Sparklehorse - Dark as a Dungeon

Wanted to do something topical, and this song is timeless.

I Want to Go Home - Johnny Cash

It's barely been 10 days, and this is the feeling I'll inevitably have (I finally caught the smarts and started preparing ahead of time instead of losing days as is the habit when you're on some sort of pre-honeymoon thing)...

Found this while searching for a copy of the Beach Boys version. Hmm...

The Highwaymen - The Devil's Right Hand

The original Steve Earle version plays in Brokeback Mountain when Ennis meets the Linda Cardellini character in the bar. It's probably better, but this one is twangier, which is what I was looking for. Johnny Cash also recorded a sparse, bluesy version solo on one of his late-period albums.



Ian Stuart, of all people, also recorded a version with one of his bands, and I guess all one can do is enjoy the irony of that sack of shit recording a song by one of the all-time great leftist rabble-rousers. I'm not posting his version, I'll post this instead:

Johnny Cash & Bob Dylan - You Are My Sunshine

So, happy fourth of July, everyone. Here's a goofy little pick. I'm posting it because of the date. Former President of America Jack Stanton used to say that this was "the most American song I know." I don't know that I disagree, but he was the president, you guys. I got the version sung by two men whose careers could never have been possible outside of this country, but were also often its most vocal critics. AND THAT'S WHAT AMERICA'S ALL ABOUT YOU GUYS. FAKE PRESIDENTS, MUSICAL APPROPRIATION, AND PRISON CONCERTS.

Carole King - He's a Bad Boy; Neil Young - Pocahontas

I like connections; I like to be able to listen to Maggie's Farm or Hard Times in New York Town and know they're adapted from old songs on the Anthology of American Folk Music. Shared melodies and lyrical evolutions are one of our foundations. I found one the other day, while I was listening to One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Groups Lost and Found, a box set I borrowed once that comes in the form of a hatbox.


I recognized a melody I'd heard before in Carole King's He's a Bad Boy, a quiet musing song in its own right and form.



It seems that Neil Young reworked it for his Pocahontas, a song that's always fascinated me...



...ever since I heard it first on the late career Johnny Cash box set.



And I posted these because I went and saw Terrence Malick's The New World today.


It was quiet, and very, very beautiful, and somewhat in the winsome spirit of the song. That's what I have for today; I hope the links all work.