Im sure people have let you know by now, but this song is a metaphor for becoming sober. The man walking beside him is the old "party" version of him. This song is about lovers and friends not liking him and even becoming jealous of him trying to become sober and better his life. Digging into the lyrics, it becomes pretty deep and hits pretty hard. In the album version, he changes the last verse to "a man who walks beside her," symbolizing that he's finally buried both the old him and the people that didn't accept him
Jason became one of my absolute favorite artists when I first heard him a few years back. He does not call himself country, but Americana. Great job guys.
@@BourbonCountryReacts Me too, I grew up with parents that listened to country, my twenties and thirties was more metal and classical. Also, Jason won a Grammy last week for Best American Roots Song. The song is Cast Iron Skillet, if ya'll want to check it out.
I couldn't click on this fast enough when I saw more Jason Isbell. You have done my favorite (If We Were Vampires). I would recommend "Speed Trap Town" (101.9 KINK) version, there is just something about the guitar solo in that.
Great song! Jason Isbell is fantastic and his songs are so deep. But I also love his voice. Your reaction was great as always. I recommend Jason isbell “Cover me up”. Also a fantastic song. And the match maker comment is hilarious, and kinda true lol 😂
@@BourbonCountryReacts😂😂 I really don’t know what you mean. Lmao 😂 On a different note, your package should have been delivered on Saturday and you guys can pick it up. Don’t know if you got my email.
Isbell lyrics are exceptional. Every single time. This obviously connected to him being an alcoholic (now dry). Pretty much every line in this song have several intrepetations, though alcoholism/having been a "bad boy" is the underlying subject. "Streetlights" touches on the same stuff. This early version is astonishing: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UmELguBZrxw.html&ab_channel=PasteMagazine
I'm on a fan page of Isbell on facebook and we did a March madness brackets a few years back of Isbell songs. Goddamn lonely love was the song that won. It's from when he was with Drive by truckers. Two other great Isbell songs from that time is Dress Blues and Decoration Day.
GDLL was written in the middle of his addiction and speaks to it. I can't get through Dress Blues without my eyes getting wet - it's based on a young man in his hometown. I think someone covered it and they had a hit with it - one of those country radio stars but honestly I forget who.
I am surprised you guys haven't reacted to any Emmylou Harris yet. Check out her 1977 live performance of "Tulsa queen" awesome voice, also the hot band with great musicianship. You may recognize some of the band members. Also a quick little gem...the camera guy makes an error at one part, see if you notice it.
I'm aware that Emmylou is a legend of a vocalist, but, frankly, other than snippets here and there, I haven't heard any of her stuff. I've certainly never sat down and really put my ears to anything. - Keith
I'm glad you guys liked it. There are so many more. Eventually I will give you a live version of one where you can see Jason's great guitar skills. You were pretty spot on with your analysis, but I believe he actually killed her in the song. I'm not sure why, but I'll give you my theory. Jason wrote this about his anxiety over getting sober, and if the people around him would still like him when he was clean. I think him killing her is symbolic of him removing those people from his life that like the man used to be, more than the man he is now. There are probably songs of his you will like more, but I love the lyrics and the fiddle in this one. Amanda is his wife and a member of the Highwomen, as well as the 400 unit on many occasions. The whiskey was aged in 40 Winks Barrels. Which were Oak.
I would say King of Oklahoma live at Austin City Limits would be a pretty good place to start for a good combination of songwriting and guitar playing. The slide on Decleration Day is pretty good too. Everyone talks about his songwriting, which he is a once in a generation songwriter. However, his guitar playing is underrated. He was even a studio machine at Fame Studio muscle shoals when he was first getting started.
@@zachrohrscheib8151 agree on King of Oklahoma at ACL. I sent two bribes and one was going to be that, but I decided to recommend a different songwriter. A lot of good live videos of Decoration Day, but they are so long, I wasn't sure if they would be good for this format.
I would love for y’all to check out Charles Wesley Godwin- Hardwood Floors (live at Stage AE). Fantastic musicianship, just an absolutely beautiful piece of art. Thank you so much, keep up the amazing work!
You already know how much I love him. I'd love to see you guys do Speedtrap Town. I always thought the story in live oak was that she fell in love with him but when his past caught up to him and she found out the things he had done, since he was on the run with a sherrif on his back, he had to kill her and move on. I may be interpreting that wrong, though. The entire Southeastern album is a masterpiece.
Seems like the kind of song that's vague enough to allow for a few different interpretations of events. But, the dichotomy between "old person" and "new person" is pretty obvious, and, IMO, the guts of the song. - Keith
Love Jason. This song was the first of his that I ever heard and it sent me down the most brilliant rabbit hole of discovery. As for all the comments from folk upset by his political opinions, they don’t seem to mind when musicians who agree with them Tweet or make statements that others might disagree with.
My Mom's from Rockford, I've been out there a couple of times over the years. I've got 1 cousin who still lives there. The area has really gone downhill over the years. Last time I was out there was Nov. 3, 2020 (I remember the exact date because it was election day and I ended up driving through both Chicago and Detroit on election Day. Probably not my smartest idea!) I was shocked at the housing value. You could buy a 3 bed 2 bath 1,000 sq ft house for $30,000ish. The probably was you'd have to live in Rockford lol
Ever hear Frank Zappa's "Your an Asshole? Going away for a while. Bellamy Brothers "If I said you had a beautiful body" REMEMBER YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST ON ROLLER DERBY‼️
Okay so it's a great reaction. De Havilland made all his planes out of wood. Keith just for you and just for off channel check out the fat electrician sergeant reckless.
I went to school with Jason in Greenhill, Alabama. Over the past two years he has really lost himself. He has some great music but Hollywood has changed him horribly.
If you can stand metal at all, there's a great song and video about Hollywood and its corrosive effects by Avenged Sevenfold. It's called "Beast and the Harlot." It's truly biting, and the video is well done. - Keith
If I had to guess as to why us subscribers aren't requesting his music much, I'd say it because hes.....very polarizing as a person. Ilove his music but the man himself, unfortunately, just makes it really difficult to like him. Theres no politics on the channel, so I don't want to go too far into it, but he's extremely political. He has utter contempt for people who believe differently and doesn't want those people as fans.
@@BourbonCountryReacts yeah, I figured I'd just let you know. I don't think his music is political though, as far as I can tell anyway, maybe it's hidden in metaphor but I don't know. I figured out the best way to describe him without being political after I wrote my original comment: he seems to hold ALL the opinions that you might expect from a pre Elon Twitter user.
I agree. I think he’s a very talented artist but as a person not very likable. He has said some brutal things about other artists because their views are different from his.
@@BourbonCountryReactsExactly what the commenter you replied to said. He is the most judgey person. He wants forgiveness for all he’s done but refuses forgiveness for others.
It's a shame a musician's politics can change how much you like them, but it can.Happened to me too. I used to like Ted Nugent a lot more than I do now, cos I don't like his politics.
