Drunken Poet's Dream

Hayes Carll is playing at the Belcourt Theatre tonight. The last time I went to the Belcourt was to see REK and it was a bit weird, in part because REK didn’t do “Road”. I recall that being a pretty rowdy crowd, and I’m hoping it’s a bit quieter for Hayes Carll. Some hope for things like “world peace” and “governors to stop selling open senate seats for personal gain”. Me, I just hope for it to not be raining tonight and to be able to hear Hayes sing the words.

As I’ve said before, “I like the songs with the words.” Along that line, this weekend, Wife and watched “Be Here to Love Me” the documentary about Townes Van Zandt.



TVZ was a poet above all. Most of his songs are poems set to the most delicate music. Listening to and picking on the guitar songs like “If I Needed You”, “To Live’s to Fly”, and “Waitin’ ‘Round to Die”, I’m struck how notes and chords are there as subtle support, meant to help the words but not overpower them—like a rose bloom propped up by toothpicks. I want to be able to write poetry as TVZ and Dylan did, but have a lot to learn, and a lot of accountant to overcome. Guy Clark said of Townes, “He knew how to tell a story and he knew where to leave holes.” That’s the part I need to work on most in my poetry writing—leaving the holes.

I like the words in Hayes Carll’s songs, too. “I saw you leaning on a memory, with your back turned to the crowd…”, and “I spend my life on this broken crutch, and you believe I can fly.” Of course, there’s “If I ever find Jesus, I’m kicking his ass.” Well okay, that last one is more edgy than poetic, but it gets points for ballsy and it was the Americana Music Association song of the year. Looking over the list of song writing credits for “Trouble in Mind”, I see that Ray Wylie Hubbard and Hayes co-wrote “Drunken Poet’s Dream”, which has one of my favorite lines: “I’ve got a woman, she’s wild as Rome. She likes to lay naked and be gazed upon.” Should have known Hubbard was close to that one.

I hope he does that one tonight at the Belcourt. Add that hope to my list.




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What I’m Listening To Now: Jason Boland, Comal County Blue, on Rhapsody.
What I’m Reading Now: Glimmer Train, Issue 69 Winter 2009.