"Songs That She Sang In The Shower" by Jason Isbell
Putting it back together
“On a lark, on a whim / I said “There's two kinds of men in this world and you're neither of them” / And his fist cut the smoke / I had an eighth of a second to wonder if he got the joke”
This song is so damn great, on so many levels. I don’t even know where to begin. It’d be pointless for me to point out all the specific great things about it, because you probably either appreciate this song already or you - being a discerning member of this audience - can plainly see how great it is. I have nothing to add. It’s just a marvel.
“In the car headed home / She asked if I had considered the prospect of living alone / With a steak held to my eye / I had to summon the confidence needed to hear her goodbye / And another brief chapter without any answers blew by”
The word that comes to mind is vivid. You see the smoke, the fist, the steak etc. But you also see the feelings, just as clearly. We’re on the way down, with Jason, on a graceful journey to rock bottom. I can see the guy clearly, and coincidentally I also have a decent idea of what it’s like to be that guy. Not that exact guy, but a guy in his position. A lot of people do.
“And the songs that she sang in the shower are stuck in my head / Like ‘Bring Out Your Dead,' ‘Breakfast In Bed' / And experience robs me of hope that she'll make it back home / So I'm stuck on my own, I'm stuck on my own”
Stuck on my own.
I’ve spent a good part of my life stuck on my own. Before the phone came along, being stuck on my own was absolutely intolerable. Yeah, I might’ve read some books and listened to records but the main feature of being stuck on my own in the before times was a gnawing, sucking feeling inside my chest. It screamed: I’m missing out on life. This is wrong. Get out the door. Find people to associate with, someone, anyone. Do not remain alone like this, stuck like this. On your own.
Things are much different now. I’m much happier now, more integrated and in love (both with a person and with life). But if, by some misfortune, I should wind up in the future once again stuck on my own… I’d probably be ok. I’d have youtube, my instruments and a head full of interesting memories.
Boredom isn’t something we have to worry about anymore, not in the passive sense like we did before 9/11, before the iPhone, before the pandemic. Now there’s a constantly-available cocktail of panic and amusement, never far from our fingertips. You can clutch at it all day long.
Or you can get clean:
“In a room by myself / Looks like I'm here with the guy that I judge worse than anyone else / So I pace, and I pray / And I repeat the mantras that might keep me clean for a day”
But Jason is not describing a digital detox.
I see the guy pacing and praying. I remember my own journeys. Not everyone has had to swear off of some type of vice forever, because we’re not all addicts. But every single person needs to learn to live with themself. This song isn’t here for you to feel sorry for the guy in the song, because he’s also the guy who wrote this masterpiece. He doesn’t need your pity. But more importantly: anyone who responds with pity to a story about addiction and recovery is missing the point entirely.
It’s not about being broken, it’s about putting yourself back together.
“And the songs that she sang in the shower all ring in my ears / Like ‘Wish You Were Here,” How I wish you were here / And experience robs me of hope that you'll ever return / So I breathe and I burn, I breathe and I burn”
He kind of makes it sound easy: all you gotta do is breathe and burn. Let’s all sing this one together? You’re on your way out of the shit too, right?
You don’t have to do it alone. Except when you do.
“And the church bells are ringing for those who are easy to please / And the frost on the ground probably envies the frost on the trees”
The line about the frost that closes out this bridge is like finding a ‘59 Les Paul in a pawn shop for $100. We’re just gonna fly this one in, get John Steinbeck to give us a line to round it out. No notes, hat off.
“And the songs that she sang in the shower are stuck in my mind / Like ‘Yesterday's Wine,' Like ‘Yesterday's Wine' / And experience tells me that I'll never hear them again / Without thinking of then, without thinking of then”
All together now:
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