Though there are certain folks claim that the recession is nearing its end, times are certainly still tough. Today’s selection revolves around tough times, mainly economic (though our capping song can be accepted liberally).
First, is Billy Joe Shaver’s “Manual Labor.” This is both an ode to and a diatribe against manual labor. As befits Mr. Shaver, the lyrics are superb. He sways easily from eerily prescient yet tongue in cheek humor (“but the VIPs and rich folks of this land think manual labor ain’t nothin’ but a Mexican who swam the Rio Grande”) to almost ambivalent despair (“My youth and good times spent, I don’t know where my money went, I allow how the government got more than their share oh, well who cares”). The song is a rollicking good time. It’s the type of song to play after a day at work with a cold Busch in hand.
From country to rural soul…This next track is one of my favorite Stax cuts. Just by hearing the opening lines one can tell just how hard life was for the protagonist: “I was born and raised down in Alabama on a farm way back up in the woods I was so ragged that folks used to call me Patches.” Throughout the remainder of the song we get to hear Patches travails trying to run the farm and go to school after his father died. Alternating these recantations are the plaintive choruses, which are sung by Carter as his father’s last words to him: “Patches, I’m depending on you, son to pull the family through. My son, I left it all up to you.” It’s a hefty load to carry as a 13 year old kid and you can feel the deep emotion in Carter’s voice throughout.
Simply put, there is no song dealing with sorrow and affliction more poignant than Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times.” I’ll bow down in repentance and beg forgiveness if one can be found. The “father of American music” certainly could pen a tune, and this one is deadly emotional in both melody and lyric. That he died virtually penniless at age 37 speaks both as a tragedy and as a literal implication of his genius.
“While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay, there are frail forms fainting at the door. Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say, Oh, hard times, come again no more”
Mavis Staples is an icon, but one of the first versions of the song I was exposed to is from a lesser known band, the Dry Branch Fire Squad. This particular cut is from a live album in which the lead singer introduces each song with a humorous (to me at least) story. You can listen to the intro here, or skip right to the song.
Wonderful Wednesday: The Hard Life
Though there are certain folks claim that the recession is nearing its end, times are certainly still tough. Today’s selection revolves around tough times, mainly economic (though our capping song can be accepted liberally).
First, is Billy Joe Shaver’s “Manual Labor.” This is both an ode to and a diatribe against manual labor. As befits Mr. Shaver, the lyrics are superb. He sways easily from eerily prescient yet tongue in cheek humor (“but the VIPs and rich folks of this land think manual labor ain’t nothin’ but a Mexican who swam the Rio Grande”) to almost ambivalent despair (“My youth and good times spent, I don’t know where my money went, I allow how the government got more than their share oh, well who cares”). The song is a rollicking good time. It’s the type of song to play after a day at work with a cold Busch in hand.
03-Manual-Labor.mp3
Bill Joe Shaver – Manual Labor
From country to rural soul…This next track is one of my favorite Stax cuts. Just by hearing the opening lines one can tell just how hard life was for the protagonist: “I was born and raised down in Alabama on a farm way back up in the woods I was so ragged that folks used to call me Patches.” Throughout the remainder of the song we get to hear Patches travails trying to run the farm and go to school after his father died. Alternating these recantations are the plaintive choruses, which are sung by Carter as his father’s last words to him: “Patches, I’m depending on you, son to pull the family through. My son, I left it all up to you.” It’s a hefty load to carry as a 13 year old kid and you can feel the deep emotion in Carter’s voice throughout.
04-Patches.mp3
Clarence Carter – Patches
Simply put, there is no song dealing with sorrow and affliction more poignant than Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times.” I’ll bow down in repentance and beg forgiveness if one can be found. The “father of American music” certainly could pen a tune, and this one is deadly emotional in both melody and lyric. That he died virtually penniless at age 37 speaks both as a tragedy and as a literal implication of his genius.
13-Hard-Times-Come-Again-No-More.mp3
Mavis Staples – Hard Times Come Again No More
“While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay, there are frail forms fainting at the door. Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say, Oh, hard times, come again no more”
Mavis Staples is an icon, but one of the first versions of the song I was exposed to is from a lesser known band, the Dry Branch Fire Squad. This particular cut is from a live album in which the lead singer introduces each song with a humorous (to me at least) story. You can listen to the intro here, or skip right to the song.
18-Worlds-Greatest-Folksinger.mp3
Dry Branch Fire Squad – Intro to Hard Times (World’s Greatest Folk Singer)
19-Hard-Times.mp3
Dry Branch Fire Squad – Hard Times
PS-If you want to see a video of the Dylan performance referenced by Dry Branch Fire Squad, check it out on the Tubez.