Well, at this pace I will put out about 12 blogs in a year. You definitely will not mistake me for a prolific writer. Oh well tis the season to work 70 hours a week.
Today I actually wanted to write about a band named Son Volt. Son Volt was the band that started Shawna and I down the road to No Depression. I will explain No Depression on a later blog (maybe much later) or you can search for it yourself and figure it out or if your really hip maybe you already know what it is.
Anyway back to Son Volt and our journey. Remember BMG (WOW - actually they are still around - I just searched them)? They will give you 12 CD's for the price of 1 and then you have to return the form every month or you will get the CD of the month. One month, Son Volt - Trace, was the CD of the month, and I forgot to send the form back saying I didn't want it so I got this CD. I had really barely heard of them and they didn't make a great impression on me the first time I listened to the CD. Trace was relegated to the back of my many not listened to CD's until many years later when I met my wife - Shawna. I don't remember the first time we listened to the CD together, but for some reason it struck a chord with us. It was like getting hit by a freight train of music. Jay Farrar (lead singer/songwriter of Son Volt) is lyrically a genius, I would probably have to say my absolute favorite writer.
Windfall
Now and then it keeps you running
It never seems to die
The trail's spent with fear
Not enough living on the outside
Never seem to get far enough
Staying in between the lines
Hold on to what you can
Waiting for the end
Not knowing when
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel,
May the wind take your troubles away
Trying to make it far enough, to the next time zone
Few and far between past the midnight hour
Never feel alone, you're really not alone...
Switching it over to AM
Searching for a truer sound
Can't recall the call letters
Steel guitar and settle down
Catching an all-night station somewhere in Louisiana
It sounds like 1963, but for now it sounds like heaven
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel,
May the wind take your troubles away.
Tear Stained Eye
Walking down Main Street
Getting to know the concrete
Looking for a purpose from a neon sign
I would meet you anywhere the western sun meets the air
We'll hit the road, never looking behind
Can you deny, there's nothing greater
Nothing more than the traveling hands of time?
Sainte Genevieve can hold back the water
But saints don't bother with a tear stained eye
Seeing traces of the scars that came before
Hitting the pavement still asking for more
When the hours don't move along,
Worn-out wood and familiar songs
To hear your voice is not enough
It's more than a shame
Can you deny, there's nothing greater
Nothing more than the traveling hands of time?
Sainte Genevieve can hold back the water
But saints don't bother with a tear stained eye
Like the man said, rode hard and put away wet
Throw away the bad news, and put it to rest
If learning is living, and the truth is a state of mind
You'll find it's better at the end of the line.
Can you deny, there's nothing greater
Nothing more than the traveling hands of time?
Sainte Genevieve can hold back the water
But saints don't bother with a tear stained eye.
Farrar hails from Belleville, Illinois (right across the river from St. Louis), and if your from around that area you will notice the reference to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. If you listen to other Son Volt songs he talks about I-44 and a beach there that's known for cancer (Times Beach, MO). With his first band, Uncle Tupelo - much more on them to follow, they even sing a whole song about the New Madrid fault line. New Madrid just happens to be the county that I was born and raised in. That song strikes home particularly hard because it talks about how in 1990 a climatologist Iben Browning predicted that in December there would be an earthquake. The media created a panic in the area and people left town to get away from the possibility. I remember even being let out of school for those couple of days. The New Madrid Seismic Zone is a disaster waiting to happen and very few people outside of Southeast Missouri have even heard of it.
Well my fingers are getting tired and my puzzlers hurting so I'm going to wrap this blog up by suggesting that in addition to the YouTube videos posted above you go search some other Son Volt songs. You will at the very least be introduced to a great singer/songwriter and hopefully you will find what Shawna and I found, a truly great Americana band. Thanks for reading.
