Isms: Views on life in rural America

Damn you, Aaron Watson. I almost made it through Father’s Day without shedding a tear. Then you pop up on my TikTok and Facebook feeds - within a few minutes - with a sappy song that transports me back to my childhood, a track on one of the first albums I ever purchased with my own hard-earned money, and makes me think about simpler times.

Watson’s Father’s Day post features the melodic notions of David Gates, part of the 70s group, Bread. Watson claims, and is backed up by americansongwriter.com, that the song “Everything I Own” is a tribute to Gates’ father, who died as Gates’ career was in...