“Wichita Lineman” is a 1968 hit song written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by Glen Campbell. Written at Campbell’s urgent request for a follow-up to his previous geographical hit, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” the song was composed in a matter of hours in Hollywood. Webb based the lyrics on a childhood memory of seeing a solitary lineman working atop a telephone pole in the flat, remote landscape of the Oklahoma panhandle.
The recording features Campbell’s vocals backed by the legendary session group, the Wrecking Crew, with orchestral arrangements by Al De Lory. Although Webb initially delivered the song as an unfinished demo lacking a third verse and bridge, Campbell and De Lory were immediately inspired, with De Lory drawing on his uncle’s experience as a lineman in California. The track became a massive crossover success, reaching #3 on the U.S. pop chart, topping the country chart for two weeks, and the adult contemporary chart for six weeks.
Critically acclaimed as one of the greatest songs ever written, “Wichita Lineman” is often described as an “existential country song” that captures the loneliness and longing of an ordinary worker. It was inducted into the Library of Congress National Recording Registry for its cultural significance and has been praised by artists such as Bob Dylan, who reportedly called it “the greatest song ever written.” The song’s enduring legacy is attributed to Webb’s evocative imagery of the lineman hearing his lover “singing in the wire” while searching for overloads on the power lines.
[Verse 1]
I am a lineman for the county
And I drive the main road
Searchin’ in the sun
For another overload
[Chorus]
I hear you singing in the wire
I can hear you through the whine
And the Wichita lineman
Is still on the line
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 2]
I know I need a small vacation
But it don’t look like rain
And if it snows that stretch down south
Won’t ever stand the strain
[Chorus]
And I need you more than want you
And I want you for all time
And the Wichita lineman
Is still on the line
[Instrumental Break]
[Chorus]
And I need you more than want you
And I want you for all time
And the Wichita lineman
Is still on the line
[Outro]
