows about “hunker down hairy dawg”! Thanks for telling a Pap story too ! Randy you are in our prayers.
Paul, enjoyed your post and music today.
Good way to start the day.
Great story. I enjoyed it. Thank you.
JFK’s father was Joe Kennedy
Thank you Paul for a very appropriate message in these uncertain times.
Great song Paul. We are usually ‘stronger’ than we think we are. When the ‘rubber meets the road’ we find we can, and do, hunker down and get through it. I saw that hunkering, and courage and strength in my husband as he fought a losing battle with cancer.
Good song with a great message.
Thankyou for the inspirational message! We have been staying outside Elijay and have enjoyed Gods beauty. Have met some very nice folks here! God bless
Thanks, Paul. Good advice. Good music. I always enjoy your posts.
Thanks Paul, we all need to be reminded that in hard times we need to hunker down, and trust in God.
You remind me of a saying of my Dad’s. When he talked of “hunkering down” he would say “like a frog in a hailstorm”. I’ve never seen a frog in a hailstorm but I can easily envision how they would act. They would hunch their shoulders, tuck their chin and tough it out without a sound. A man wants to always feel he has some reserve he can call on that is enough to meet whatever life demands. And the very best one for any and all times is the Good Shepherd. As that other Paul wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” The truth of that has been testified to over and over throughout recorded history.
Well Good Lord bless our souls that Norman Chester has come back to us here-hello Norman! We hope and pray you’re well, friend. Randy, good is coming your way, friend. Paul, I’ve had a lot of fun with the “hunker down” term here in my social circle- “hunkra” has been used a lot jokingly. When things get tough you gotta hunkra right on down! On the other hand, I swear with all my heart the greatest things in my life only started after I GAVE UP. I worried about many things all my life, but all I ever got or git is thinking in circles of negative outcomes, a sick gut, headache and feeling like I want to die. Once I decided it’s mind over matter-if you don’t mind it don’t matter-I been way better off not to mention free of what anybody thinks or does… love to you all. Paul, your pap was a GREAT AMERICAN!
Thanks for the tune Paul. I enjoy the “old timey” tunes. I’m also glad to learn the origin of the phrase hunker down.
Good song and also a positive message!
I have never heard “hunker down” used to described being tough. I have most often used heard it such as sitting down (hunkering down) in some place like during a thunderstorm, or like my father in law could do, squat down and sit sorta like on his heel. I know y’all are fed up with me saying this but now after my wife’s death, it is hard for me to be tough about anything, it would be so easy to just give up. This attitude worries me about how I will feel if the CT scan I had last week comes back as something serious. In a lighter sense, I have heard that worrying does not help with anything, I disagree, many of the things I have worried about never happened, so I think it did help!
Ed, last night, I read your post about Baccer Fields from 2012. Was the tractor your Daddy bought a David Bradley sold by Sears and Roebuck-later on just Sears, I also wonder how many of the younger generations would know what a single tree or doubletree are. One time at an antique tractor show, I saw a three wheel David Bradley with a steering wheel and seat, two wheels were in front and a single wheel that would steer in back, similar to a three wheel forklift. My neighbor had the more common 2 wheel tractor like you described.
Randy, the tractor was so old and rusty when Daddy go it that it had no markings left, that I remember. The hood or cowling or whatever it is called was missing, if it ever had it. It did have a B&S engine. It came with a plow and a disk attachment. The plow worked good. The disk was kinda worthless for our needs. I’ll ask my brother, he might know more about it.
I totally agree with you about the meaning of “hunker down”. It probably has completely flipped in meaning since you and I were young. Maybe they do that just to make us old folks look foolish. “Double down” seems be a more appropriate phrase to describe the situation in the song. Toughen Up and Double Down, don’t that make more sense.?
Toughen Up and Double Down makes more sense to me.
Randy, I’m hoping & praying your CT Scan results will be ok.
Thank you Cheryl, I appreciate all the prayers I can get. I look and really don’t see anything to be concerned about but I guess you never know. I wouldn’t have thought anything about it if the nurse practitioner hadn’t noticed it.
I asked my brother Harold about the garden tractor. He remembered the B&S engine but like me he didn’t recall ever seeing who built it. He reminded me of a four tined cultivator attachment that came with it that if you removed the two middle tines could be used for plowing between rows.
good singing and playing Paul, thank you for praying for me God bless you very much