Great review. Your observation of how some people can hold an audience in a way others can't, is spot on. His lyrics is just on a different level than most others today.
I've listened to this song dozens of times, and this is how I hear it. The "dozen cheap roses" and the interaction with the store clerk are in reference to the end of a romantic relationship. He goes to the football game and says that " there's no one left to ask if I'm alright", because despite the cheap roses, she left him. The "sign my name and say my last goodbye" is about Jason having to legally sign off on pulling the plug on his dad's ventilator. He's got two different sources of heartbreak going on here, which makes it all the more gut-wrenching and painful. Jason is brilliant and this song is a prime example of that. One of his very best in my opinion.
I see it as the store clerk knows his dad is deathly ill cause he's a cop in a small town where everyone knows everyone. She thus realizes he's picking up some decor for dad's hospital room.
Good review. The cop was his dad and his dad was in the icu on life support. He recognized his dad was never going to come out of it so he decided to pull the plug and leave the town cuz there was nothing left for him there
@@RockN2Country Also note: The woman talking in the shopping centre, starts the process for the protagonist - also consider the "cheap" roses. He has conflicted feelings for his father, who clearly wasn't a good family man, used his position to pick up women, and finally had a heart attack being unfaithful to the protagonists mother - but after all; it's his father. Feeling the pressure, he turns to alcohol (Isbell is a former alcoholic), the football game obviously being a reference to the struggle in his mind. After sleeping it off and sobering up, he can see clearly that his comatosed father is no reason to stay in town, and he decides to pull the plug ("sign my name and say my last goodbye"). After driving through the night, he got second thoughts - welling up come morning ("road got blurry"). Once again he slept off his doubts, and finally buried his father (symbolized by this happening by an Indian mound), and distancing himself from the past ("a thousand miles away..."). And that makes it a solid "10", IMHO. :) Like your reviews. :) Btw, you might enjoy checking out: "Songs that she sang in the shower" and "Cover me up" from "Southeastern". The first one being about an alcoholic hitting rock bottom, and the second one the same alcoholic after recovering. Striking imagery from a man who's lived it...
After the verse about his dad, when the slide solo starts on the album just about killed me when I heard it the first time. Driving down the autobahn bursting into tears. Perfect note choice. Missing here, but if you don't know the original give it a listen.
RockN2Country you asked me to recommend some Jason isbell to you a month or more ago. Lol but I understand it has to be hard to keep track of everything. So many comments from people
I remember--I was being facetious with my comment about enlightening you, since you're one of the experts of country around here. I actually write down all the requests in a separate file, and I'm figuring out a way to manage them all. I've got a pretty good system that I work with, and after I post the vids I pay attention to who gets attention and who doesn't. I've been surprised for instance, at how few views Frankie Ballard's reviews have gotten, but I notice it. OTOH some of the artists I'd never heard of have a lot of views. That's all part of this journey.
RockN2Country well I’m far from a expert. Like I never heard of Frankie Ballard until you posted one. Then I started to look for more. Just depends on then you run across certain people
@@RockN2Country Thanks, I'm glad I found your channel :) By the way, I've used the "search function" and didn't find a video of you reacting to Yvette by Jason Isbell. As some other viewers recommended it to you, I gave it a try and just couldn't hold back the tears. I'm sure you'll like it as you seem to like Isbell's writing (who wouldn't ?). Another beautiful, perfectly written and sung song by Jason. Have a great day. A French fan ;)
@@RockN2CountryNo... I watch or listen to Live From Here on PBS stations every Saturday at 6:00 E.S.T. It's a must see show for music fans. They have UA-cam channel with a bunch of videos. Lots of different genres, some good, some brilliant... ua-cam.com/video/_avSO3ERrX8/v-deo.html
I’m not sure how you had a problem following the story. The flowers are for dads funeral. He signs his name in the funeral guest book and says his last goodbyes, then leaves town because he realizes nothing is holding him there anymore. His Dad was a trooper who never gave him the time of day, but fathers have a power over us, even tho they can let us down we seek their approval. This is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
I always interpreted the "sign my name" line as the narrator taking his father off life support. He realizes his dad is never going to recover after over a year in the ICU. He accepts that letting his dad go is the only way he can move on with his own life...by getting out of the town that gave him so many horrible memories.
@@yt.be-r I said my opinion, you said yours. I see the first verse very different than you do. The roses being bought are for the funeral in how I read into it. You assume a romantic love, I don’t.
@BamaPewPew I get that it obviously progresses a throughout the song, but the last time he mentions his dad is when he realizes that he'll never get better. That means his father is still alive while he's signing the paper and saying his goodbye, supporting the life support theory. I'm curious what lyrics you see that support your funeral theory?
what a great song Don - can actually associate with this song -the bit about leaving home and theres nothing here that cant be left behind - my father made sure of that !!! Wow something to think a bit more about - this is good for me because its bringing the past back to me and now that I am older and a bit wiser - it all makes sense - thanks for that song - love the lyrics for sure xx liked your review and rating as usual - hope all good with you xxxxx
Thanks for writing that, Caroline, and I know the feeling of songs bringing us back to things in our own lives, good, bad, and funny. Sometimes I get caught off guard by a song that I'm reviewing (Broken Halos caused me to tear up, thinking about my friend Lindsay who passed away a few years ago at age 28), but I don't mind feeling whatever it is a song makes me feel. Glad you're feeling better now, too!
What makes you keep listening is because he sometimes plays the chords at such a low volume you sometimes wonder if the song is still ON. Then he hits you with a hammer on or a pull off and gets into the next verse. Thats why imho.
Isbell songs are all about narrative and point of view. The protagonist of this song is the son. He's getting flowers and sympathy. His father has been on life support over the holidays. My favorite line from the song is "when that girl who wasn't mamma caused his heart attack" because it implies so much: an unfaithful father, possible abuse of power, who is absent from his son's life. Isbell is in the company of the most skilled songwriters in that he can say so much in just a simple turn of phrase. When John Prine passed Jason wrote a loving eulogy, starting with the observation that when he first heard "Angel From Montgomery" the opening volley "I am an old woman, named after my mother" at first seemed out of place. John Prine, at the time, was neither old or a woman. However, Prine, becoming the first person narrator of his songs, inhabits the characters he writes about totally and convincingly. "If dreams were lighting, and thunder was desire, this old house would have burnt down a long time ago," and by the end, Isbell and anyone who has ever listened to the song is totally convinced. That said, you should (re-)visit "Angel From Montgomery" along with, well, everything in the John Prime oeuvre.
He bought flowers for his girlfriend because they broke up because he went with another girl. He didn’t break up in tears before he made it to the truck. Somebody in the small town told her. Everybody knows you in a speedtrap town.
I think the grocery clerk knows the flowers are for the narrators dad, who she knows is in the hospital (or perhaps he's already passed and he's off to the service) because everybody knows you in a speed trap town.
It was his father who was the cop. He screwed around on his wife (Jason's mom). The line "that woman that wasn't mama caused his heart attack". He lived with this. It's a very deep song about a childhood where everyone knew his dad did this to his mom and she stayed until he had the heart attack and ended up in ICU. "Jason" obviously drank a lot, maybe to deal with a fractured childhood. Then finally decided to leave. I think for himself maybe for the first time, clear and to get a fresh start. I heard him say once that most of his songs are written about people he knows, family and friends. I think that is why it feels so real, because it is. And I read you said his guitar technique was basic or something. It can be, but Jason has an amazing band. He does what he does best and surrounds himself with a dream team of musicians. Which makes his concerts something you really feel. "Something more than free is a perfect album", the title track is f*$&ing amazing.
This is a nice story but simply isn’t true. Jason’s dad wasn’t a cop, he painted houses and worked maintenance jobs (as he’s talked about in Outfit and several interviews). His parents broke up shortly after he was born, and his dad is still alive and AFAIK is in fairly good health (he’s only 17 years older than Jason after all). Part of what makes Jason an incredible songwriter is that he can write such beautiful, touching stories about something he himself has never experienced, like he did with Yvette and like he’s doing here.
Daddy was 'walkin' round' which is a southern euphemism for not being loyal to his marriage partner. In a small town everybody knows your business, and everybody knew that he wasn’t a good man. So… He was leaving the town, but mainly he was leaving his Daddy- issues behind.
If this isn't my favorite Isbell song (and it might be) its definitely the one which resonates most personally with my life experience. I lost my father quite suddenly to cancer at 16, several years after he was diagnosed. This song so truthfully captures what happens when a family member has been very ill for so long you assume its never going to either get better or worse, its just going to stay that way forever, and then the suddenness of the experience when that changes. The protagonist of the song didn't know his father had died, the lady with the flowers had heard it through the grapevine first.
Hey Simeon, ouch, I'm so sorry about you losing your dad so young. I know what you're saying about thinking things will go on just the same, and then one day they don't--it's a game changer, that's for sure. Thanks or the explanation of the song, too. Some of these songs have so many levels and side-staotires and subtexts going on that it's tough to get it all in one listen.
@@RockN2Country Thanks for the concern. Jason Isbell's songs can be so layered and complex that it takes time to truly understand what they mean (his haunting masterpiece "Live Oak" is an even better example of this). My favorite Isbell songs tend to be about other people in literal terms, but with emotions which connect to his life experience. I'm not sure this one is anything other than pure empathy though
I've been liking "Relatively Easy" a lot... we've all suffered losses, but the refrain "I lost a good friend / Christmas time when folks go off the deep end / His woman took the kids and he took Klonopin / Enough to kill a man of twice his size / Not for me to understand / Remember him when he was a proud man / A vandal's smile and baseball in his right hand / Nothing but the blue sky in his eyes" ... reminds me of several people I've lost.
I'd love to see a reaction to "Shaky Bridges" by Sean McConnell. He's a great singer/songwriter and just released an album on Feb 8th. His live recorded video on his channel is excellent.
Thanks, Keagan! As for the reference, I re-watched the vid to see the context, but didn't see the place where I'd referenced it. One thing that happens when reacting to a well-written song is that there are commonly metaphors used in such songs, and sometimes I'm trying to figure out the metaphorical meaning when the lyricist is being literal. So when I hear a song a second time it's much more obvious as to which way to understand a reference. In this case, the song is about a father who is a cop in a speed-trap town, and the father pulls women over presumably to have sex with them, which is how the father died--having sex with a woman he'd pulled over. But on first listen I missed some of this because the song allowed for possible (and multiple) meanings, but in the end it was literal. Daddy was a bad guy, and his son got out of town after his father died. Of course that understanding might change if I listened to it again. :-)
I'll be reacting to it tomorrow and posting it in about three weeks. I have a backlog of requests and am moving in two weeks, so am recording a bunch of reactions this week to make sure the flow of reviews/reactions isn't impacted while I close on the house and head back to Jersey.
![Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit -- Outfit [REACTION/RATING]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zqp3HPMTcNY/mqdefault.jpg)
![Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit -- Outfit [REACTION/RATING]](/img/tr.png)
![Jason Isbell -- Yvette [REACTION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ihf5A9NyYCk/mqdefault.jpg)
“A boys last dream and mans first loss” that’s a great line right there, talking about playing football
First time I heard that line I dissolved into tears.
Great review. Your observation of how some people can hold an audience in a way others can't, is spot on. His lyrics is just on a different level than most others today.
Thanks OPP! Glad you liked the review and Jason.
'It' is also known as 'charisma'. Jason has a ton of it. So did the late, great Prince, and the late, great Jeff Buckley.
U did another Jason Song! Thank you for this so much! Had a crap day and then I find this...😀
My pleasure--glad to brighten your day!!
I've listened to this song dozens of times, and this is how I hear it. The "dozen cheap roses" and the interaction with the store clerk are in reference to the end of a romantic relationship. He goes to the football game and says that " there's no one left to ask if I'm alright", because despite the cheap roses, she left him. The "sign my name and say my last goodbye" is about Jason having to legally sign off on pulling the plug on his dad's ventilator. He's got two different sources of heartbreak going on here, which makes it all the more gut-wrenching and painful. Jason is brilliant and this song is a prime example of that. One of his very best in my opinion.
That's a good read on it. Makes sense. Great song. thanks.
I see it as the store clerk knows his dad is deathly ill cause he's a cop in a small town where everyone knows everyone. She thus realizes he's picking up some decor for dad's hospital room.
@@bvaljalo i see the same. I dont see a reason to assume that he and the clerk were romantically involved
Good review. The cop was his dad and his dad was in the icu on life support. He recognized his dad was never going to come out of it so he decided to pull the plug and leave the town cuz there was nothing left for him there
Great explanation--thanks for clearing it up for me.
@@RockN2Country Also note: The woman talking in the shopping centre, starts the process for the protagonist - also consider the "cheap" roses. He has conflicted feelings for his father, who clearly wasn't a good family man, used his position to pick up women, and finally had a heart attack being unfaithful to the protagonists mother - but after all; it's his father.
Feeling the pressure, he turns to alcohol (Isbell is a former alcoholic), the football game obviously being a reference to the struggle in his mind. After sleeping it off and sobering up, he can see clearly that his comatosed father is no reason to stay in town, and he decides to pull the plug ("sign my name and say my last goodbye").
After driving through the night, he got second thoughts - welling up come morning ("road got blurry"). Once again he slept off his doubts, and finally buried his father (symbolized by this happening by an Indian mound), and distancing himself from the past ("a thousand miles away...").
And that makes it a solid "10", IMHO. :) Like your reviews. :)
Btw, you might enjoy checking out: "Songs that she sang in the shower" and "Cover me up" from "Southeastern". The first one being about an alcoholic hitting rock bottom, and the second one the same alcoholic after recovering. Striking imagery from a man who's lived it...
ISBELL RULES!!!
After the verse about his dad, when the slide solo starts on the album just about killed me when I heard it the first time. Driving down the autobahn bursting into tears. Perfect note choice. Missing here, but if you don't know the original give it a listen.
My favorite song from my favorite artist
Damn that boy can write a good song. Lol
Glad I could enlighten you to this wonderful artist. ;-)
RockN2Country you asked me to recommend some Jason isbell to you a month or more ago. Lol but I understand it has to be hard to keep track of everything. So many comments from people
I remember--I was being facetious with my comment about enlightening you, since you're one of the experts of country around here. I actually write down all the requests in a separate file, and I'm figuring out a way to manage them all. I've got a pretty good system that I work with, and after I post the vids I pay attention to who gets attention and who doesn't. I've been surprised for instance, at how few views Frankie Ballard's reviews have gotten, but I notice it. OTOH some of the artists I'd never heard of have a lot of views. That's all part of this journey.
RockN2Country well I’m far from a expert. Like I never heard of Frankie Ballard until you posted one. Then I started to look for more. Just depends on then you run across certain people
Jason is a BIG FAN of John Prine. Another great singer/songwriter.
Love the opening to you reactions, always has my head bobbing up and down to the music.
@Hector Cartagena Glad you enjoy it, and welcome aboard the channel!!
I'm adding a thumb up before even watching your video. I love this song and I really like how you react, so I'm sure I'll love the video.
@nadou84 Thank you for the kind words and the support!! Also, welcome aboard!!
@@RockN2Country Thanks, I'm glad I found your channel :) By the way, I've used the "search function" and didn't find a video of you reacting to Yvette by Jason Isbell. As some other viewers recommended it to you, I gave it a try and just couldn't hold back the tears. I'm sure you'll like it as you seem to like Isbell's writing (who wouldn't ?). Another beautiful, perfectly written and sung song by Jason. Have a great day. A French fan ;)
@nadou84 Within a week, my friend!!
You should do dress blues by Jason Isbell
Always more Jason Isbell. This is from Live from Here with Chris Thile. Great show.
@Jack Cerro, were you at the show?
@@RockN2CountryNo... I watch or listen to Live From Here on PBS stations every Saturday at 6:00 E.S.T. It's a must see show for music fans. They have UA-cam channel with a bunch of videos. Lots of different genres, some good, some brilliant...
ua-cam.com/video/_avSO3ERrX8/v-deo.html
Their video quality is very good, which is a treat.
I’m not sure how you had a problem following the story. The flowers are for dads funeral. He signs his name in the funeral guest book and says his last goodbyes, then leaves town because he realizes nothing is holding him there anymore. His Dad was a trooper who never gave him the time of day, but fathers have a power over us, even tho they can let us down we seek their approval. This is one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
I always interpreted the "sign my name" line as the narrator taking his father off life support. He realizes his dad is never going to recover after over a year in the ICU. He accepts that letting his dad go is the only way he can move on with his own life...by getting out of the town that gave him so many horrible memories.
@@yt.be-r I said my opinion, you said yours. I see the first verse very different than you do. The roses being bought are for the funeral in how I read into it. You assume a romantic love, I don’t.
He did specifically say ,"The holidays are over, and he's still here." That means his father was still alive.
@@jeremylilly1054 it’s a developing story throughout the song, he’s alive at the beginning in the ICU, then dies, then he leaves town
@BamaPewPew I get that it obviously progresses a throughout the song, but the last time he mentions his dad is when he realizes that he'll never get better. That means his father is still alive while he's signing the paper and saying his goodbye, supporting the life support theory. I'm curious what lyrics you see that support your funeral theory?
what a great song Don - can actually associate with this song -the bit about leaving home and theres nothing here that cant be left behind - my father made sure of that !!! Wow something to think a bit more about - this is good for me because its bringing the past back to me and now that I am older and a bit wiser - it all makes sense - thanks for that song - love the lyrics for sure xx liked your review and rating as usual - hope all good with you xxxxx
Thanks for writing that, Caroline, and I know the feeling of songs bringing us back to things in our own lives, good, bad, and funny. Sometimes I get caught off guard by a song that I'm reviewing (Broken Halos caused me to tear up, thinking about my friend Lindsay who passed away a few years ago at age 28), but I don't mind feeling whatever it is a song makes me feel. Glad you're feeling better now, too!
What makes you keep listening is because he sometimes plays the chords at such a low volume you sometimes wonder if the song is still ON. Then he hits you with a hammer on or a pull off and gets into the next verse. Thats why imho.
Isbell songs are all about narrative and point of view. The protagonist of this song is the son. He's getting flowers and sympathy. His father has been on life support over the holidays. My favorite line from the song is "when that girl who wasn't mamma caused his heart attack" because it implies so much: an unfaithful father, possible abuse of power, who is absent from his son's life. Isbell is in the company of the most skilled songwriters in that he can say so much in just a simple turn of phrase. When John Prine passed Jason wrote a loving eulogy, starting with the observation that when he first heard "Angel From Montgomery" the opening volley "I am an old woman, named after my mother" at first seemed out of place. John Prine, at the time, was neither old or a woman. However, Prine, becoming the first person narrator of his songs, inhabits the characters he writes about totally and convincingly. "If dreams were lighting, and thunder was desire, this old house would have burnt down a long time ago," and by the end, Isbell and anyone who has ever listened to the song is totally convinced. That said, you should (re-)visit "Angel From Montgomery" along with, well, everything in the John Prime oeuvre.
I think he was coming to grips that his dad wasn't the best guy.
Another great storytelling song is Ellis Unit One by Steve Earle
Yup. Esp. that last verse, man. Gets me every time.
He bought flowers for his girlfriend because they broke up because he went with another girl. He didn’t break up in tears before he made it to the truck. Somebody in the small town told her. Everybody knows you in a speedtrap town.
I think the grocery clerk knows the flowers are for the narrators dad, who she knows is in the hospital (or perhaps he's already passed and he's off to the service) because everybody knows you in a speed trap town.
It was his father who was the cop. He screwed around on his wife (Jason's mom). The line "that woman that wasn't mama caused his heart attack". He lived with this. It's a very deep song about a childhood where everyone knew his dad did this to his mom and she stayed until he had the heart attack and ended up in ICU. "Jason" obviously drank a lot, maybe to deal with a fractured childhood. Then finally decided to leave. I think for himself maybe for the first time, clear and to get a fresh start. I heard him say once that most of his songs are written about people he knows, family and friends. I think that is why it feels so real, because it is. And I read you said his guitar technique was basic or something. It can be, but Jason has an amazing band. He does what he does best and surrounds himself with a dream team of musicians. Which makes his concerts something you really feel. "Something more than free is a perfect album", the title track is f*$&ing amazing.
Lily, love this song. I got this song message right off, but Thanks for sharing the meaning for everyone. It's a masterpiece
This is a nice story but simply isn’t true. Jason’s dad wasn’t a cop, he painted houses and worked maintenance jobs (as he’s talked about in Outfit and several interviews). His parents broke up shortly after he was born, and his dad is still alive and AFAIK is in fairly good health (he’s only 17 years older than Jason after all). Part of what makes Jason an incredible songwriter is that he can write such beautiful, touching stories about something he himself has never experienced, like he did with Yvette and like he’s doing here.
For us all, please listen to "Dress Blues".
Daddy was 'walkin' round' which is a southern euphemism for not being loyal to his marriage partner. In a small town everybody knows your business, and everybody knew that he wasn’t a good man. So… He was leaving the town, but mainly he was leaving his Daddy- issues behind.
Hypeman here onto fb
A thousand miles away from that speed trap town....
If this isn't my favorite Isbell song (and it might be) its definitely the one which resonates most personally with my life experience. I lost my father quite suddenly to cancer at 16, several years after he was diagnosed. This song so truthfully captures what happens when a family member has been very ill for so long you assume its never going to either get better or worse, its just going to stay that way forever, and then the suddenness of the experience when that changes. The protagonist of the song didn't know his father had died, the lady with the flowers had heard it through the grapevine first.
Hey Simeon, ouch, I'm so sorry about you losing your dad so young. I know what you're saying about thinking things will go on just the same, and then one day they don't--it's a game changer, that's for sure. Thanks or the explanation of the song, too. Some of these songs have so many levels and side-staotires and subtexts going on that it's tough to get it all in one listen.
@@RockN2Country Thanks for the concern. Jason Isbell's songs can be so layered and complex that it takes time to truly understand what they mean (his haunting masterpiece "Live Oak" is an even better example of this). My favorite Isbell songs tend to be about other people in literal terms, but with emotions which connect to his life experience. I'm not sure this one is anything other than pure empathy though
I've been liking "Relatively Easy" a lot... we've all suffered losses, but the refrain "I lost a good friend / Christmas time when folks go off the deep end / His woman took the kids and he took Klonopin / Enough to kill a man of twice his size / Not for me to understand / Remember him when he was a proud man / A vandal's smile and baseball in his right hand / Nothing but the blue sky in his eyes" ... reminds me of several people I've lost.
I'd love to see a reaction to "Shaky Bridges" by Sean McConnell. He's a great singer/songwriter and just released an album on Feb 8th. His live recorded video on his channel is excellent.
Hey Joe, thanks for the heads up abut Sean. Since it's such a new release I'll probably be blocked unless he's independent.
You should do “So Far Down” or “Maybe You Could Love Me Anyway” by Sean. Both are amazing!
Both are older releases too
Enjoyed the review! Would you mind explaining the reference that you noted? "The doctor said daddy wouldn't make it a year..."
Thanks, Keagan! As for the reference, I re-watched the vid to see the context, but didn't see the place where I'd referenced it. One thing that happens when reacting to a well-written song is that there are commonly metaphors used in such songs, and sometimes I'm trying to figure out the metaphorical meaning when the lyricist is being literal. So when I hear a song a second time it's much more obvious as to which way to understand a reference. In this case, the song is about a father who is a cop in a speed-trap town, and the father pulls women over presumably to have sex with them, which is how the father died--having sex with a woman he'd pulled over. But on first listen I missed some of this because the song allowed for possible (and multiple) meanings, but in the end it was literal. Daddy was a bad guy, and his son got out of town after his father died. Of course that understanding might change if I listened to it again. :-)
You should do decent man by James McMurtry
Waiting for your thoughts on Kris Kristofferson's "to beat the Devil" or Pilgram Chapter 33"
I'll be reacting to it tomorrow and posting it in about three weeks. I have a backlog of requests and am moving in two weeks, so am recording a bunch of reactions this week to make sure the flow of reviews/reactions isn't impacted while I close on the house and head back to Jersey.
Love your videos, do some Justin Moore I really think you will like his music I know I do!!
Please do “sunstroke” by Jason Isbell
Do some John Prine!
Sam Stone for a start
Can u react to john rich shuttin Detroit down ty
How about checking out some Norwegian Country/Rock? watch
Think this is from Garrison Keillor’s show.
His father was taking advantage of woman. Hence pulling woman over.
Makes sense, Kelly. And welcome to the family!!