This is one of those songs where I heard the cover before I heard the original. I know some folk fans might not agree with me, but Bob Seger’s version of this classic song is still the one I think of first. Sometimes the first version you hear just sticks with you. Seger is from Michigan, but the South adopted him as one of their own. I heard him constantly while growing up. Whenever I’m in the small town I grew up in, the song Mainstreet is always in my mind. I remember hearing it when I played pool in Pop’s Pool Hall. I guess every town had a Pop’s Pool Hall in some form or name.
Tim Hardin wrote the song, one of those songwriters whose songs became much more famous than he did. Bobby Darin actually released his version before Hardin’s own recording came out. Darin’s version peaked at #8 on the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, and #9 in the UK. Hardin’s version appeared the following year on Tim Hardin 2. Hardin would later perform the song at Woodstock in 1969.
What I like about Seger’s version is his voice. Hardin’s original has the style you would expect from the man who wrote it, and it is great. But Seger gives the song a completely different personality. His voice already had that rough edge that I love. Against such a tender song, that roughness works for me. If anyone deserved stardom, it would be Seger. Some believe he just magically appeared in 1976 with Night Moves; no, it was a long trek of touring in the 60s and 70s and building up his audience.
The song itself asks a pretty simple question. If everything associated with status and position disappeared, would you still love me? Would it matter what I did for a living or what other people thought of me? Hardin didn’t need a complicated arrangement or a lot of words to get the idea across. That’s probably one reason so many different artists have been able to make the song their own.
And there have been plenty of them. Bobby Darin had the first major hit with it. The Four Tops recorded it. Johnny Cash and June Carter turned it into a duet. Hardin himself gave us the songwriter’s version. Everyone brought something different to it. Bob Seger recorded this for his 1972 album Smokin’ O.P.’s. The album was made up mostly of covers, and the title was a play on “smoking other people’s” songs. Seger’s version was released as a single, and it peaked at #76 on the Billboard 100.
I’ll give Tim Hardin all the credit in the world. He wrote a beautiful song, and without him, none of those other versions would exist. But the first carpenter who showed up at my house was Bob Seger.
I’m sticking with him.
If I Were A Carpenter
If I were a carpenter and you were a lady
Would you marry me anyway?
Would you have my baby?
If I worked my hands in wood
I wonder would you still love me?
I say yes, I would, I’ll put you above me
That’s what I want you to say
And would you save my love from loneliness
Would you save my love from sorrow, if you would
I give you my onlyness, girl and all of my tomorrows
If a tinker were my trade, would you still find me?
Carrying the pots and the pans that I made
Walking along the highway
That long lonely highway
If I was a carpenter, and you were a lady
And I was just a carpenter
Instead of a rock and roll star
Just a carpenter, a carpenter, a carpenter
Discover more from PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Lovely song, and for me the original is still the best. I didn’t know Bob Seger had done it and to be honest it didn’t impress me much, as the lady said. My favourite cover is Robert Plant’s.