Tag Archives: 50 states

For sheer emotional weight, my heart lies with Rosanne Cash, whose “When the Master Calls the Roll” might just be the best song ever written about the Civil War. But I feel like Virginia demands something broader. Beautiful as that … Continue reading →

It’s the unofficial state song, and has been covered by Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, Sam Cooke, and Willie Nelson. There was never any way I … Continue reading →

It only references Utah once, in the opening line (“On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert”), but the song was based on an actual road trip taken by Springsteen, Stevie Van Zandt, and photographer Eric Meola in 1977. Most … Continue reading →

On a few occasions over the course of this project, I’ve gone with a somewhat idiosyncratic choice. But I’ve generally striven to produce something that would be a fitting objective choice, not just a personal preference. I don’t think I’ve … Continue reading →

It’s incredible that one family could produce two men so adept at telling stories, but in two very different ways. It’s not just about the medium involved (Larry working with the novel, James the song), but also the manner. Where his … Continue reading →

South Carolina often gets the short end of the stick in contemporary popular culture, which tends to focus more heavily on their more urban and more modern neighbor of a similar name. For that reason, many of the classic ‘Carolina’ … Continue reading →

A song about growing up, leaving home, and eventually coming back to discover that nothing ever really stays the same. The idyllic memories of childhood are paved over, partly by suburban sprawl, but also partly by the simple progress of … Continue reading →

For all that Portland has become an ironic reference (thanks in no small part to Carrie Brownstein’s later work on Portlandia), it really is one of the great American cities. And possibly never more so than in the late 90s … Continue reading →

Choctaw Bingo is a sort of Canterbury Tales for the 21st century. It documents the many visitors arriving for a family reunion up at Uncle Slayton’s place. Over eight-plus minutes, it rides a biting rootsy rock guitar riff through a highly … Continue reading →