The WELL: deadsongs.vue.185: So Many Roads

#19: Robin Russell (rrussell8) Thu 26 Oct 06 18:47

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 18:47:00 PDT

Right. And in Elijah Wald's "Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues", he says the term "rider" was used for a guitar. So that one has a few possible meanings as well. [Read entire topic]

#18: Gary Burnett (jera) Tue 24 Oct 06 17:43

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 17:43:00 PDT

I think, then, that there are at least 3 different variants:

whinin' boy winin' boy windin' boy

Very different referents for each! [Read entire topic]

#17: Robin Russell (rrussell8) Fri 20 Oct 06 09:05

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 09:05:00 PDT

In the Row Jimmy thread I recently posted this about "windin boy" - it comes from From Howard Reich and William Gaines' biography of Jelly Roll Morton, Jelly's Blues (Da Capo, 2003):

Jelly Roll Morton was known as the "windin' boy" for a particular pelvic motion at which he was proficient. [Read entire topic]

#16: from FRED CARRET (tnf) Fri 20 Oct 06 05:44

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 05:44:00 PDT

Fred Carret writes:

I was just listening to "So Many Roads" for the first time, from 9/18/94. Wow. So I checked out the Annotated Lyrics, and I couldn't believe nobody mentioned this:

"And you don't seem to hear me when I call"

... Chorus of "Big Boss Man", anyone? [Read entire topic]

#15: Brian Penney (bpenney) Sun 16 May 04 22:43

Sun, 16 May 2004 22:43:00 PDT

a "whinin boy" is evidently a special type of locomotive used to pull extremely heavy loads. i sent hunter an email many moons ago asking about that term and i believe that was his response. i could have picked it up somewhere else, though. [Read entire topic]

#14: pedantico the nerdboy (xian) Mon 3 May 04 09:58

Mon, 03 May 2004 09:58:00 PDT

alludes to K.C. Moan as well, no?

I think the line in Liberty about "whole damn world looking back at me" also captured Hunter's sense of what it was like to be in Jerry's shoes, tempered with his own "whoosh" experience of semifame from the early '70s. [Read entire topic]

#13: Robin Russell (rrussell8) Tue 24 Feb 04 11:51

Tue, 24 Feb 2004 11:51:00 PST

On the track of allusions to other (presumably by convention, earlier) songs, in SMR we have:

"Howlin' wide or moaning low"

while in Loser, there is:

"Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm moaning low"

Of course, like an old bluesman, we can expect Hunter to reuse the money phases without necessarily intending to invoke the earlier song. But for the listener, the invocation may be effective irrespective of the intentions of the shaman.

Happy Trails

Happy Trails [Read entire topic]

#12: from TIM WHITE (tnf) Thu 19 Feb 04 08:57

Thu, 19 Feb 2004 08:57:00 PST

Tim White writes:

Hi there I've just caight up with the latest postings, especially about SMR, and I've been musing about the writing relationship between Hunter and Garcia. (Far more interesting than working right now!)

There are words Hunter wrote for Jerry to sing in a character - no one suggests Jerry *is* August West or the "me" character in Wharf Rat.

Then there are songs where perhaps Hunter intended the words as a message to Jerry: "Ain't nobody messin' with you but you Your friends are getting most concerned Loose with the truth, maybe its your fire Baby I hope you don't get burned"

SMR though is different, like Hunter is writing words for Jerry to sing to express directly how he, Jerry, is feeling.

So today looking at the words for SMR, I got to thinking, how must Hunter have felt when he heard the final performances of that song? what must it be like to write the words that allow your best friend of 30-odd years to express his pain as nakedly as Jerry does on the 7/9/95 performance? I wasn't there, but just listening to it on CD has made *me* cry at times.

But I also find hope there too, what is it that will help Jerry along the road home? The love coming back from the 'heads. If thousands of people could hug one man, that's what it would sound like.

Tim

"Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the existence of justice for all people." Martin Luther King Jr. [Read entire topic]

#11: Brian Penney (bpenney) Wed 11 Feb 04 06:56

Wed, 11 Feb 2004 06:56:00 PST

hearing jerry sing

"the wind inside, the wind outside tangled in the window blinds"

is really close to my favorite:

"gone are the days we stopped to decide where we should go we just ride."

i love this song. i love the pain and hope in "thought i heard.." [Read entire topic]

#10: mumbletonian (xian) Sat 20 Sep 03 09:53

Sat, 20 Sep 2003 09:53:00 PDT

ah, that's not as good, then. [Read entire topic]