My Gen X Playlist: Crowded Table – The Highwomen

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. My family gets together to catch up and enjoy a big turkey feast. I also get to see how my nieces and nephews have grown. A number of them are beginning college and it’s wonderful to see how they are becoming young adults.

I love the feeling of family as we share Thanksgiving dinner. Multiple conversations going on at once. Different topics, each with the same family feel. Smiles and laughter mix with the sound of forks and knives against plates. Chair legs can be heard against wooden floors as someone backs up to stand and go for seconds. Sighs while full stomachs rest, the anticipation of pumpkin pie fills the air. I wish I could capture and save the essence of these moments, keep them in safekeeping, to be released only on rainy days.

We are hosting at our place this year. Preparing the Thanksgiving meal comes with a certain amount of stress and pressure. Cooking a turkey is a rather daunting meal. We’ve made turkey for the family once before and I recall the stress of not wanting the meat to be under or over cooked. The last time the battery on the thermometer died right before the temperature reading we needed the most. Unable to find spare batteries, we had to wing it and hope for the best. I muttered a few f-bombs under my breath, but always with a smile so nobody would be the wiser. Fortunately, all turned out fine. I’m hoping this second go around goes a lot smoother. I’ll be sure to keep spare batteries on hand and this should reduce the f-bomb count.

But I’m trying not to worry about this now, it’s way too early. For goodness sake, we aren’t even past Halloween yet. The thoughts are fresh because I received a tentative headcount last night. My mind immediately goes to the size of the turkey needed, trying to remember what the hell brining is again and looking around our place to see how we can all sit comfortably and enjoy the meal. I know I shouldn’t worry, the meal isn’t the most important part of this holiday. It’s the gathering that our memory holds onto the most. The smiles, the laughter, the hugs hello and goodbye. I’ll set the worry aside for now and take the holidays one at a time. I’d rather think of something a little easier – like how many bags of Costco candy we need for Halloween. I can work my way up from there.

Crowded Table by The Highwomen isn’t a song from the Gen X era, but it’s a song that makes me think about warm loving gatherings. A number of country music artists came together to form The Highwomen. I don’t listen to country much, but I do listen to Brandi Carlile quite a bit and this was my introduction in. If you haven’t heard of the Highwomen, I recommend you give them a try. A little about the group:

Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires, crafted a collection of songs that touched on themes like motherhood, relationship, and empowerment. Yet, one song stood out as a powerful ode to unity and inclusion: “Crowded Table.”

It’s a song that speaks to the need for connection and the strength that can be found in coming together, even when the world tries to tear us apart.

“The song is about finding a place for everyone at the table, no matter what walk of life they come from, and figuring out how to make it work. There’s a greater love that brings us together, and that’s the love that we should put out there.”

– OldTimeMusic

A great reminder that there are more important things in life than a perfectly cooked turkey. I’ll keep reminding myself of this over the next few months. Soon we’ll have our own crowded table. Can’t wait.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

You can hold my hand
When you need to let go
I can be your mountain
When you're feeling valley-low
I can be your streetlight
Showing you the way home
If you can hold my hand
When you need to let go

I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let us take on the world while we're young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done

If we want a garden
We're gonna have to sow the seed
Plant a little happiness
Let the roots run deep
If it's love that we give
Then it's love that we reap
If we want a garden
We're gonna have to sow the seed

Yeah, I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let us take on the world while we're young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done

The door is always open
Your picture's on my wall
Everyone's a little broken
And everyone belongs
Yeah, everyone belongs

I want a house with a crowded table
And a place by the fire for everyone
Let us take on the world while we're young and able
And bring us back together when the day is done
And bring us back together when the day is done