Guy Clark

May. 3rd, 2007 04:12 pm
gerbie: (Road to nowhere)
[personal profile] gerbie
About twenty years ago I saw a documentary about a singer I had just discovered: John Hiatt. I've seen him live a few times since, he is still a favorite. But in that docu I saw Hiatt taking us through Nashville, showing us his musical roots and his chums. One of them was a country singer called Guy Clark.

I was never a big fan of Country, no Parton, Rondstad, Billy Ray Cirus or what's the name of the guy who sold millions but never became big outside Texas, for me. But Guy Clark certainly was worth knowing. I'm almost ashamed to admit that I own only two of his CD's, but as I was playing one of them just a minute ago, I felt I had to write about one of the best songs I have ever heard. I heard about 20 seconds of it during aforementioned documentary. Nowadays I just grab the CD and listen to it whenever I feel like it.

Guy Clark – Desperados waitin’ for a train

I played the Red River Valley.
He'd sit in the kitchen and cry.
Run his fingers through seventy years of livin'.
"I wonder, Lord, has every well I've drilled gone dry?".
We were friends, me and this old man,
Like desperados waitin' for a train.
Desperados waitin' for a train.

Well, he's a drifter an' a driller of oil wells.
And an old school man of the world.
He taught me how to drive his car when he w's too drunk to.
Oh, and he'd wink and give me money for the girls.
An' our lives were like, some old Western movie,
Like desperados waitin' for a train.
Like desperados waitin' for a train.

An' from the time that I could walk, he'd take me with him,
To a bar called the Green Frog Cafe.
An' there was old men with beer guts and dominos.
Oh, an they're lying 'bout their lives while they played.
An' I was just a kid, that they all called his sidekick,
Like desperados waitin' for a train.
Like desperados waitin' for a train.

One day I looked up and he's pushin' eighty.
An' he's brown tobacco stains all down his chin.
Well, to me he's one of the heroes of this country,
So why's he all dressed up like them old men?
He's drinkin' beer and playin' Moon and Forty-two.
Like a desperado waitin' for a train.
Like a desperado waitin' for a train.

An' then the day before he died, I went to see him,
I was grown and he was almost gone.
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen,
And sang another verse to that old song.
Come on, Jack, that son-of-a-bitch is comin'.
We're like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train.
Like desperados waitin' for a train.
Like desperados waitin' for a train.



(Obviously the man has his own website these days : http://www.guyclark.com)

Date: 2007-05-03 03:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kishenehn.livejournal.com
You know, I really hate most contemporary country music ... but Guy Clark is a definite exception. And this song is in heavy rotation on my iPod.

Another similar artist whose music I enjoy is a guy named Townes Van Zandt, also a Texan. (They're about the only good things to come out of Texas! *g*)

Date: 2007-05-04 11:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gerbie.livejournal.com
I've downloaded some songs by Towns van Zandt as well. I can imagine you rank him as high. How about Steve Earle?

Date: 2007-05-05 01:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kishenehn.livejournal.com
Yeah, a friend gave me a bunch of Steve Earle ... but there's something about his voice that just doesn't appeal to me quite as much. I can't quantify exactly how, but his stuff seems a little closer to "popular" country, rather than country-folk.

Date: 2007-05-05 02:33 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gerbie.livejournal.com
I'm not sure if he's more towards popular, I reckon a bit more towards the sixties protest singers. If you listen to 'An American boy', one could easily classify him as an old hippie. I quite like the lyrics.

Profile

gerbie: (Default)
gerbie

May 2009

S M T W T F S
      1 2
34 5 6 7 89
10 11 1213 1415 16
171819 202122 23
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jan. 23rd, 2026 12:29 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios