Well, here we are at the final track of Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20. I know it’s been a tough slog for some of my readers.
Lucinda Williams, like Bob Dylan, is an acquired taste. She reminds me a lot of Dylan, especially in recent years, as her work has moved more towards country blues and even more towards “I don’t give a damn.” She’s not after radio play or big sales — she makes the music she’s moved to make. And her most loyal fans are moved right along with her.
The penultimate song on Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20 makes it clear that while this album is about life in those small southern towns, it is just as much a reaction to the passing of her father.
Perhaps those two themes are forever intertwined, as Williams’ childhood memories are no doubt populated largely by that man and those places. As the album starts winding to a close, the most prominent ghost of all proves to be that of Miller Williams.
We’re coming into the home stretch of The Ghosts of Highway 20. Just three songs left, haters! As for me, I can’t wait to dive back into this album from the start and really learn each of its songs.
Track five of Disc Two promises to shift the tone a little bit from the more upbeat (comparatively) songs we’ve heard so far this week. ‘If My Love Could Kill’ is about her father’s death after a battle with Alzheimer’s.
Much to the relief of some of my regular readers, I’ll be closing out my track-by-track look at Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20 this week, featuring the album’s final four songs.
I understand the criticism of those who find the songs too slow, or Williams’ vocals too slurred, but I don’t share it. Williams’ voice is like Bob Dylan’s in that it’s not technically great but it’s exactly the right instrument for her songs.
I mentioned that the title track of Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20 reminded me of Bruce Springsteen. Well, here she drives that connection home by covering a Springsteen tune.
‘Factory’ is a song from Springsteen’s 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town, and its story of a man who toils away at a factory fits in nicely with the rustic sadness of the rest of this album. Williams recorded the track as a tribute to her father-in-law, who held a job a lot like the one described in the song.
Meet Me In Montauk 