Love, Work, and Jimmy Webb’s ‘Wichita Lineman’

Jimmy Webb wrote “Wichita Lineman” for Glen Campbell following Campbell’s hit “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” Little did he know he would get a masterpiece. Tad Denson/Shutterstock

Life is hard. It’s also beautiful. It’s made of love and work and more love. And even though you know it’s going to end, you also know a part of it will somehow go on.

I didn’t get the theme above from a wise teacher or an ancient book. I got it from a 1968 pop-country song that has been called “the greatest song ever written.”