The thing that kills me is that these jabronis completely whiff on the message when covering Isbell. This Wallen clown doesn’t know shit about the headspace Isbell was in at the time Shires “saved him.” The same can be said about Zac Brown covering Dress Blues and failing to comprehend that the tragedy is two layers deeper than a person dying in war.
It’s pretty clearly anti-war but I also think subtextually it paints a picture of a teenager enlisting either due to either predatory recruiters or having a very few options for life after high school. That’s my reading of it.
Fair enough. The dude has a deliberately cultivated image so I wouldn’t put it past him to get it but just not give a shit
Yeah I thought so too when I saw a clip of him playing it. Was a little bit surprised to hear him actually put some effort into talking about the song a little bit before playing it.
I’m just imagining the people that choose to listen to the Wallen, Luke Combs, types gearing them play a song of that magnitude and saying something to the effect of “thats cute but let’s get back on a dirt road!!!”
Saw those same clips. Went from "fuck this guy", to feeling like a dick for thinking that. He went out of his way to give Isbell props and not have it be confused in anyway to be his own.
I’ll say this too. He just did 2 shows here and a fair amount of people I know went. Only 1 person put a video up of “Cover Me Up”. So that, to me, shows these yokels don’t appreciate shit.
I don’t disagree. Just pointing out that if they’re posting stuff from the show, but not the best song of the night then they can’t identify quality music imo
Hard to cover a song that’s that personal and have it be even close to the same thing. Unfortunately for anyone covering Isbell most of his music fits that category. Rings hallow when some jabroni covers it.
Live stream tonight Steve Earle, Josh Ritter, The Mastersons, Amanda and Jason all doing sets https://nugs.tv/live-webcasts/5,1240/Steve-Earle-and-The-Dukes-12-2019-Town-Hall-New-York-NY.html $20.00 is a little steep for a live stream imo.
It had to be significant. Especially since he owns his own label. He has been vocally supportive of Wallen's cover on Twitter.
I remember when Dierks Bentley ripped off Razor Town and Isbell drunkly told him to “Eat a bag of Dierks” on Twitter.
“Time moves slow when you’re seventeen and then it picks up steam at twenty-one” is sure to resonate with the broskis
The Elephant is literally an Elephant and cancer is a jackass/donkey wearing an Obama mask on the other side of the room.
Conversely, I’d be interested to hear Isbell’s take on some dogshit song like that country girl shake it for me one
Ok, so I just listened to the Wallen's version of it and I really only have 1 complaint about it. It's just way too close to Isbell's version. He isn't doing anything new with it. There's not really a point to put it out there. With that said, if Isbell is cool with it, who the hell am I to say it shouldn't happen.
I'm sure you have watched the George Saunders interview on Youtube from a few years back. It's amazing if anyone hasn't watched it. In it he talks about his themes are often very traditional radio country, but he tries to make the lyrics have more meaning. He mentions how "Speed Trap Town" is a song about driving old trucks and high school football and how in the wrong hands that song could be very bad. It's pretty clear he fucking hates the Luke Bryans of the world.
His Tweet here pretty much sums it up. I'm not going to listen to the Wallen cover, but if it gets more people into Isbell and he's obviously okay with it... then I'm all for it.
While a great point, I refuse to believe that any Nashville songwriting mill could come up with “these 5A bastards run a shallow cross, it’s a boy’s last dream and a man’s first loss.”
Not a lyric I relate to more thinking of my 5A glory days in North Alabama. That being said, my favorite line in that song is "veins through the skin like a faded tatoo." Just a vivid description that sticks with me every time that song comes on.
Just thinking about the songs we’ve been discussing here like Cover Me Up, Decoration Day, Speed Trap Town, Streetlights, and Elephant and the thing that really sets those songs apart is that they feel so lived-in that you can’t help but have a visceral reaction.
Absolutely. He puts you in the moment where you can really get to know the characters. I think he really gets a lot of that from Hood/Cooley. You just feel like you're there getting to know the sick woman in Elephant or the teen parents in Outfit.
Where a ton of songwriters write things that are either shallow and trite or forced, he has a way of getting into the little details that paint a picture without overdoing it.