Well, for anyone that knows me, you'd have to assume that I'm President of the Mitchell Snow, Songwriter, Club. So, the chance to collaborate with Mitchell from time to time is mostly selfish, in that it gives me an excuse to actually perform Mitchell Snow songs and even claim a little authorship.
This was one of my favorites of his from the last round. It was perfectly fine the way it was. Performance-wise, I gave it a little more Neil Young rhythmic crack and applied my Sunday-night-after-six-straight-gigs voice, which always makes me cringe, but somehow it sorta seemed to fit the broken nature of the narrator.
The thing about Mitchell's voice is that, for him as a singer, it functions a little bit like a distortion pedal for a guitarist - it's got such violent power and messiness to it that it allows him to keep some of his melodies a bit unfinished, and it allows him to sing some pretty sloppily phrased lines that work just great for him as a performer, but as pure songwriting, they can be a little unfinished. So that left me a crack in the door to get in this week. I tried to clean up his phrasing, nail down some indeterminate melody lines, and give shape to the chorus. This, itself, meant that I was going to have to tweak a few lyrics.
I've always loved Mitchell's propensity for Dylan-via-Poe 19th-century florid language. I felt like he sort of avoided that on this song a bit, and quite possibly on purpose, but I used this occasion to reinstate some of the kind of language that I think he might have used on other occasions. Kind of a restoration process - what would he have said, if we were here, tonight?
lyrics
I was born on the county line
'tween the here and there
And I breathed that restless tension the first time I tasted air
And I can taste it still
It's bitter and it's black
I never thought of where I was
Only cared for where I'm bound
I never augured well how time could all my meager dreams confound
If I could take it back
Take it all back
I've been this whole world over
fought hard the harness reins
But is there somewhere, Lord, I wonder
they let you leave your troubles on the train
I was still a stripling fair
When I lit out on my own
I fell with fools inflamed my pride as hard as china stone
And the hammer came down
And it landed on me
I know that I done wrong
and I will pay my pauper's due s
well I've been to Hell And Hayesburg, maybe half of Georgia too
And I'll never be free
Never be free
I've been this whole world over
my one last hope remains
But is there somewhere, Lord, I wonder
they let you leave your troubles on the train
And I will keep your letter close
And I read it every night
And I know you long to hear from me, but I can't make it right
one moment it's so clear
And the moment is gone
I'd give a royal mint to see you
And hold you one more time
But I've wrecked it all, I'm ruined now, a wasted life is mine
And I can never go home
Never go home
I've been this whole world over
sweet peace I've chased in vain
If I came back, lord, I wonder
Would you let me leave my troubles on the train?
If I came back, lord, I'm beggin'
let me leave my troubles on the train
credits
from Round 3, Week 2,
released September 15, 2014
Susan Terry - violas
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