There aren’t a lot of classic songs about Groundhog Day (as opposed to, say, Christmas), but Nashville singer -songwriter Tom T. Hall made a valiant effort with “Happy Groundhog Day” from his 1977 album About Love. It’s not so much a song about Groundhog Day as it is, like many Tom T. Hall songs, a sad song about desperately lonely people. While there’s nothing unusual about a sad country song, something about Hall’s lyrics always struck me as more desperate and lonely than most. Ron Peterson, then-President of the Nashville Songwriters Association, addressed it in the original liner notes for About Love:
He’s got a built-in sadness… T.’s sadness is kind of like one fiddle trying to play over a whole band. When you finally get your ear where you can hear it, you wonder how you missed it before.
Listen below to a clip of Hall’s “Happy Groundhog Day”, from SFC LP # FC-16049 and have yourself a happy/sad February 2:
Happy Groundhog Day clip