Mostanában legtöbbet és legszívesebben countryt hallgatok, amiben legnagyobb szerepe Gillian Welch-nek van.

A többiek, akiknek ez köszönhető: Patty Griffin, Alison Krauss, Calexico, The Be Good Tanyas, Okkervil River, és persze az új Woven Hand lemez, amiről annyira írni kéne már. Meg a többiekről is persze.

De előbb Gillian Welch, akivel kapcsolatban - amikor még csak ismerkedtem vele - az jutott eszembe, hogy valakinek legfeljebb addig tetszhetnek Nick Cave úgynevezett gyilkosballadái, amíg meg nem ismerkedik ennek a daltípusnak a valóban hiteles tolmácsolóival.

Bár én három kimondottan gyilkosballadát mutatok be, érdemes beszerezni Gilliantől mindent (link a letöltésekhez odalent).

Caleb Meyer

Ez az a szám, ami azonnal és legjobban megragadott, és bár több tucatszor is meghallgattam, azóta se enged. Gillian valamit annyira eltalált benne, hogy jóllehet a szám saját szerzeménye, mégis népdalabb a népdalnál, balladaibb a tragikus végű betyárnótáknál. Csontig hatolóbb, mint a dalban szereplő törött viszkisüveg.

Caleb Meyer

Caleb Meyer, he lived alone
In them hollarin' pines.
Then he made a little whiskey for himself,
Said it helped pass the time.

Long one evening in back of my house,
Caleb come around.
And he called my name 'til I went out
with no one else around

Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
wear them rattlin' chains.
But when I go to sleep at night,
Don't you call my name.

Where's your husband, Nellie Kane,
Where's your darlin gone?
Did he go down off the mountain side,
and leave you all alone?

Yes, my husband's gone to Bowlin' Green
to do some business there.
Then Caleb threw that bottle down
and grabbed me by my hair.

Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
wear them rattlin' chains.
But when I go to sleep at night,
Don't you call my name.

He threw me in the needle bed,
across my dress he lay.
Then he pinned my hands above my head,
and I commenced to pray.

I cried My God, I am your child,
send your angels down.
Then feelin' with my fingertips,
the bottle neck I found.

I drew that glass across his neck,
As fine as any blade.
And I felt his blood pour fast and hot
Around me where I laid.

Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
wear them rattlin' chains.
But when I go to sleep at night,
Don't you call my name

Caleb Meyer, your ghost is gonna
wear them rattlin' chains.
But when I go to sleep at night,
Don't you call my name.

The Devil Had a Hold of Me

Elég sűrű a balladai homály, de többszöri hallgatásra, és persze a szöveg segítségével, kihámozódik a pszichopata gyermekből lett őrült fogoly tettének és bűnhődésének ördögi története.

The Devil Had a Hold of Me

Now I was just a girl of two
Now I was just a girl of two
With a golden heart and a button shoe

The devil had a hold of me
The devil had a hold of me
I turned my head and I could see
The devil had a hold of me

There was something wrong with the butcher's boy
Was something wrong with the butcher's boy
He trembled in his hand and voice

The devil had a hold of me
The devil had a hold of me
The others knew to let him be
But the devil had a hold of me

Now the tailpipe spit and the engine roared
The tailpipe spit and the engine roared
I's waving out the Plymouth door

And the devil had a hold of me
The devil had a hold of me
The old folks saw the last they'd see
The devil had a hold of me

I dreamed last night that my time was done
I dreamed last night that my time was done
And my soul flew up to the holy son

But the devil had a hold of me
The devil had a hold of me
I snapped back down when he pulled my lead
The devil had a hold of me

There're those who'll laugh and not believe
There're those who'll laugh and not believe
Until you feel that touch upon your sleeve

The devil had a hold of me
The devil had a hold of me
I turned my head and I could see
The devil had a hold of me
I turned my head and I could see
The devil had a hold of me

One Morning

Nem lehet eldönteni, hogy rabló vagy pandúr volt-e a meglőtt gyermek, hogy katona- vagy betyárnótával van-e dolgunk. A fiát gyászoló anya dala.

One Morning

One mornin', one mornin' as work I begun
What did I see ridin' out of the sun
On the road from Lexington

One rider, one rider beatin' the breeze
Down on his saddle, low to his knees
Comin' through my willow trees

Now closer, the terrible work of the gun
Was stiffened and black where his blood all had run
But I knew my wayward son

One mornin', one mornin' the boy of my breast
Came to my door unable to rest
Even in the arms of death

Letöltés bittorrenttel: Gillian Welch - 7 album egy torrentben (MP3, 432 MB)

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