South (Of America) Lyrics
theres cows with their mouths filled with tears
and theres black water curling all around where we lay
and i have been sad now too many days
and she would harness my heart if it harnessed that way
so babe i am going, i am going away
long and brown like deer
and shes always arriving in her dark river skirt
winding holes through the valley
bending bones in the dirt
hiding poems i had tossed under blankets of sand
babe, i am sorry. im sorry i am
i can live off of watermelons and beer
and i will never go hungry, i will never go home
never call to my lover, "lover, leave me alone"
never harden my heart like some fruit in the snow
oh, babe i know this, i noticed, im no one
saddest song. end of story.
Restless. Humid. Southern Gothic. Great.
What a master songwriter. I'm just continually amazed at the deep meanings of his songs. This song is about sadness and depression. He knows he cannot give her his heart the way she needs it, so to spare her the pain, he leaves. This is reinforced in the last stanza, but the sadness and remorse are now joined at the end with a feeling of uselessness, of a greater depression. Very sad song, but as a long-time sufferer of depression myself, I can't help but wonder if Houck has ever suffered from depression or been close to someone who has, because it is not an easy disease to understand, and I don't think this song could be written by anyone who didn't understand it. Beautifully dark.