Happy Ruination Day
April 14, 2021 5:30 AM Subscribe
In the summer of 2001, before the ruination of modern times had become apparent to most of us, Gillian Welch released her album Time (the Revelator). In addition to her breakout song "Everything is Free," it included two tracks about April 14.
Commemorating the Dust Bowl, the sinking of the Titanic, and the assassination of Lincoln, these songs embody such a sense of melancholy that you should avoid listening to them if you don't want to be sad.
Commemorating the Dust Bowl, the sinking of the Titanic, and the assassination of Lincoln, these songs embody such a sense of melancholy that you should avoid listening to them if you don't want to be sad.
This is one of my favorite albums as an album. Just astonishing from beginning to end.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:36 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by hydropsyche at 6:36 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is one of those albums feels like it's been channeled or brought to life through some dark divination. I was unfamiliar with Gillian Welch when I first heard this album, so I went looking for past albums. While the rest of her catalog is perfectly fine and good, this album is very affecting and very good.
I don't dip into it often, because it really is one os the saddest albums. Its good, great even, but oh god.
posted by furnace.heart at 6:47 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't dip into it often, because it really is one os the saddest albums. Its good, great even, but oh god.
posted by furnace.heart at 6:47 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
The title track will forever slay me, but my weirdo fave from that record is "My First Lover."
Also, you know how they say you shouldn't meet musicians you like because they'll disappoint you? Not true in the the case of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Lovely, lovely people.
posted by thivaia at 6:57 AM on April 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
Also, you know how they say you shouldn't meet musicians you like because they'll disappoint you? Not true in the the case of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Lovely, lovely people.
posted by thivaia at 6:57 AM on April 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
Your first two YouTube links go to the same SNL video BTW.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 7:26 AM on April 14, 2021
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 7:26 AM on April 14, 2021
Just an incredible album. I can't listen to it constantly for all the reasons given already, but it seems especially made for quiet mornings and evenings, to listen while I knit or weave or whatever.
(Also, wow, 20 years ago. Then again, my personal favorite Welch album, The Harrow and the Harvest is apparently 10 years old now...)
posted by kalimac at 7:35 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
(Also, wow, 20 years ago. Then again, my personal favorite Welch album, The Harrow and the Harvest is apparently 10 years old now...)
posted by kalimac at 7:35 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Definitely a Desert Island Disc for me.
posted by PhineasGage at 7:41 AM on April 14, 2021
posted by PhineasGage at 7:41 AM on April 14, 2021
April the 14th Part 1 is a perfect song. But it flays me. Have never once managed to listen to it without choking up.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:41 AM on April 14, 2021
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:41 AM on April 14, 2021
Oh, how I love Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Their music always lends a quiet grace to my ears. Thank you for this.
Last year, the NYTimes published Hanif Abdurraqib's really lovely interview with them: How Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Held Onto Optimism
posted by wicked_sassy at 7:54 AM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Last year, the NYTimes published Hanif Abdurraqib's really lovely interview with them: How Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Held Onto Optimism
posted by wicked_sassy at 7:54 AM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's one of those albums that's as close to perfect as it gets. Absolutely beautiful. Gil & David are lovely people from everything I know or have heard, and it's such a privilege to see them perform (well, to have seen them perform). I can't say enough about their absolutely understated, friendly stage presence and rapport, and Dave's guitar playing is such a thing of beauty. One of the last times I saw them, they did a version of 'Long Black Veil" that left me in tears.
I've also seen them perform through power outages and wardrobe malfunctions (A strap on Gillian's dress broke and she had to dash offstage for safety pins while Dave filled in) with great humor and professionalism. Love them forever.
posted by Occula at 8:17 AM on April 14, 2021
I've also seen them perform through power outages and wardrobe malfunctions (A strap on Gillian's dress broke and she had to dash offstage for safety pins while Dave filled in) with great humor and professionalism. Love them forever.
posted by Occula at 8:17 AM on April 14, 2021
For me, it's Elvis Presley Blues that just shatters my heart. How could she write such a thing that sends shivers down my spine?
I try so hard to sing it with my guitar but I can hardly ever get that really key moment just right the way she does - "And he / shook it..". Like that one note has to go from a forceful singing it out to something sad and gentle while keeping the momentum.
posted by kitcat at 8:29 AM on April 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
I try so hard to sing it with my guitar but I can hardly ever get that really key moment just right the way she does - "And he / shook it..". Like that one note has to go from a forceful singing it out to something sad and gentle while keeping the momentum.
posted by kitcat at 8:29 AM on April 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
Sorry, the first youtube link was supposed to go here.
posted by rikschell at 8:29 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by rikschell at 8:29 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Her music is just so good, but so sad that I have to be careful not to listen too much. When I first got into her music it put me in a bit of a depression spiral. I love love love sad music, but I have to be smart about listening.
posted by rikschell at 8:32 AM on April 14, 2021
posted by rikschell at 8:32 AM on April 14, 2021
This is a great album that put me on a track to learning more about contemporary Americana artists. Really can't recommend it enough. But it's been 20 years?
posted by St. Oops at 8:41 AM on April 14, 2021
posted by St. Oops at 8:41 AM on April 14, 2021
I'm not prepared for this album to be 20 years old. Rawling's guitar work at the end of the title song never fails to give me chills.
posted by octothorpe at 8:45 AM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 8:45 AM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Sylvan Esso + Flock of Dimes did a cover of Everything is Free (semi official youtube link) that is charming in is original lofi presentation (not official). This was recorded for the AV Club's Undercover series - which were up on their website and youtube but have just been erased, just because.
I can get a tip jarposted by zenon at 9:09 AM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Gas up the car
And try to make a little change
Down at the bar
Or I can get a straight job
I done it before
Never minded working hard
It's who I'm working for
Courtney Barnett and Phoebe Bridgers doing Everything is Free from last year.
posted by octothorpe at 9:52 AM on April 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 9:52 AM on April 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
It really is such a damn fine album. Those first three albums (Revival, Hell Among the Yearlings and Time the Revelator) sound like a voice reaching out from the past and pulling itself forward.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:14 AM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:14 AM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Despite this being precisely my thing, I had never heard of Gillian Welch. This album is amazing. So ... thanks!
posted by chavenet at 10:42 AM on April 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 10:42 AM on April 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings' cover of Method Acting by Bright Eyes that bleeds into Cortez the Killer is a personal favourite. Both were songs I knew well before I first heard this cover and it made me stop in my tracks and really listen to them both again. I'm also fond of their cover of Bob Dylan's Señor from the album they released last year.
I'm with kalimac, The Harrow and the Harvest is my absolute favourite even though I also very much enjoy Time (the Revelator).
posted by terretu at 10:53 AM on April 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'm with kalimac, The Harrow and the Harvest is my absolute favourite even though I also very much enjoy Time (the Revelator).
posted by terretu at 10:53 AM on April 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
Welch's cover of Radiohead's Black Star is absolutely stunning, so's everything she and Rawlings do.
posted by waitingtoderail at 11:11 AM on April 14, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by waitingtoderail at 11:11 AM on April 14, 2021 [7 favorites]
The Holmes Brothers also did a great cover of Everything Is Free (along with a nice version of Metafilter favourite Townes Van Zandt's If I Needed You).
I think of Gillian Welch's version of In Tall Buildings fairly often.
posted by Candleman at 11:15 AM on April 14, 2021
I think of Gillian Welch's version of In Tall Buildings fairly often.
posted by Candleman at 11:15 AM on April 14, 2021
I have always loved their hour-long live performance at St. Luke's in London.
posted by PhineasGage at 11:47 AM on April 14, 2021
posted by PhineasGage at 11:47 AM on April 14, 2021
Chavenet, you're welcome. Speaking of newly discovered 20-year-old music, I just recently started listening to Radiohead and have been embarrassed to find that they are perfectly my thing and yet somehow I missed them.
posted by rikschell at 12:20 PM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by rikschell at 12:20 PM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Don't have a lot to add. She's an amazing songwriter and I love her and David Rawlings's harmonies. I feel like she and John Hartford share an ability to write songs that feel like they might be two hundred years old.
posted by little onion at 1:24 PM on April 14, 2021
posted by little onion at 1:24 PM on April 14, 2021
octothorpe: "Courtney Barnett and Phoebe Bridgers doing Everything is Free from last year."
Phoebe Bridgers is joined by BFF Julien Baker on a cover of Gillian Welch's song "Everything Is Free" at the 2018 Winnipeg Folk Festival. July 8, 2018
posted by signal at 2:04 PM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Phoebe Bridgers is joined by BFF Julien Baker on a cover of Gillian Welch's song "Everything Is Free" at the 2018 Winnipeg Folk Festival. July 8, 2018
posted by signal at 2:04 PM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Circling back to add that Gillian was one of the three 'siren' voices on "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby" from 'O Brother' with Emmylou Harris and Alison Krauss and had a tiny cameo in the film. She and David did a killer version of "White Rabbit" on NPR, and their silly, silly video for "Dry Town" is a treat. Dave also has produced for Old Crow Medicine Show.
Once when I saw them, during their introducing the next song, Gillian said, "this next one is another pitiful song," (meaning sad), and David laughingly said, "We figured you kind of knew what you were getting into."
posted by Occula at 3:09 PM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Once when I saw them, during their introducing the next song, Gillian said, "this next one is another pitiful song," (meaning sad), and David laughingly said, "We figured you kind of knew what you were getting into."
posted by Occula at 3:09 PM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Welch's cover of Radiohead's Black Star is absolutely stunning, so's everything she and Rawlings do.
I heard Welch first, and now I don't even like Radiohead's version. For me, Welch and Rawlings are the definitive version.
They're my "I need to relax" music, especially useful for when I feel myself getting a little road-ragey in traffic jams. How can you be manic and ragey listening to that?
posted by ctmf at 4:04 PM on April 14, 2021
I heard Welch first, and now I don't even like Radiohead's version. For me, Welch and Rawlings are the definitive version.
They're my "I need to relax" music, especially useful for when I feel myself getting a little road-ragey in traffic jams. How can you be manic and ragey listening to that?
posted by ctmf at 4:04 PM on April 14, 2021
oh my, terretu: Cortez the Killer is pretty high up on my list of favorite songs; I had no idea they covered it, and wow is that great.
posted by furnace.heart at 5:28 PM on April 14, 2021
posted by furnace.heart at 5:28 PM on April 14, 2021
If you love Gillian Welch and if you don't know, they perform under the moniker of the Dave Rawlings Machine for more lighthearted content, covers, guest musicians, and so on. Sometimes in a second show the day after a Gillian Welch show in a smaller venue for fans. Two of my favorite concerts ever are the Gillian Welch and DRM shows I saw in Knoxville. And sometimes John Paul Jones might sit in on mandolin for a cover of Going to California that astoundingly beats the album version.
posted by indexy at 8:15 PM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by indexy at 8:15 PM on April 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Occula mentioned seeing it live, I think their Long Black Veil is a standout among standouts.
posted by macrael at 9:43 PM on April 14, 2021
posted by macrael at 9:43 PM on April 14, 2021
There's a following out there for "Everything is Free"? I had always considered it the lone, rapidly dated clunker on an otherwise timeless classic of an album.
Now "I Dream a Highway"? That one I could listen to on a loop, all 14 minutes of it..
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:28 PM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Now "I Dream a Highway"? That one I could listen to on a loop, all 14 minutes of it..
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:28 PM on April 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
rapidly dated clunker
Trust me, it's as or more relevant for professional musicians these days than ever.
posted by Candleman at 7:17 AM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
Trust me, it's as or more relevant for professional musicians these days than ever.
posted by Candleman at 7:17 AM on April 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
Oh gosh, indexy, thank you for that. Going to California is one of like five happy memories I have of high school. (I had a frankly terrible boyfriend who made me the single best mix tape in all of existence, and Going to California was on it.)
I listened to this album last night while wandering around by the waterfront during the golden hour, and even the exhausting crowds of people weren't annoying. It was perfect. And it reminds me to finally check -- in I Dream A Highway, the line 'My sails in rags with the staggers and the jags', that's definitely an intentional reference to Barrett's Privateers, yes? (It looks like the Genius annotations maybe agree with me?) It startles me every time, in a good way.
posted by kalimac at 7:48 AM on April 15, 2021
I listened to this album last night while wandering around by the waterfront during the golden hour, and even the exhausting crowds of people weren't annoying. It was perfect. And it reminds me to finally check -- in I Dream A Highway, the line 'My sails in rags with the staggers and the jags', that's definitely an intentional reference to Barrett's Privateers, yes? (It looks like the Genius annotations maybe agree with me?) It startles me every time, in a good way.
posted by kalimac at 7:48 AM on April 15, 2021
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