I’m a sucker for simple things. Catullus is a workout in Latin, but in English he’s just Needles and Pins, or maybe Romeo and Juliet. Yes, I’m off-topic again, and it’s not just because I live my life with Cathy’s Clown running through my head. But something struck a chord with me when I played this game last Friday, so I’m back with another jukebox full of shitkicker brutality.
I want to talk about Bruce Robison because I think he is a master of the searingly simple song. Robison is a haunting Austin singer-songwriter who scored with a Tim McGraw cover of his Angry All The Time.
The lyrics to Robison’s songs are exquisite, so I’m going to show them, but they are nothing compared to the performances. Lyrical music simply must be heard. For all its hokey faults, Country music is the only contemporary popular music form that combines real musicianship, real writing and real relevance to real life. And Bruce Robison is a fine exemplar of all three qualities.
Witness:
Traveling Soldier
by Bruce Robison and Farrah Braniff
Two days past eighteen,
He was waitin’ for the bus in his army greens.
Sat down in a booth, in a cafe there,
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair.He’s a little shy but she give him a smile,
So he said: “Would you mind sittin’ down for a while?
“And talkin’ to me. I’m feelin’ a little low.”
She said: “I’m off in an hour and I know where we can go.”So they went down and they sat on the pier,
He said: “I bet you got a boyfriend but I don’t care,
“I got no one to send a letter to.
“Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?”I cried: “Never gonna hold the hand of another guy.”
“Too young for him,” they told her.
Waitin’ for the love of the travellin’ soldier.
“Our love will never end.”
Waitin’ for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter says,
My soldier’s comin’ home.The letters came from an army camp,
In California, then Vietnam.
He told her of his heart, it might be love,
And all of the things he was so scared of.He said: “When it’s gettin’ kinda rough over here,
“I think of that day, sittin’ down at the pier.
“And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile.
“Don’t worry, but I won’t be able to write for a while.”I cried: “Never gonna hold the hand of another guy.”
“Too young for him,” they told her.
Waitin’ for the love of the travellin’ soldier.
“Our love will never end.”
Waitin’ for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter says,
My soldier’s comin’ home.One Friday night at a football game,
The Lord’s Prayer said, and the anthem sang,
A man said: “Folks would you bow your head,
“For the list of local Vietnam dead.”Cryin’ all alone under the stands,
Was the piccolo player in the marching band.
And one name read and nobody really cared,
But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair.I cried: “Never gonna hold the hand of another guy.”
“Too young for him,” they told her.
Waitin’ for the love of the travellin’ soldier.
“Our love will never end.”
Waitin’ for the soldier to come back again
Never more to be alone when the letter says,
My soldier’s comin’ home.
I’m convinced that Angry All The Time is written for a woman’s voice. I have a bootleg MP3 of Robison singing it, but I also know that he pitched it to Faith Hill, Tim McGraw’s wife. For whatever reason, she passed it on to him, and he made it work, even if it makes less than perfect sense from a man’s perspective.
Angry All The Time
by Bruce Robison
Here we are:
What is left of a husband and a wife. Four good kids,
Who have a way of gettin on with their lives.
I’m not old but I’m getting a whole lot older every day,
It’s too late to keep from goin’ crazy.
I got to get away.The reasons that I can’t stay,
Don’t have a thing to do with being in love.
And I understand that lovin’ a man,
Shouldn’t have to be this rough.
You ain’t the only one who feels,
Like this world left you far behind.
I don’t know why you gotta be angry all the time.Our boys are strong, the spittin’ image of you when you were young.
I hope someday they can see past what you have become.
I remember every time I said I’d never leave.
What I can’t live with is memories of the way you used to be.The reasons that I can’t stay,
Don’t have a thing to do with being in love.
And I understand that lovin’ a man,
Shouldn’t have to be this rough.
You ain’t the only one who feels,
Like this world left you far behind.
I don’t know why you gotta be angry all the time.Twenty years have came and went since I walked out of your door.
I never quite made it back to the one I was before.
And God it hurts me to think of you,
For the light in your eyes was gone. Sometimes
I don’t know why this old world can’t leave well enough alone.The reasons that I can’t stay,
Don’t have a thing to do with being in love.
And I understand that lovin’ a man,
Shouldn’t have to be this rough.
You ain’t the only one who feels,
Like this world left you far behind.
I don’t know why you gotta be angry all the time.
This is the kind of visceral brutality that means everything to me in art. This is Country music at its best.
Here’s one more. Dustin Luther put me in mind of this last week. Just a simple song about what it was like to be a young idiot when you thought being a young idiot was all that mattered.
Tonight
by Bruce Robison
They say when you’re young
It’s a shame, you don’t know
But I remember laughing
Wherever I’d go
A flirt or a flame
Or a friend or a fight
Can’t come home now, Mom
Cause anything might happen tonightNow the night’s on fire
I’ve got a beer and a smoke
Your gut hurts from laughing
At some dirty joke
That you really shouldn’t tell
Cause you know it ain’t right
But you can’t help but feelin’
Like anything might happen tonightWith a kiss and a whisper
In the backseat of a car
Collecting young girls
Just like fireflies in a jar
But the glass is all empty
Their wings took flight
So fill er up good Joe
Cause anything might happen tonightNow there’s beer on my breath
As I lean to your ear
I try not to yell
But you can’t hardly hear
If we close our eyes
Try with all of our might
Can you remember that feeling
Like anything might happen tonightNow who is that girl
With the red dress on?
She makes me remember
Back when I was young
And I’d give anything
For just a little more moonlight
Can’t come home now, Mom
Cause anything might happen tonight
Colleen says:
Stumbled upon this entry in a google search. I agree wholeheartedly about Bruce Robison — I’m a huge fan of his, and seeing him live is an amazing performance.
FWIW, when Robison performs Angry All the Time, he explains that he wrote it after his first marriage fell apart.
November 10, 2007 — 9:20 am