All aboard the Paddy wagon

When I've been away for awhile, both physically and in spirit, I dust off a Paddy Reilly record and spin the old beauty on the victrola. There's just something about Paddy's voice that's so warm and reassuring, even when he's singinig about topics of the cheerless variety.

One of my favorite tunes by Mr. Reilly is his version of Johnny McEvoy's "Long Before Your Time." McEvoy once jokingly said, "It could have been different. I could have been an advertising man with button-down collar, sports coat, permanently creased terylene trousers, and a secure job. But I threw it all away to become a ballad singer with button-down collar, sports coat, permanently creased terylene trousers, and no job." Rather neat a man with such a sense of humor could produce a song so heart-wrenching.

Paddy's cover of it is just lovely, as he portrays the narrator to be both melancholy and composed; you can picture him telling his story, keeping himself together for his lovely daughter's sake, only to fall apart once his tale ends and his daughter has up and left the room.

Here is "Long Before Your Time."