Thursday One-Hitter, Vol. 3......

I'm a Hank Williams fan.... who isn't?? I may not have mentioned anything about the crooner here before, but for any fan of country music, it kinda goes without saying. I've also never tried to amass any kind of complete recordings collection of Hank's - I grab a track when I come across one and buy a random CD when I find it. So for that reason, I'm not afraid to admit I first heard today's One-Hitter when it was featured as the theme song for a short-run HBO animated series.


Hank Williams - I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive
buy Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits

Now you're lookin' at a man that's gettin' kinda mad
I had lots of luck, but it's all been bad
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive

My fishin' pole's broke, the creek is full of sand
My woman run away with another man
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive

My distant uncle passed away and left me quite a batch
And I was livin' high until the fatal day
A lawyer proved I wasn't borned, I was only hatched

Everything's against me and it's got me down
If I jumped in the river, I would probably drown
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive

These shabby shoes I'm wearin' all the time is full of holes and nails
And brother, if I stepped on a worn-out dime
I bet a nickel I could tell you if it was heads or tails

I'm not gonna worry wrinkles in my brow
'Cause nothin's ever gonna be all right no how
No matter how I struggle and strive
I'll never get out of this world alive

'I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive' was ironically the last single to be released before the legend's death in January of 1953. That year, the song reached #1 on Billboard's Country Singles Chart. The song was meant to be humorous, and while it is, to this day it remains one of Hank's best-written songs. The simplicity in both lyrics and melody, combined with a classic-country guitar and fiddle riff are a perfect example of the ease that Hank was able to deliver and sell his craft. His natural yodel and use of backwoods vernacular (see below) play on this theme of simplicity, creating what could be considered the quintessential country song. Despite his never-ending run of bad luck, Hank is able to exude an air of positivity throughout the song.

During my Tennessee road trip earlier this year for The Big Surprise Tour, we stopped off at the County Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. As expected, Hank Williams was prominently featured. But to my excitement, the museum was running a complete Williams Family exhibit, spanning from Hank, Sr.'s childhood through to Hank III's current endeavors. After brushing up on my Hank knowledge, I made a personal vow to feature more Hank-related content on this blog. I used to defer to Setting The Woods On Fire for all things Hank and classic country, but as Paul retired from blogging back in May, I might just have get back to more country roots writing over here.

Thursday One-Hitter: John Allyn Smith Sails

For our second edition of Thursday One-Hitter, we employ the Austin-based indie-rockers Okkervil River. I've been a big fan of theirs since I found 2007's The Stage Names and subsequently discovered the band's earlier material. Last year, Okkervil River released The Stand-Ins, the follow-up and stylistic sequel to their 2007 disc.

The final track on The Stage Names made a huge impact on me from the first time I heard it - and more every time since. What begins as a twisted retelling of a suicide ends in a cascading sing-along tribute to none other than The Beach Boys... sort of.


Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails
buy The Stage Names (2007)

By the second verse, dear friends
My head will burst, my life will end
So, I'd like to start this one off by saying "live and love"

I was young and at home in bed
And I was hanging on the words some poem said
In '31, I was impressionable, I was upsettable
I tried to make my breathing stop and my heart beat slow
So when my mom and John came in, I would be cold

From a bridge on Washington Avenue, the year of 1972
Broke my bones and skull and it was memorable
It was half a second in, I was halfway down
Do you think I wanted to turn back around and teach a class
Where you kiss the ass that I've exposed to you?
And at the funeral, the University
Cried at three poems they'd present in place of a broken me

I was breaking in a case of suds
At the Brass Rail, a fall-down drunk with his tongue torn out
And his balls removed
And I knew that my last lines were gone while stupidly I lingered on
Oh, but wise men know when it's time to go
And so I should too

And so I fly into the brightest winter sun
Of this frozen town, I'm stripped down to move on
My friends, I'm gone

Well, I hear my father fall
And I hear my mother call
And I hear the others all whispering, "come home"
I'm sorry to go, I loved you all so
But this is the worst trip I've ever been on

So hoist up the John B. sail
See how the main sail sets
I've folded my heart in my hand and I wanna go home
With a book in my hand
In the way I had planned
Well, this is the worst trip I've ever been on

Hoist up the John B. sail
See how the main sail sets
I'm full in my heart and my head and I wanna go home
With a book in each hand
In the way I had planned
I feel so broke up
I wanna go home

It's always a dangerous move to reference the fact that you're singing a song in your lyrics, but the way in which Will Sheff begins his in-character biographical tale of late poet John Berryman sets the tone for a dangerously brave song. As John Berryman (born John Allyn Smith, Jr.), Sheff warns upfront that he will not live through the song, hell... not even verse two.

There's no need to give you guys a Berryman bio here; Sheff does that pretty well in the song. But as a youngster, the poet witnessed his father commit suicide, only to do the same later in life - in much more dramatic fashion. In '72, after struggling through alcoholism and depression, Berryman lept to his death from the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis. Sheff is undoubtedly schooled in the literary works of Berryman, alluding to his writing style and even borrowing a couple direct lines from his poems.

While doing a little research for this post, I quickly realized I'm in no way schooled enough in poetry and/or psychology to decode the thousands of underlying connections that Sheff has provided in this song. This person did quite the job, though.

While you may recognize the second half of the song as a Beach Boys cover, the surfing songsters were actually the ones doing the covering. Some form of the traditional maritime song (as Hoist up the John B sails, etc) has existed since before the surfboard was around. But Sheff's choice to break into 'Sloop John B' for the coda was a well-devised plan. The sixth stanza marks the beginning of the covered lyrics. They begin with another allusion to Berryman's troubled childhood, "hear[ing his] father fall." Not only is the transition seamless in melody, but more Berryman references are found in the traditional lyrics: "full in my heart and my head" is apparently taken verbatim from one of his poems. And don't think that choosing a song referencing a boat named the John B. was any sort of accident, either.

Thursday One-Hitter.....

Although I already have a feature post that highlights just one track - One Liners - sometimes I feel a bit constrained because I tend to base those picks on my photography first. For that reason, I'm implementing a new weekly (hopefully) post that features one track that strikes me particularly right that week. It will focus more on songwriting/lyrics than most of my posts and, if at all possible, I'll try to offer some interesting notes about the song/artist.

And because today is Thursday... I give you your first Thursday One-Hitter:


Patty Griffin - Moses
buy Living With Ghosts (1996)

Diamonds. Roses. I need Moses
To cross this sea of loneliness, part this red river of pain
I don't necessarily buy any key to the future or happiness
But I need a little place in the sun sometimes, or I think I will die

Everywhere is somewhere and nowhere is near
Everybody got somebody with their wine and their beer
So I'm just this tragic figure in the corner over here
With an empty apartment and a best friend who is a queer

Everytime I see him he smiles
And he tells me how well he's walking these miles
But he never, ever asks a single thing about me
If I die, he'd hear about it eventually
Diamonds. Roses. I need Moses
To cross this sea of loneliness, part this red river of pain

Everywhere is somewhere and nowhere is near
Everybody got somebody with their wine and their beer
So I'm just this tragic figure in the corner over here
Go home to an empty apartment and call a best friend who is a queer

Diamonds. Roses. I need Moses
To cross this sea of loneliness, part this red river of pain
To cross this sea of loneliness, part this red river of pain
To cross this sea of loneliness, part this red river of pain

At its inception, Living With Ghosts, Patty's 1996 debut, was a hauntingly beautiful recording - simply Patty and her guitar. When her label wasn't quite satisfied with the studio production treatment it got, Patty suggested that A&M Records release the sparse original demo. That decision payed off. The world was therefore introduced to Patty Griffin the right way: bare, unfiltered, and consequently far more evocative than had her songs been shrouded by a full band.

That minimalist treatment was essential in making 'Moses' the power ballad that it is. The lyrics are edgy enough to keep this one from being covered by radio queens. Patty sings about the usual personal struggles: pain, loneliness, and happiness (or lack thereof), but it's the way in which she delivers her words that stops you in your tracks. I would go so far as to say that this is the most emotion I've ever heard someone express in song. In just over three minutes, Patty takes you on the rollercoaster ride that her heart is obviously well-accustomed to at this point.

If the level of overall emotion in her vocals were tracked on a scale of 1-10, Patty begins 'Moses' at a healthy 6. She desperately calls for Moses to help her "cross this sea loneliness, part this red river of pain." In verse 2, Patty falls to her lowest, a "tragic figure" questioning her solitary living and even her choice of friends. We follow Patty as she reveals her love interest and his blatant lack of interest in her. Dripping with spite, she sings, "if I die he'd hear about it eventually." But as Patty repeats the opening lines, all hell breaks loose. She busts out of that 1-10 scale to somewhere near 14 as a few stirring Oh's trail the verse. Once more through the refrain, she manages to gently lay the song back down, allowing the listener to catch his breath and realize the power of the song he just heard.