Sad Songs

Pardon me for a minute while I dwell on sad songs.

I was listening to Mary Gauthier, singer/songwriter, on a recent Broken Record podcast, when this line stopped me cold – “I got holes I can’t fill, and bills I can’t pay.  I’m gonna walk in the water ‘til my hat floats away.” 

Ranks right up there with John Prine’s lines from Sam Stone:

“….There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes….

But the gold rolled through his veins,

like a thousand railroad trains,

and eased his mind in the hours that he chose,

while his kids ran around wearing other people’s clothes.”

Or perhaps Bill Anderson and Jon Randall’s Whiskey Lullaby released by Brad Paisley and Allison Krauss. 

“She put him out, like the burning end of a midnight cigarette.”

I’m not really sure what it is about sad songs, but they deliver such a punch.

Okay, I’m done — for now.