| Gillian Welch – I Dream A Highway Lyrics | 8 years ago |
| The Jack of Diamonds (which lover are you / I wish you knew me) is a reference to Gillian's biological father, who may not even know he has a daughter let alone know who she is. I didn't realise this until two years later when Soul Journey came out and she refers to her mystery father as 'passing through / doing things a man will do'. | |
| Gillian Welch – By The Mark Lyrics | 9 years ago |
| I've been listening to this song for over ten years and I only just noticed that in some live versions, David changes the words of his harmony part to 'I have seen the sign upon his precious skin'. Which changes the whoooole meaning of the song, from a single voice pining for the rapture, to one voice pining for the rapture and another voice pining right back from beyond the grave. It makes the weird chase-and-loop harmonies all the spookier. | |
| Gillian Welch – The Way It Will Be Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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My favourite thing about this song is, even though its told ín first person, I don't necessarily side with the narrator. There's such a deep bitterness there, and almost a sinister threat, that I really want to hear the betrayer's side of the story. To me, it doesn't sound like the breakdown of a romantic relationship, but more like a partnership of the kind told in countless stories of entrepreneurship/showbiz/riches where penniless brothers or friends leave town to make their fortune, work hard side-by-side, and then when fame and luck finally comes they turn on each other. End frame of movie where one is bitter and destitute and full of blame, and the other has the glory and all the guilt and regret that comes with it. I don't think it's anything about Gillian & Dave personally, just another two of those fabulously ambiguous characters they create in their music. Also, it doesn't make any sense to me, but the line is definitely "Burma shore". |
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