So I was at the Calgary Folk Festival last weekend and saw Steve Earle close out the night. I thought his set was great (although I would have preferred to see him solo). I got thinking about how he compares to Fred and had these thoughts on how to compare the two on this blog but the idea came out clunky and I scrapped it. In the end, I love Steve Earle's music and his attitude as an artist, but Fred Eaglesmith is the best song writer in the whole world and I'll stand on Steve Earle's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.
With a tip of the hat to one of my favourite Steve Earle songs (his version of Willin'), here's a trucking song that I always find myself singing to myself when it's raining or snowing.
18 Wheels
Driving rain, 40 miles out of Michigan,
Spiderweb headlights, shut me down.
I knocked on the door, I rang the bell,
The sign said Vacancy, there was no one around.
(Chorus)
18 wheels up against the wall,
56 tonnes, grain alcohol.
Danger pay, I'm trying to be strong,
But my will is gone, my will is gone, my will is gone.
Lightning crashing, standing in a phone booth,
I called her number, I got a machine.
I heard her voice, I heard the tone,
I tried to speak, I couldn't say anything.
(Chorus)
Blinding snow, Sioux City Iowa,
It dawned on me, she was gone to stay.
I jammed the brakes, I swung it around,
Now I'm heading back, but it's way too late.
(Chorus)
Chords
I've seen people play this a few different ways. You can play the verses with just G with a D thrown in at the end of each sentence. You can also throw a quick C in before the G if you want to get fancy. The chorus seems to be Am, C, G, D.
I guess there's no getting around Time To Get A Gun. It's probably the most well known song that FJE has due to Miranda Lambert's cover of it (Toby Keith's cover of White Rose and Alan Jackson's cover of Freight Train haven't seemed to raise the profile of those songs as much as Lambert has). It's admittedly not my favourite song of his, but when I find myself at party when a guitar is being passed around it's the song that I usually sing. It's a playful song that doesn't take itself seriously. In a way, I think this song is what Fred is trying to get away from now in the music he makes now. I've heard him state in interviews that he refuses to turn into a caricature of himself and keep creating the same music with different words and topics. But at the same time, every concert of his that I've been to has included a rendition of this song.
I love the explanation to how he came to write this song he's given in some of the live versions I've heard or witnessed. He makes it seem so simple when he'll say something like "Well, my neighbour's car was stolen the other night. We heard the dogs barking, but we didn't pay any attention to them". The live versions are always fun, but the heart of this song lives in the original version in my opinion. The banjo combined with everything that Washboard Hank was playing give the song the perfect feel. You get the feeling that there's the right balance between seriousness and absurdity within the 20 seconds of the song. As much as he moves away from this type of music now, part of his charm will always lie in this song.
My neighbour's car got stole last night,
Right out of this driveway.
We heard the dogs a barkin',
We never paid them any mind.
Mary says she's gonna lock the doors
From now on when we go away.
And I've been walkin' around this farm,
Wondering if it's time......
Time to get a gun.
That's what I've been thinking.
I could afford one,
If I did just a little less drinking.
Time to put something
Between me and the sun.
When the talking is over,
It's time to get a gun.
Last week a government man was there,
When I walked out of my back door.
He said "I'm sorry to bother you son
But it don't matter anymore.
Cause even while we're talking,
And right here where we stand,
They're making plans for a four lane highway
And a big old overpass......
(Chorus)
(Bridge)
Mary says she's worried,
About herself and the kids.
She's never known anybody had a gun
And her daddy never did.
But I think it should be up to me,
Cause when it's all said and done,
Somebody's gotta walk into the night,
Well I'm gonna be that one.
(Chorus)
Chords
Capo on two, and the verse goes G, Am, C, G. The last time through on the verse, instead of ending it with a G end with a D. The chorus goes one time through on G, Am, C, D and one time on G, Am, C, G. The bridge goes D, C for the most part and finished with a D before going back into the chorus.
I haven't wrote in a little while, a lot of things have been adding up lately. And I'm in a down mood today (fight with the wife over reasons that were trivial) and have been zoned out mentally because of that. I'm at work and and listening to music on my iPad, and one of my favourite songs comes on (I'm also a little drunk because I'm in Calgary and it's the last day of the Calgary Stampede......being drunk at work is more common than you might think given the circumstances). This was the first song I learned to play on the guitar with any level of seriousness. I'm guessing it's a giveaway at this point that it's a FJE song.
I had mentioned in the beginning post of this blog that Rodeo Boy was the first song that drew me into FJE, but the first song that made me fall in love with the music that he produces was Rough Edges. It was back when Napster was a thing that existed, and I had found a copy of Rough Edges from the "From the Paradise Motel" album. I loved the intro with the subtle jokes that half the audience got. When I listen to that version of the song now, his voice sounds a little more tender, a little more desperate. The song doesn't feel as polished as it could be but that makes it seem a little more fitting. Sitting at my cubicle (whilst half cut from screwdrivers and the liquid lunch), the tone of the song is what talks to me right now. I'm drawn into the feeling of hopelessness he's describing. Just wanting to go where the "whisky has colour, and the cows feed on grass" before being drawn back into reality where the "blankets are dirty". At least I know that "an east wind always means rain", and I'm hoping that in this case, rain is a good thing and fresh chances in life always coming along.
Rough Edges
Cracks in your windshield.
Holes in you life.
And you're trying to get home,
Before it gets light.
And that old 5 tonne truck,
Don't run good no more.
Barely gets up those hills,
With your foot to the floor.
And your horses are tired,
And your excuses are weak,
And you ain't won a race,
Since '73.
But on through the night,
That trailer just sways.
An east wind you know,
Always brings rain.
And out on the freeway,
Those big wheels just roll.
Out past your time,
And through your front door.
Lights on the skyline.
Signs on the road.
You don't pick up your mail.
You don't answer your door.
And your old friends are dead,
And gone away.
Wild flowers cry,
Over their graves.
And the paper they throw,
At the end of the lane,
An east wind it says,
Always brings rain.
Down by the river,
Where the old boys still ride,
And the edges are rough,
As suicide.
Where the whisky's got colour,
And the cows feed on grass.
The windmills pump water.
And your cheques don't go bad.
And your blankets are dirty,
And your eternity frayed.
And on through the night
That trailer just sways.
So load up those cattle,
And move out that train.
An east wind you know,
Always brings rain.
Cracks in your windshield.
Holes in you life.
And you're trying to get home,
Before it gets light.
Chords - The progression at the start and end of each verse is G, F, C, D, with two measures of G, Em, C, D in between.
