five songs on repeat #3

Just got back from four days in a bungalow on the Zomba plateau. My iPod saw serious action.

Track 1: Carry Home - the Gun Club

Carry Home is the first song off the Gun Club's brilliant Miami album. You've seen the cover; it's the background to my main page. This song combines a punky, menacing verse ('come down to / the willow garden with me / come go with me / come go and see') with a stripped back, quiet chorus that explodes back into the verse. Mark Lanegan reinterprets the song as slow-paced country number on his covers album, I'll Take Care of You, making it even more menacing in the process; alongside Lanegan's Field Song, this is one of the only love songs I know that makes you fear for the life of the girl it's about.

Track 2: I'll Never Get Out of this World Alive - Hank Williams

Hank always knew he'd die young, if not from his alcohol problems, then from the drugs. His liver was fucked. He was addicted to painkillers and morphine, partly due to an agonizing back condition and partly due to an agonizing wife. But then, if he'd not had her to make his life a misery, he might never have written this brilliantly upbeat sad song: 'If it was rainin' gold I wouldn't stand a chance / I wouldn't have a pocket in my patched up pants'. Doesn't matter that he wrote songs as country as Your Cheatin' Heart. Hank Williams was pure rock'n'roll. He drank himself to death in the back of a Cadillac on his way to a gig when he was just twenty-nine years old.

Track 3: If I Were a Carpenter - Bobby Darin

I am making no claims for Bobby Darin being particularly rock'n'roll, though he died young, and was married to the pin-up girl of his era, Sandra Dee. In a way, they were a 50's Kurt and Courtney: a turbulent relationship between two icons of a generation, though with a significant talent disparity. But I know when I'm pushing it, and this song isn't here because of Bobby Darin's life. It's because of his amazing voice smooth and crooning one second, cracked and heartbroken the next. I heard this for the first time over the credits of an episode of the Sopranos. One more reason that's the best TV show around.

 Track 4: Windfall - Son Volt

I went to Zomba with two friends. One of them, despite being otherwise lovely, suffers from a serious condition. She likes James f**king Blunt and You're c**ting Beautiful in particular. Fortunately, it's been diagnosed at a relatively early stage, and I've prescribed an aggressive course of treatment. Central to this are repeated listens to Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley, and this song, by Son Volt. When Uncle Tupelo split up, Jeff Tweedy formed Wilco, and everyone fell in love with them. For me, though, Son Volt have always been more interesting. This song is infectious like SARS and has a perfect chorus for driving: 'got your feet on the floor and your hands on the wheel / may the wind take your troubles away'. She's recovering and I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Track 5: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman

Another great driving tune, and another song in the rehabilitation of my friend (I'll post the full cure sometime). She's got a great voice, and the lyrics to this song are fantastic. She's too world-weary to be naive and not old enough to be cynical. Her other albums have their moments, but few as good as this.