“Counting Flowers On The Wall” written by Statler Brothers singer Lew DeWitt, this song is about a guy who has been left lonely and nearly catatonic by the one he loves. He’s in a pretty bad spot, counting flowers on the wall and playing solitaire with a deck that’s missing a card. This appears on the soundtrack to the movie Pulp Fiction. Bruce Willis is singing along to the song, which is playing on his car radio, just before he runs over Marsellus Wallace at an intersection. There’s another Bruce Willis connection to the song as well: Willis mentions spending his suspension “Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo” in Die Hard With A Vengeance. So Lew DeWitt’s father was an administrator at Western State Hospital (mental health hospital) located in Staunton, Virginia. When Lew would get out of school he would go do random jobs at the hospital. While at the hospital he encountered a patient that he is describing in the song. The song is about an alcoholic who has withdrawn from society, leading a solitary and reclusive life. He dreams of being free and happy “on the town” with other people, but he knows he can’t drink socially. In his own place, by himself, there’s no-one to bother him about his drinking problem and about how small his life has become. He is up all night when everyone else are asleep, so he is completely cut off from life around him, thus he does seemingly boring things, but the repetitiveness of these things bring a sort of routine and order to his life. In his dreams he is a different person. Dreams and TV shows is his escape. He says he is happy by himself because he has likely suffered disappointments and no longer wants to deal with people and their drama.
Songs with Banjo from Harold Hagler
