I am compiling a playlist about lonesome losers. Help me populate it.
July 18, 2018 3:59 PM Subscribe
I have become semi-obsessed with Danny O' Keefe's early 70s country folk mope "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues" and want to find more in its vein.
Howdy y'all! The hive has been very good to me in years past in compiling playlists and so I come to you again for help.
I have become semi-obsessed with Danny O' Keefe's early 70s country folk mope "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues" and want to find more in its vein.
Something about the nursin-one-down-at-the-end-of-the-bar somberness of the song really hits me square in the chest. It's Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb and Paul Westerberg and Jason Isbell all in one. But there's something more there than just "woe is me" emotionalism. Theres a tender heart of regret beating inside it and I wanna find more like it.
The closest cousin I can think of (and lyrically its not that similar) is Little Feat's "Willin".
Im a generally chipper fellow but what I want is the perfect bourbon soaked playlist for those rare nights when its you and the bottle and "what the hell have I done with all this less-than-modest potential?"
Cheers!
Howdy y'all! The hive has been very good to me in years past in compiling playlists and so I come to you again for help.
I have become semi-obsessed with Danny O' Keefe's early 70s country folk mope "Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues" and want to find more in its vein.
Something about the nursin-one-down-at-the-end-of-the-bar somberness of the song really hits me square in the chest. It's Glen Campbell and Jimmy Webb and Paul Westerberg and Jason Isbell all in one. But there's something more there than just "woe is me" emotionalism. Theres a tender heart of regret beating inside it and I wanna find more like it.
The closest cousin I can think of (and lyrically its not that similar) is Little Feat's "Willin".
Im a generally chipper fellow but what I want is the perfect bourbon soaked playlist for those rare nights when its you and the bottle and "what the hell have I done with all this less-than-modest potential?"
Cheers!
Caitlin Rose, Own Side. (I love this genre.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:18 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:18 PM on July 18, 2018
Does it have to be about wasting big potential or can it be about just sad outcomes? I'm thinking of John Prine or Angel From Montgomery
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:20 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:20 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Neil Young, Tired Eyes - key line: "He tried to do his best, but he could not."
posted by maupuia at 4:21 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by maupuia at 4:21 PM on July 18, 2018
I think this is in that vein and it absolutely murders me so here you go and hopefully it murders you, too.
Jackson C Frank Blues Run the Game
posted by Smearcase at 4:21 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Jackson C Frank Blues Run the Game
posted by Smearcase at 4:21 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris, "Love Hurts," isn't specifically about sitting in a bar feeling regretful, but it fits the mood.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:22 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:22 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
...or are you looking for bar songs? Ray Price The Night Life
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:23 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:23 PM on July 18, 2018
Maybe this is how the evening started: I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight, by Richard and Linda Thompson. ("If you've got the cab fare, mister, you'll do alright.")
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:23 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:23 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Mekons - Last Dance - "Looking at you in desperation, knowing nothing ever happens."
posted by maupuia at 4:29 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by maupuia at 4:29 PM on July 18, 2018
Wasted and wounded... Tom Waits, Tom Traubert’s Blues. And pretty much all of Heartattack and Vine.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:33 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:33 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Webb Pierce There Stands the Glass
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:35 PM on July 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by bonobothegreat at 4:35 PM on July 18, 2018 [2 favorites]
Steely Dan, Deacon Blues
They got a name for the winners in the world.
I want a name when I lose.
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide.
Call me Deacon Blues.
posted by FencingGal at 4:36 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
They got a name for the winners in the world.
I want a name when I lose.
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide.
Call me Deacon Blues.
posted by FencingGal at 4:36 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Gerry Rafferty, Baker Street
This is one of the most beautiful songs in the world.
posted by FencingGal at 4:39 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
This is one of the most beautiful songs in the world.
posted by FencingGal at 4:39 PM on July 18, 2018 [3 favorites]
Elliott Smith, "St Ides Heaven." Everything is exactly right when I walk around here drunk every night...
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:41 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:41 PM on July 18, 2018
Songs: Ohia Just Be Simple
Or you could go with The Big Game is Every Night, which is beyond words.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:42 PM on July 18, 2018
Or you could go with The Big Game is Every Night, which is beyond words.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:42 PM on July 18, 2018
Response by poster: Guy Clark. Dublin Blues.
First time hearing it annnnnnnnnnnd ouch.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 4:42 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
First time hearing it annnnnnnnnnnd ouch.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 4:42 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Possibly Second Effort by Stan Rogers:
It's harder to try again than it was to begin
A man can play a lone hand in a high stakes game, but it doesn't mean he's gonna win
And somehow I've got to keep from getting further down
Before I buy myself a bottle of cheap escape, and a ticket to another town
posted by darchildre at 4:44 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's harder to try again than it was to begin
A man can play a lone hand in a high stakes game, but it doesn't mean he's gonna win
And somehow I've got to keep from getting further down
Before I buy myself a bottle of cheap escape, and a ticket to another town
posted by darchildre at 4:44 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also Willie Nelson - The Party's Over
Ry Cooder - This is The Way We Make a Broken Heart
Merle Haggard - Swinging Doors
Emmylou Harris - Two More Bottles of Wine (maybe too chipper)
posted by brookeb at 4:47 PM on July 18, 2018
Ry Cooder - This is The Way We Make a Broken Heart
Merle Haggard - Swinging Doors
Emmylou Harris - Two More Bottles of Wine (maybe too chipper)
posted by brookeb at 4:47 PM on July 18, 2018
Also Warren Zevon covering Knocking On Heaven's Door
posted by brookeb at 4:55 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by brookeb at 4:55 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Elvis: A Mess of Blues
Tryin' To Get To You
Vocals, rhythms, Scotty Moore's guitar, the slapback, it's all sublime.
posted by effluvia at 4:56 PM on July 18, 2018
Tryin' To Get To You
Vocals, rhythms, Scotty Moore's guitar, the slapback, it's all sublime.
posted by effluvia at 4:56 PM on July 18, 2018
Alex Chilton — Nobody’s Fool. (Original version by Dan Penn)
posted by 1970s Antihero at 4:58 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by 1970s Antihero at 4:58 PM on July 18, 2018
These are a bit over the map, but hopefully some of them are orbiting that same sort of emotional black hole:
Elliott Smith - Between the Bars
Rilo Kiley - Xmas Cake
Little Scream - The Heron and the Fox
Tom Waits - Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis (or the Neko Case cover)
Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet
Leonard Cohen - Leaving The Table
posted by eponym at 5:23 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Elliott Smith - Between the Bars
Rilo Kiley - Xmas Cake
Little Scream - The Heron and the Fox
Tom Waits - Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis (or the Neko Case cover)
Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet
Leonard Cohen - Leaving The Table
posted by eponym at 5:23 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Has anyone already listed My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys by Willie Nelson? "You could die from the cold in the arms of a nightman, Knowin' well that your best days are gone."
posted by salvia at 5:42 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by salvia at 5:42 PM on July 18, 2018
the eponymous 'lonesome loser' by little river band.
posted by koroshiya at 6:08 PM on July 18, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by koroshiya at 6:08 PM on July 18, 2018 [6 favorites]
Perhaps "Why Not Me" by Fred Knoblock?
posted by wittgenstein at 6:44 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by wittgenstein at 6:44 PM on July 18, 2018
I'd say Little Feat's "I've Been The One" is a better match
posted by thelonius at 7:14 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by thelonius at 7:14 PM on July 18, 2018
The Golden Palominos' cover is more melancholy perhaps
posted by thelonius at 7:15 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by thelonius at 7:15 PM on July 18, 2018
Buy Now Pay Later (Charlie No. 2) by The Whitlams is not so much a 70's country folk dirge as a 90's indy dirge, but I do love it so.
posted by h00py at 9:05 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by h00py at 9:05 PM on July 18, 2018
Keith - Mind If I Hang Around
Jimmy Donley - Born To Be A Loser
Dion - I Was Born To Cry
posted by rhizome at 9:13 PM on July 18, 2018
Jimmy Donley - Born To Be A Loser
Dion - I Was Born To Cry
posted by rhizome at 9:13 PM on July 18, 2018
Also Danny O'Keefe, from his next record -- Mad Ruth/The Babe
posted by Rash at 9:46 PM on July 18, 2018
posted by Rash at 9:46 PM on July 18, 2018
"Last night I dressed in tails, pretended I was on the town". Statler Brothers, Flowers on the Wall.
posted by namret at 10:50 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by namret at 10:50 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]
Lee Hazlewood - "If It's Monday Morning" (but in your mix be sure to skip the dippy spoken-word intro, as I have done with my link..)
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:32 AM on July 19, 2018
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:32 AM on July 19, 2018
The Swans - God Damn the Sun
It's been my favorite when I've been depressed and isolated. It might fit.
posted by bendy at 12:37 AM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's been my favorite when I've been depressed and isolated. It might fit.
posted by bendy at 12:37 AM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
Also, just for the sheer brilliance of the lyrics..
The Magnetic Fields - "Love is Like a Bottle of Gin"
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:49 AM on July 19, 2018
The Magnetic Fields - "Love is Like a Bottle of Gin"
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:49 AM on July 19, 2018
Mary Gauthier - I drink
I'd also say Bruce Springsteen's The River fits on the "lost future" side, but less so on the drinking side.
posted by crocomancer at 12:59 AM on July 19, 2018
I'd also say Bruce Springsteen's The River fits on the "lost future" side, but less so on the drinking side.
posted by crocomancer at 12:59 AM on July 19, 2018
"Hello Walls", the Willie Nelson-penned 1961 hit for Faron Young, is an elegant version of this fine genre.
posted by Glomar response at 4:10 AM on July 19, 2018
posted by Glomar response at 4:10 AM on July 19, 2018
Deceptively upbeat, not C&W, but reliably devastating - "Up The Junction"
posted by Glomar response at 6:50 AM on July 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by Glomar response at 6:50 AM on July 19, 2018 [3 favorites]
Possibly bleaker than you're looking for:
Magnolia Electric Co. - Almost Was Good Enough
posted by box at 8:12 AM on July 19, 2018
Magnolia Electric Co. - Almost Was Good Enough
posted by box at 8:12 AM on July 19, 2018
Sit and Listen to the Rain is the first Whiskeytown song to come to mind, though there might be more that hit the spot.
posted by clavicle at 9:41 AM on July 19, 2018
posted by clavicle at 9:41 AM on July 19, 2018
Lucero is pretty good for this if you're into raspy alt country. Drink Til We're Gone and Kiss the Bottle are older but thematically relevant. You'll find a lot of similar subject matter across pretty much all their songs, though.
posted by a.steele at 10:58 AM on July 19, 2018
posted by a.steele at 10:58 AM on July 19, 2018
JD Crowe cover Ian Tyson's Summer Wages.
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:05 PM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by bonobothegreat at 12:05 PM on July 19, 2018 [1 favorite]
After Saturday night, there's always Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
posted by Bron at 8:17 AM on July 21, 2018
posted by Bron at 8:17 AM on July 21, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pantarei70 at 4:11 PM on July 18, 2018 [2 favorites]