Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Let the night air cool you off.
Tilt your head back and try to cough.
Don't say nothing 'bout the things you never saw.
Let the night air cool you off.
I ain't living like I should.
A little rest might do me good.
Got to sinking in the place where I once stood.
Now I ain't living like I should.
Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Maybe I can only hear it in my head.
Fifteen years ago we owned that road
Now it's rolling over us instead.
Richard Manuel is dead.
God forbid you call their bluff.
Like the nightmares ain't enough.
Remember when we used to think that we were tough?
God forbid you call their bluff.
First they make you out to be
The only pirate on the sea.
Then they say Danko would have sounded just like me.
"Is that the man you want to be?"
Can you hear that song? It sounds like gold.
Maybe I could make it bigger overseas.
Fifteen years ago we owned this road
Now it only gives us somewhere else to leave.
Something else you can't believe.
Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Maybe I can hear poor Richard from the grave
Singin' where to reap and when to sow
When you've found another home you have to leave.
Something else you can't believe.
Tilt your head back and try to cough.
Don't say nothing 'bout the things you never saw.
Let the night air cool you off.
I ain't living like I should.
A little rest might do me good.
Got to sinking in the place where I once stood.
Now I ain't living like I should.
Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Maybe I can only hear it in my head.
Fifteen years ago we owned that road
Now it's rolling over us instead.
Richard Manuel is dead.
God forbid you call their bluff.
Like the nightmares ain't enough.
Remember when we used to think that we were tough?
God forbid you call their bluff.
First they make you out to be
The only pirate on the sea.
Then they say Danko would have sounded just like me.
"Is that the man you want to be?"
Can you hear that song? It sounds like gold.
Maybe I could make it bigger overseas.
Fifteen years ago we owned this road
Now it only gives us somewhere else to leave.
Something else you can't believe.
Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Maybe I can hear poor Richard from the grave
Singin' where to reap and when to sow
When you've found another home you have to leave.
Something else you can't believe.
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Brilliant song.
Another awesome Isbell song
Just a downright sad song.
The last 3-4 times I watched the Last Waltz, I discovered so much about the conflicting personalities within the band. It wasnt just a documentary about a rock group's last show, featuring some of the finest acts of the day. Its really about that "fork in the road" that people reach at some points of there lives and how they deal with it. It was very clear to me that Rick Danko and Richard Manual were extrememly distraught about what they were going to do going forward. Rock Stars all there lives , at the peak of The Band's popularity...booom...its all over kids. Now you have to go and get a real job. We are on the road, we "own that road'in fact. Manuel is pretty messed up, Danko looks like a lost puppy. These guys reeked of music and were superstars in the day. Every time I see Danko in the Last Waltz , it saddens me to see a guy with talent and passion ooozing out of every pore and know that he has no idea what he is going to be doing tomorrow. Rick Manual, beautiful angelic voice, such a superstar within the "Band" concept, would struggle on his own. Never would they be anywhere close to what the had in the glory days.
I saw Robbie Robertson all sexy, cool and confident talking about how much of a chore it was to be in a band and be on the road all the time. he was tired and ready for a change. No doubt it was just a matter of time before he would be a household name.
No knock against Robertson. Just felt bad that it was essentially him pulling the plug on The Band, the only one who really had a chance at capturing that magic again at some point in his very bright future.
I cant really say from what perspective Isbell is singing from or what exactly the song is about but watch the Last Waltz and tell me if you pick up these feelings.
You know Helm complained that The Last Waltz was a documentary about Robertson.<br /> <br /> Robertson had to redub vocals and normally sung into unplugged mics...<br /> <br /> I have respect for Mr. Robertson but fuck the image.
You might be on to something there. As good an interpretation as any!
@PappyHab <br /> It gets worse. Robbie Robertson owned all of the songwriting credits. Whenever a The Band song played Robbie got all of the money. I believe that that fact caused the friction that existed between Helm & Robertson.<br /> I loved The Band. Don't agree with Robertson getting all of the royalties. A great biography on The Band is "Across the Great Divide"
@PappyHab Great, great commentary. Feel the same way, now that you articulated it wayyy better than I ever could have. The 70\'s were an excessively talented (and, well, excessive) decade.
The first time I heard this song it had a very personal effect on me.
I realized that I chose to take an academic route and avoided playing in bands.
I texted a friend to see if he wanted to jam after the break. I never got that chance.
I later read that Jason was writing about the life of a musician but he tied two members of the band in.
One of my favorite songs. Music is free.
It wasn't the first time I heard it. But it was the first time it stood out to me.
On March 4th 1986, the Band's lead singer, pianist, and drummer Richard Manuel died in a motel room in Winter Park, Florida, while touring with the reunited Band. His emotional, soulful voice and his beautiful songwriting was essential to the success of the original group. - theband.hiof.no/band_members/richard.html
Rick Danko died of unknown causes in his sleep: Marbletown, N.Y., December 10, 1999 - Age: 56 - singer and bass player of the Band, (infoplease.com/ipa/A0781753.html)
Counting Crows All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)
Got a message in my head that the papers had all gone Richard Manuel is dead And the daylight's coming on I've been wandering through the dark now I'm standing on the lawn
15 years ago they owned that road
now it's rolling over us instead
humble brag. jason leaving truckers good music but man
I dont think he is talking about DBTs in that line. Talking about "The Band" from Danko and Manuels perspective,. rolling over there graves, I think?. When he wrote this, he had only been in DBTs for about 3 years or less.
You are correct. At least I think you are. This is a very personal song I believe for Jason I'm not sure if he could articulate all of it but obviously whatever it is resonates in us, for us to love this song so much.<br /> <br /> Really excellent guitar work. It's really hard to learn an Isbell song and do it justice.
Jason was up for a while when he recorded this.
Fasting sleep deprivation provides what you can at the very least tell your doctor was the typical fasting deprivation experience (i.e. write it off as nonspiritual).
So he was strung out, up all night or a few as a young man, and we have the tapes of this.
Fifteen years ago they owned that road. Now it only gives us somewhere else to leave. Something else you can't believe.
Sorry I wasn't running I have ADHD, what I'm trying to say is the only way these tapes would come out this way is with sleep deprivation, he was deprived of sleep and it wouldn't sound as good, he wouldn't have tapped into whatever he did if he weren't.
He was looking at his own life, and looking at Manuel's and it was a spiritual experience for him.
I shouldn't have speculated as far as drugs, it was probably just coffee and adrenaline.
@bkabbott "Maybe I can hear poor Richard from the grave, singing where to reap or where to sow..."
Something else you can't believe.
Don’t eat, take amphetamines, realize you're fasting, realize you are realizing some deep shit. You should only marry for love, really? Straight from God? Well what came out was "raw" don't worry too much about it. Sleep and lay it down (or don't because you can't sleep and getting back there - take more - just get back there - because you were there and we need it on tape).
That's how I see this one being laid down. The lyrics, I imagine him hitting the main part, and working with the lyrics, tired as fuck. And drinking enough to get back to enlightenment or being functional. All variants of amphetamine enthusiastically provided.
Jason gives us these thoughts that are so personal but are so about Danko and Manuel at the same time.
Can you hear that singing - sounds like gold
You never pulled an all nighter to this song you never got it on that level.
Richard Manuel is Dead.