Track four on Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20 is more upbeat, lyrically, than the first three. I’ll find out soon whether the music follows suit.
This song was written for Williams’ brother, who has shown up in other songs of hers. He suffers from mental illness, as do Williams’ mother and sister. In a recent interview she describes herself as having survivors guilt for being the one unaffected sibling.
The third track on Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20 is the first with lyrics penned by Williams herself. She follows Woody Guthrie’s tale of a prostitute with this plea from one victim of domestic abuse to another.
Highway 20 is a stretch of road that runs from South Carolina to Texas, through the deep south that Williams has written about for decades now. This album is a collection of songs about the lost and lonely souls who live along that stretch.
The second track on Lucinda Williams’ The Ghosts of Highway 20, like the opener, features lyrics by somebody other than Williams.
In this case it’s Woody Guthrie supplying the words from beyond the grave. Williams met Guthrie’s daughter Nora at a German music festival and later received these lyrics from her with a note that read “I can’t think of anyone better to try and put music to these words – and no better person to sing them. But I understand if it’s too dark”.
Last year I posted my song-by-song discovery of Courtney Barnett’s album Sometimes I Sit and Think, Sometimes I Just Sit, listening to each song for the first time before writing about it.
I liked that experience, especially because the album turned out to be a great one, and I’ve been wanting to give it another try. This time, however, I’m going not with a newcomer but an artist I already know and love.
Meet Me In Montauk 