Webb wrote "Wichita Lineman" in response to Campbell's urgent phone request for a "place"-based or "geographical" song to follow up " By the Time I Get to Phoenix ". Webb "put himself atop that pole" with the phone in his hand as he imagined the lineman talking to his girlfriend.
His uncle had been a lineman in Kern County, California : "I could visualize my uncle up a pole in the middle of nowhere. I loved the song right away. Webb's concerns over his song's shortcomings were quickly addressed in the studio by adding a tremolo -infused Dano bass [ 13 ] melodic interlude performed by Campbell, who had first made his reputation in the music industry as a session guitarist with the prolific but uncredited group of Los Angeles backing musicians known today as the Wrecking Crew , many of whom played on the recording.
All the orchestral arrangements are by De Lory, [ 16 ] [ 17 ] who evokes the phrase "singing in the wire" using high-pitched, ethereal violins to emulate the sonic vibrations commonly induced by wind blowing across small wires and conductors, making them whistle or resonate like an aeolian harp. Webb was surprised to learn that Campbell had recorded his song: "A couple of weeks later I ran into [Campbell] somewhere and I said, 'I guess you guys didn't like the song.
I was just humming the last bit! The song contains two verses, each divided into two parts. The first part is in the key of F major, while the second is in D major. D represents the relative minor key to F, so a D minor as opposed to major section would be expected.
The fact that it is nevertheless set in D major is argued to contribute to the unique and appealing character of the song. The lyrics follow the dichotomy set up by the contrasting musical keys. The first part of each verse in F major describes issues related to a lineman's job; for example, "searchin' in the sun for another overload " [ b ] and "if it snows, that stretch down south won't ever stand the strain.
