OT: He put the bottle to his head and pulled the trigger
Ed Maier
that. The song is "Whiskey Lullaby" by Brad Paisley and
Alison Krauss.
He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger,
And finally drank away her memory,
Life is short but this time it was bigger,
Than the strength he had to get up off his knees.
We found him with his face down in the pillow,
With a note that said I'll love her till I die,
And when we buried him beneath the willow,
The angels sang a whiskey lullaby.
This song is about as macabre as George Jones' "He Stopped
Loving Her Today".
Here's the kicker: I love it. I watched the video on the
cable channel CMT, and I had a tear running my cheek.
Not quite sure if I need to get a life or if I've already
got one. :-)
Ed Maier
Rolland
"Ed Maier" <evmaier_t...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:cc2d9l$j...@library2.airnews.net...
a little to loud?
I agree. It's a real grabber of a song. Those don't seem to come around to
often.
Rolland
Olin Murrell
ten songs I've heard the first time and nearly had to stop the car. I dearly
wish I had written that lyric, but I have songwriter friends here in
Nashville, and elsewhere, who whine about the "bottle to his head and pulled
the trigger" image. they simply don't get it.
Seems to me it's the perfect metaphor for long-term suicide, and just
flat-out bone jarring in it's impact.
But, my friends insist it would have made more sense to put a "gun" to his
head, or put the bottle to his "mouth," and they do not understand the
response that too many songwriters, especially those still learning the
craft, get way too literal and just suck the life out of any and all
metaphors by forcing them to make logical sense.
My hat's off to Paisley for writing this song, and his label for daring to
put it out.
"Ed Maier" <evmaier_t...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:cc2d9l$j...@library2.airnews.net...
Paul
pulling the trigger evokes a better connection between imagery and reality
than a bottle to the head. It's all subjective, but I think it makes a
better metaphor.
Ed Maier
>> But, my friends insist it would have made more sense to put a "gun"
>> to his head, or put the bottle to his "mouth," and they do not
>> understand the response that too many songwriters, especially those
>> still learning the craft, get way too literal and just suck the
>> life out of any and all metaphors by forcing them to make logical
>> sense.
>
and Paul wrote:
> I have to agree with your songwriting friend. Bottle to the mouth and
> pulling the trigger evokes a better connection between imagery and
> reality than a bottle to the head. It's all subjective, but I think
> it makes a better metaphor.
>
Idunno. "He put the bottle to his head..." immediately sets up
a disconnect that gives the next few words much more impact when
the connection happens. Everyone here probably remembers the
complete and total agony of their first lost love. I remembered,
and I also got drunk. (Luckily, another came along a few days
later.)
Ed Maier
Olin Murrell
To that degree, it doesn't really matter. Mostly, his problem was "there's
no trigger on a bottle," and that is where the metaphor lies... not the
specific body part where it's aimed.
To me, if there was an illogical stretch, it dealt with his note that "said,
I'll love her 'til I die," which sort of implies that he drank himself to
death that very night on purpose.
"Paul" <pcove...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:7xbFc.26718$DT5....@nwrddc03.gnilink.net...
Dick Thaxter
in country music. Glad to see he's making great choices, like a duet
with AK. His Crossroads show with John Mayer was very interesting too.
He made some of Mayer's songs actually sound pretty. And he's a real
telecaster hero, to boot.
Dick Thaxter
guitbox
my comments may be a bit jaded.
IMO, the future of music as a whole is very bright with both these stars
having hit stride. But I'll limit my comments to Paisley. He is a
fantastic singer, sonwriter and amazing guitarist to boot. I haven't had a
chance to look into the songwriting credits for this song. I recall Brad
does a great deal of co-writing with old friends Chris Dubois and Kelley
Lovelace. I don't know if they had a hand in penning this song or not. I
think the choice of words was perfect. Drowning himself in drink to forget,
it killed him slowly in the long run and eventually the pain was too great
and one day/night down the road he drank himself to death over it.
If you haven't had a chance to experience this song, you can view the video
online at www.CMT.com Folks can debate about the choice of words, a better
use of metaphor, but the bottom line is this song is one of very few that
stops you in your tracks and and makes you think. Especially for anyone who
has dealt in some form with the social issue(s) this song gets into.
It's an emotional song that is a great piece of songwriting. In fact I feel
it's songwriting at it's best. Of course I am not a songwriter, just a
consumer, fan and everyday average Joe. Just my two cents worth.
"Ed Maier" <evmaier_t...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
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Robert Gebeaux
pretty wife to boot as well.
When I first saw brad paisley on the grand ole oprey it seemed he was
sucking up to the older oprey members so he could get it...but I have
changed my opinion of him. He seems to be just a great guy who can write
some pretty neat songs. I loved his Fishing song...I'm gonna miss
her...or something like that ...just a funny song.. nothing too deep..
anyway I like him
bob gebeaux
Olin Murrell
"guitbox" <chuck...@cox.net> wrote in message
news:TOdFc.603$O14.502@lakeread03...
> I'm a huge Bead Paisley and big Allison Kraus (and Union Station) fan. So
> my comments may be a bit jaded.
>
> IMO, the future of music as a whole is very bright with both these stars
> having hit stride. But I'll limit my comments to Paisley. He is a
> fantastic singer, sonwriter and amazing guitarist to boot. I haven't had
a
> chance to look into the songwriting credits for this song. I recall Brad
> does a great deal of co-writing with old friends Chris Dubois and Kelley
> Lovelace. I don't know if they had a hand in penning this song or not.
I
> think the choice of words was perfect. Drowning himself in drink to
forget,
> it killed him slowly in the long run and eventually the pain was too great
> and one day/night down the road he drank himself to death over it.
>
Everything I can find points to him writing it, but I found one site that
credits writers on the "Whiskey Lullaby" lyric and Brad ain't one of 'em.
Believe it or not, he did not write the song. It was written by Jon Randall
and Bill Anderson. A little further checking confirms this on Anderson's
home page.
> If you haven't had a chance to experience this song, you can view the
video
> online at www.CMT.com Folks can debate about the choice of words, a
better
> use of metaphor, but the bottom line is this song is one of very few that
> stops you in your tracks and and makes you think. Especially for anyone
who
> has dealt in some form with the social issue(s) this song gets into.
>
Bingo, and for my money, the metaphor is dead-solid perfect, the way it is
written.
> It's an emotional song that is a great piece of songwriting. In fact I
feel
> it's songwriting at it's best. Of course I am not a songwriter, just a
> consumer, fan and everyday average Joe. Just my two cents worth.
>
I am a songwriter. I concur. It IS songwriting at its best. Most of the
folks who make their living as critics of country music seem to agree and
the fact that one of the writers is a Country Music Hall of Fame member
seems to add a little credibility to the claim the writers knew what they
were doing.
Paul
That metaphor works for me. My capacity to smoothly follow the imagery gets
short circuited as soon as I have to fight the bottle to the head thing. My
brain starts arguing with myself and I lose the opportunity for a smooth
transition to the next message.
That there country music is just too sophisticated for me.
"Olin Murrell" <oli...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:t-KdndJU4b9...@comcast.com...
Mike
I think everyone gets the bottle/gun/suicide metaphor about putting the
bottle to the head, how many times have we made the "finger gun" symbol to
our own temples. OTOH, the visualization of suicide via a gun to the MOUTH
is quite gruesome and perhaps something the songwriters wants to avoid.
Ed Maier
>
> I think everyone gets the bottle/gun/suicide metaphor about putting
> the bottle to the head, how many times have we made the "finger gun"
> symbol to our own temples. OTOH, the visualization of suicide via a
> gun to the MOUTH is quite gruesome and perhaps something the
> songwriters wants to avoid.
>
Agreeed, but how about "He put the bottle to
his nose and blew his brains out"? Or maybe
"He put the bottle..."
Somebody stop me. Please.
Ed Maier
Arlington, TX