‘Acuff-Rose’ is the second track on Uncle Tupelo’s seminal 1993 alt-country album Anodyne. This was the band’s fourth and final release, before its members went on to form Wilco and Sun Volt.
This track’s title refers to Nashville’s first country publishing house, formed in 1942 by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose. The two men vowed to start a company that would not take advantage of its artists, as so many labels at the time did.
The company published many classics, working with artists such as Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, and plenty of classic country greats unfamiliar to me.
Sometimes late at night
Sometimes I get the feeling that everything’s alright
Early in the evening
Sometimes in the day
Sometimes I get the feeling everything’s okay
Because everything
Cuts against the tide
When you’re by my side
Play me a song
That everybody knows
And I bet you it belongs to Acuff-Rose
Children in the playground
Folks in the home
Anybody anywhere who’s ever been alone
Because everything
Cuts against the tide
When I hear that sound
Cool subject for a song.