I Killed Sally's Lover - The Avett Brothers

I Killed Sally's Lover - The Avett Brothers

2:37

A Carolina Jubilee, 2003

Written by Scott Avett, Seth Avett, and Bob Crawford

Featuring rapid-fire banjo picking that would make Del McCoury proud, this is an old-timey bluegrass murder ballad.  Finding the titular Sally in bed with another man, the narrator calls for his shotgun and pocket blade and slays the adulterer. Unlike in many of these songs, though, he doesn't then direct the violence toward his faithless paramour: "But I just ain't that mean / So I go and get my murder tools / I throw them in the lake / Gonna steal me an automobile / And drive so far away."  But he doesn't get far, ending the song, as is traditional, with advice to other poor sad sacks who may be moved to crimes of passion: "A bleeding heart is better than the penitentiary."  Avett screams the last lyrics, the anguish of a man breaking rocks while Sally lives it large with her new lover.

Dry My Tears and Move On - The Del McCoury Band

Dry My Tears and Move On - The Del McCoury Band

3:20

It's Just the Night, 2003

Written by Richard Thompson, 1999

A song of proud defiance in the face of lost love.  The narrator's love no longer dreams of him; the spark has gone out.  But does he wallow?  Has his entire world ended, as in so many other songs?  No.  This guy's got shiny shoes and a nice suit and he can do better.  "If you don't need me there's someone else who needs me out there / She's kind and tender and one day I'll meet her I swear."  This song was first released by Thompson on his 1999 album Mock Tudor in a pathos-drenched slow burn, but here Del McCoury turns it into a fast-packed bluegrass romp.  Thompson sounds like he's trying to convince himself; the guy in this version means it.

Juke Box Mama - Sonny Landreth

Juke Box Mama - Sonny Landreth

4:05

The Road We're On, 2003

Written by Sonny Landreth

This song is a paean to an unnamed dance-floor enchantress.  He puts money in the "magic box full of lights," and she starts sliding.  All his cares fade away then: "You can put a smile back on my lips / Just snap your fingers and shake your hips."  It's a catchy groove, and Landreth has a pleasant voice, but what makes the song shine is his guitar work.  He's known as the "king of Slydeco," referring to his Zydeco-tinged rock and master of slide guitar.  He plays frets and pops the notes behind the slide, slapping and picking while engaging the slide, basically turning the guitar into a percussion instrument and lead voice at once. It’s virtuosic without showing off, the kind of playing that makes your shoulders start moving before you even realize it.

North Carolina - The Devil Makes Three

North Carolina - The Devil Makes Three

2:40

Longjohns, Boots And a Belt, 2003

Written by Pete Bernhard, Lucia Turino, and Cooper McBean

This is a fairly straightforward porch-folk Americana tune from the band, who usually mix jug-band rowdiness, bluegrass drive, and punk edge into their sound. Here, though, they dial it back for something more traditional. The song evokes "demon North Carolina" for introducing the narrator to a girl who knocked him for a loop: "Well if I'd a known that things woulda ended up this way / I would have never left my happy home anyway." The performance leans on old-timey harmonies that feel half-soused and half-sorrowful, the kind that sound like they could've been recorded on a back porch in 1932. Beneath it all, deft, adroit finger-picking keeps the tune rolling along with a loping, backcountry rhythm. 

The Song Of a Hundred Toads - The Handsome Family

The Song Of a Hundred Toads - The Handsome Family

2:24

Singing Bones, 2003

Written by Rennie Sparks and Brett Sparks

This is a story song of the Old West, complete with echoing male vocals at the end of the verses, evoking the kind Marty Robbins sang, if a twisted alternate Robbins had been brought up by Nick Cave and had a grim baritone rather than a jolly one.  In it, the narrator is making his way to a gold man with a cart and his dog, but the horse and cart tip over, his dog runs, and he wanders on foot, presumably dying of thirst days later.  "In handfuls of dust from between the dying weeds / I laid down in the dirt as the sun lost her glow."  It could have been a chapter in Lonesome Dove.  

Louisiana 1927 - Randy Newman

Louisiana 1927 - Randy Newman

2:56

The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 1, 2003

Written by Randy Newman, 1974

This is the stripped-down, piano only version of Newman's 1974 song, originally on his album Good Old Boys.  The original is nice, but it features a string section that I feel isn't necessary to carry the emotional eight of the song.  The lyric tells the story of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and the government response to it.  "President say, "Little fat man, isn't it a shame / What the river has done to this poor cracker's land?'"  But of course it's just as resonant in the Katrina era.  Except, you know, replace the epithet "cracker."

Ye Banks and Braes - The Real McKenzies

Ye Banks and Braes - The Real McKenzies

2:24

Oot & Aboot, 2003

Written by Robert Burns and Paul McKenzie

Also known as "The Banks O'Doon," this is the third version of the poem written by Robert Burns in 1791.  McKenzie turns it into a fiery Celtic punk number, the ultimate in genre fusion.  The narrator is a proto-Emo, groaning about how even the chirping birds remind him of how life brings him no joy any more.  Even flowers suck now.  "And my false love did steal that rose / And all she left me was but a thorn."

This Boy Is Exhausted - The Wrens

This Boy Is Exhausted - The Wrens

4:17

The Meadowlands, 2003

Written by Charles Bissell, Greg Whelan, Kevin Whelan, & Jerry MacDonald

A self-referential anthem.  Tired of being on the outs with record companies, no promotion for their record, tired of being told their sound isn't radio friendly.  Why not quit?  This boy is exhausted.  "But then once a while / We'll play a show / Then it makes it worthwhile."  But he "can't tell a hit from hell."  Soaring double guitars and powerhouse drumming belie the broken hopelessness of the lyrics.

Brother Down - Sam Roberts

Brother Down - Sam Roberts

4:24

We Were Born In a Flame, 2003

Written by Sam Roberts

"I think life is passing me by."  That's the refrain of this lush alt-rocker.  With handclap percussion, strummed guitars, and layered vocals all bring groovy '70s-style vibes.  The lyrics are a sort of vague assessment of the state of the world from a dissatisfied mind: "The only sound you hear is a closing door / Been looking for peace but they're bringing you war / Rich man's crying cause his money's time / And poor man's smiling cause he knows he ain't blind."  Well, it's not Leonard Cohen, but you can dance to it.

Little Red Light - Fountains Of Wayne

Little Red Light - Fountains Of Wayne

3:35

Welcome Interstate Managers, 2003

Written by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger

The "little red light" of the title is a notification that the narrator has received messages.  But there is no such light on his big black Radio Shack portable phone or his big black laptop.  His love has left and not leaving any messages.  "I go to work / I come back home / But you're still gone / And I'm still alone."  The rocking, anthemic, fist-pumping power pop of the song belies the bleak situation depicted in the lyrics.

Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine - White Stripes

Girl, You Have No Faith in Medicine - White Stripes

3:17

Elephant, 2003

Written by Jack White and Meg White

I've never been a White Stripes fan.  I like Jack White's modern take on old-school blues rock, but most of his songwriting just doesn't do it for me.  The energy is definitely there on this track, the crashing drums and screaming guitars and Jack's howl.  It's a good song for driving, but I don't think it bears much examination lyrically.  I like the rhyme "Acetaminophen / You see the medicine," though.

Dirty Life And Times - Warren Zevon

Dirty Life And Times - Warren Zevon

3:15

The Wind, 2003

Written by Warren Zevon

Zevon's "bad boy" persona, probably honestly come by, is on display here, but in a more reflective mood.  The narrator muses on his maverick nature, his reluctance to toe the line.  "Some days I feel like my shadow's casting me."  Is he the owner of his wild side, or is his wild nature leading him?  It's a lonely life, but maybe "a woman with low self-esteem" can stand him for a while.  "And if she won't love me then her sister will / She's from Say-one-thing-and-mean-another-sville."  What a line.  And a crack band, too.  Don Henley on drums and Dwight Yoakam on backing vocals.

Signal For the Assassins - Budapest One

Signal For the Assassins - Budapest One

3:19

This Town Just Gave You a Dreamer, 2003

Written by Budapest One, probably?

This Denton-based band made a sort of carnival-gothic rock, with hints of Bertolt Brecht or a particularly dour Elvis Costello.  The singer belts out the words like Spacehog's Royston Langdon, the piano pounding along behind him, telling a cryptic tale.  I enjoy bombast and can even take literary pretension in the right doses.  It's not for everyone, but this song revs my particular engines.

Yawn, Yawn, Yawn - Les Savy Fav

Yawn, Yawn, Yawn - Les Savy Fav

2:56

single, 2003

Written by Les Savy Fav, I guess?

I had never heard of this art-rock clanging-guitar-punk post-hardcore bearded madmen, but saw their name, in connection with the Hold Steady somehow, and was intrigued.  The dreamscape lyrics seem to describe two members of a conflict, facing impending doom;  Maybe a carpe diem cri de coeur ("If we get lucky, we'll be dead by dawn / So let's get-get-get-get-get-get-get-get-get it on!").  Lead singer Tim Harrington shouts his heart out, like a less hoarse Patrick Stickles.