"At Mail Call Today" is a song written by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...
and
Fred Rose. The two had a successful song writing partnership dating back to 1941, including "Be Honest With Me
", "Tweedle-O-Twill" and "Tears On My Pillow". Rose, with
Roy Acuff
Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedown ...
, founded
Acuff-Rose Music Publishing in 1942, and in 1947, would go on to producing
Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
. Autry, after a brief lull in film making due to WWII, would be back to his pre-war output by 1946.
Background
The song is similar to other contemporary love songs and deals with the possibility of unfaithfulness. The lyrics describe a young soldier opening a
Dear John letter
A Dear John letter is a letter written to a man by his wife or romantic partner to inform him that their relationship is over, usually because his partner has found another lover. The man is often a member of the military stationed overseas, alth ...
at mail call and learning that the girl he loved from back home has left him. The final words reflect the soldier's despair:
''Good luck and God bless you''
''Wherever you stray''
''The world for me ended''
''At Mail Call To-day''.
Chart performance
The song, recorded in December 1944, was Gene Autry's most successful song on the Juke Box Folk charts, peaking at number one for eight weeks with a total of twenty-two weeks on the charts.
The B-side of "At Mail Call Today", a song entitled, "I'll Be Back" peaked at number seven on the same chart.
Charts
References
Further reading
*Cusic, Don. ''Gene Autry: His Life and Career.'' Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2007.
*Jones, John Bush. ''The Songs That Fought the War: Popular Music and the Home Front, 1939–1945.'' Waltham. Mass.: Brandeis University Press, 2006.
*Kingsbury, Paul and Alanna Nash. ''Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music in America.'' London: DK, 2006.
*Wolfe, Charles K. and James Edward Akenson. ''Country Music Goes to War.'' Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2005.
Gene Autry songs
Songs of World War II
1944 songs
1945 singles
Songs written by Gene Autry
Okeh Records singles
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