4 minute read
Charles Christian’s Americana
Charles Christian’s Charles Christian’s Charles Christian’s Charles Christian’s Charles Christian’s Americana Americana Americana Americana Americana
Make Mine A Double, On The Rocks
The year 2020 is an unusual one in songwriting terms because we have the Covid-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests and (in the United States) a Presidential Election. As a consequence we are seeing a lot of new ‘issue’ or protest songs being released. Some hit the nail on the head but far too many others are overtly partisan or else lack the subtlety to deliver the message effectively.
Music is ultimately a form of relaxation and entertainment – and people don’t like being preached at, no matter how well intentioned the songwriter or performer may be. So let’s put the protest songs to the side and focus on the lyrics of more mainstream music…
Although they share common roots, one of the biggest differences between Country Music and Americana Music is while Country has a lot of songs in its canon about God, Love (happy love, broken hearted love) and Alcohol (not always in the same song*), with Americana it tends to be more about Love and Alcohol (frequently in the same song) – with whiskey and bourbon emerging as the most popular tipples. Though I suspect this may have more to do with the fact whiskey and bourbon both have two syllables which can help with rhyming lyrics. (And good job this isn’t a British songwriting genre otherwise we’d be trying to find rhymes for ‘tea’ and ‘pints of bitter’.)
Nashville-based Robynn Shayne sums up the whole situation, how just a couple of innocent drinks can result in big problems, with her track from a couple of years back: Whiskey and Bad Decisions. There again Cody Jinks is insistent the problem is not the lust and that it Must Be the Whiskey, a sentiment echoed by Robert Jon & The Wreck who want to Blame It on the Whiskey.
However it’s not just the drink that gets you into trouble, it’s also the drink that can make you feel better when you are in trouble or broken hearted – and there are a legion of drinking songs around this theme. Miranda Lambert knows her boyfriend doesn’t love her like Tequila Does, while Kelsea Ballerini is drinking so much Cabernet “of course she doesn’t miss him, in fact he’s completely slipped her mind” but she is concerned there’s a Hole in the Bottle which is why she appears to be drinking so much wine. The latest contribution to this genre is the unlikely celebrity coupling of Keith Urban and Pink (apparently it should be written P!nk – who knew) with their new single One Too Many about a couple who are spending their time in separate bars but would rather be with each other. The video suggests they also spent their time in separate studios though that may just be coronavirus restrictions.
Why are there so many drinking songs out there? The answer is neatly summed up by the Swedish Americana duo Thyra (which is probably more meaningful is Swedish) who recount that while gigging in Nashville last year they got into conversation with a local songwriter who asked them to play their favourite drinking song. They replied that they didn’t have a drinking song, to which the songwriter said “Honey, everyone has to have a drinking song.” They took his advice and have just released the single Drinking You Off My Mind.
And then there are those songs about small town bars and how everyone has a good time there – except when they
Ray Wylie Hubbard
don’t. In the first category is Livin’ My Best Life by A Thousand Horses and, probably, Ray Wylie Hubbard, with Paula Nelson, singing Drink Till I See Double (then take both of the girls home). In the second category there’s the classic Copperhead Road by Steve Earle (spoiler alert: Daddy dies when his consignment on bootleg moonshine explodes) and the Red Dirt classic The Road Goes On Forever – I like the Joe Ely version.
As for my favourite of the current crop of drinking songs, it has to be a tie between Little Big Town with Wine Beer Whiskey which mentions just about every alcoholic drink you can think of – well at least main stream ones. (Yes I too have a fondness for a Captain whose name is Morgan – and bonus to Little Big Town for their duet with Miranda Lambert Smokin’ and Drinkin’.) And the other track: Tired of Drinking Alone by Robert
A Thousand Horses Jon & The Wreck. When it was recorded, for their current album Last Light on the Highway, it was just another ‘I’m lonely without you, let’s get back together’ song but since coronavirus – and the band’s Zoom-style conference video beautifully echoes this sentiment – it’s an anthem to how we all miss getting together with our friends in our favourite bar, pub or diner.
Maybe one day soon – though I’m not holding my breath! * One honourable exception to this rule is the new single Jesus & Alcohol by Chapel Hart first mentioned in last months Rock & Blues International.
Here are video links for some of the tracks mentioned in this column this month:
Steve Earle – Copperhead Road https://youtu.be/ xvaEJzoaYZk
Ray Wylie Hubbard – Drink Till I See Double https://youtu.be/ AZUOzCTUTz8
Robert Jon & The Wreck – Tired of Drinking Alone https://youtu.be/ Ddk9fRDyY24
Chapel Hart – Jesus & Alcohol https://youtu.be/czVm7Mbb1Z8
A Thousand Horses – Livin’ My Best Life https://youtu.be/ ZAGk7kYp7k4
