"There was a virus goin' round, Papa caught it and he died last spring"
The lyric was rattling around in my head early in the week, grimly, and nothing I did seemed to get rid of it. Maybe this will do it.
The very simple bluesy guitar is nonetheless just right in keeping itself restrained. The lyrics are tight throughout, hovering between frankness and suggestion. Why is the new young preacher innocently showing up just now, for example?
Great song.
4 comments:
One of the great mysteries of our time - what did they throw off the Tallahatchie bridge?
She was a pretty remarkable artist, had a very shrewd head and knew pretty much exactly what she wanted, both artistically and business-wise. I'm sure, in that era, that she surprised quite a few men that imagined her to be big-haired and helpless. I've read that she managed pretty much all aspects of her business and was not prone to suggestion.
I always thought the song was about forbidden love, an unplanned pregnancy, a secret back-alley choice and a tragic ending. The way the song is put together says this pretty clearly without saying anything - brilliant songwriting, very Southern.
Clever move by the producer, having her sit among the audience. It conveys that she's just an ordinary girl, perhaps even humble in her circumstances, as does the mention of her home in Mississippi. Manipulation, all the way down.
I've had this song in my head for decades.
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