You know, I listened to this song for 10 years before I learned who Gram Parsons was. I've since become very well acquainted with his music, life, and his legacy. So many things come back to Gram, don't they? That tragic, brilliant, charismatic dumbass. It makes sense, of course, that this song is about him.
But it works equally well as a regular, ordinary heartbreak song of one who loved too hard, or put too much of themselves into a relationship with the wrong person. The one you love doesn't have to die to feel this desolate (although it certainly helps). It reminds me also of the feelings I've had for a friend who committed suicide in a rather more direct and straightforward way than Gram did. A combination of love, tragic loneliness, and anger at the beloved.
You know, I listened to this song for 10 years before I learned who Gram Parsons was. I've since become very well acquainted with his music, life, and his legacy. So many things come back to Gram, don't they? That tragic, brilliant, charismatic dumbass. It makes sense, of course, that this song is about him.
But it works equally well as a regular, ordinary heartbreak song of one who loved too hard, or put too much of themselves into a relationship with the wrong person. The one you love doesn't have to die to feel this desolate (although it certainly helps). It reminds me also of the feelings I've had for a friend who committed suicide in a rather more direct and straightforward way than Gram did. A combination of love, tragic loneliness, and anger at the beloved.
Hauntingly, achingly beautiful. A classic.