Rain Is A Good Thing, especially for Green Onions while driving an International Harvester leading up to the Watermelon Crawl!

Hello, my favorite Monday peeps! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! It’s hard to believe we’re already cruising through the middle of August.

Summer is definitely moving along way too quickly, but at least we have plenty of sunshine, warm days, and—if your garden is anything like mine—more vegetables than you know what to do with! 😂

This week is a theme week, and here’s the inspiration we’re working with:

“August is the Abundant Harvest of Vegetables month. CoolKidFacts says these veggies are in abundance this time of year tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and peas. Use these for inspiration or go with vegetables in general found in artist/band name or song title/lyrics.”

Well, challenge accepted! Rather than simply grabbing four songs with a tomato or cucumber casually hanging out somewhere in the lyrics, I decided to take the vegetable theme and run with it…straight through the garden, across the farm, and apparently all the way to a watermelon festival. 😂

This week’s playlist has rain making corn, green onions getting their moment in the spotlight, a farmer taking his International Harvester down the road, and, finally, a little watermelon crawling to wrap things up.

In other words, we’ve got ourselves a full musical harvest—and hopefully a few songs that’ll make you smile, tap your toes, and maybe even appreciate your next trip to the produce aisle a little more.

So grab your favorite beverage, turn up the volume, and let’s get this week’s Monday’s Music Moves Me vegetable party started!

Sometimes the best songs start with a clever title. Other times, they start with a phrase that friends have been tossing around for years. This one began with a simple saying shared by the artist and his longtime friend and co-writer: “Rain makes corn, and corn makes whiskey.”

Growing up in Georgia as the son of a farmer, the artist knew firsthand that rain could make a world of difference. When the skies opened up, it meant the crops would grow—and that meant good things were coming.

The two friends eventually turned their running joke into a song, but interestingly, they didn’t begin with the title. They simply started with their familiar phrase and let the story develop from there. The result is an upbeat, tongue-in-cheek celebration of rain, muddy back roads, friends piling into a truck, and the rather entertaining chain reaction from corn to whiskey to romance.

Released in 2010, the song became the artist’s first No. 1 on the Billboard country chart. And considering this week’s theme, I can’t think of a better way to kick off our vegetable harvest!

Give a listen to Luke Bryan with “Rain Is A Good Thing”:

Some of the most famous songs in music history weren’t carefully planned—they happened because musicians suddenly found themselves with nothing else to do. In 1962, a group of young session musicians were at a Memphis recording studio waiting for another artist who never showed up.

Rather than waste the afternoon, they started jamming. The studio owner liked what he heard and encouraged them to record it. What followed was a bluesy instrumental built around a Hammond organ riff that would eventually become one of the most recognizable grooves in soul music.

There’s an even better twist: the song was originally intended to be the B-side of another record. A local DJ flipped the record over, listeners started calling the station asking about the instrumental, and the label quickly reversed course and made it the A-side. It went on to reach No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, turning an impromptu studio jam into an enduring classic.

And I have an extra-special reason for sharing this one: the hubby’s band plays it, and he does a fantastic job incorporating pedal steel into their version. So yes, I’m a little biased—but I think it’s pretty darn cool. 😉

Get ready for goosebumps, here’s Booker T. & The MG’s with “Green Onions”:

Not every farmer drives a pickup truck. Sometimes the vehicle of choice is considerably larger, considerably slower, and considerably more likely to irritate everyone stuck behind it on a country highway. 😂

This song takes us right into the driver’s seat of a farmer piloting a massive combine down the road, unapologetically holding up traffic while heading from one field to another.

Rather than complaining about the inconvenience, the narrator proudly embraces his role as a farmer and basically tells everyone else they’ll just have to wait their turn.

The song was released in 2007 and became one of the artist’s signature hits. Its combination of fiddle, banjo, humor, and unabashed farm pride turned a very ordinary part of rural life—moving farm equipment from one place to another—into a celebration of the people who put food on our tables.

Years later, the song even found a new audience when another country artist joined the singer for a fresh version from a female farmer’s perspective. Considering our vegetable theme, this one was practically begging for a spot on the playlist!

Give a listen to Craig Morgan with “International Harvester”:

We’ve made it through the garden, past the fields, and now we’ve arrived at the sweetest stop on this week’s musical harvest: watermelon!

This country favorite takes us to a fictional roadside festival where the featured fruit is celebrated in just about every way imaginable—with watermelon-eating contests, seed-spitting competitions, live music, and even wine made from the juicy summer staple.

Naturally, things get a little rowdy once the watermelon wine starts flowing, and when the mayor decides nobody should be getting behind the wheel, he has a better idea: stay right where you are and learn a new dance.

Released in the ’90s, this playful story song became a Top 5 country hit and remains a wonderfully goofy slice of summertime fun. In fact, both of the bands the hubby plays in play this one at every gig.

The music video keeps the festive spirit going with plenty of dancing and watermelon-themed shenanigans, making it the perfect finale for our Abundant Harvest of Vegetables theme.

After all, we’ve had rain making crops grow, green onions getting their musical moment, and a farmer bringing in the harvest—so why not finish with a little fruit-filled celebration and a dance? Grab a slice, turn up the music, and get ready to do a little crawling!

Get ready to dance; here’s Tracy Byrd with “Watermelon Crawl”:

That’s a wrap for this week – have a great Monday! See you on the dance floor!

Now, onto the particulars of Monday’s Music Moves Me:

I have the supreme honor and privilege of being a co-host with the inimitable Xmas Dolly and our musical cohort, the awesome Cathy from Curious as a CAThy, and Alana of Ramblin’ with AM!

Want to join in the fun? It’s easy – just find a tune that rocks your boat, post it, and link up! Check out the other music lovahs and let’s jam!