For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday Jim’s post Going Biblical tells us that he is going again with a suggestion by Nancy, the Sicilian Storyteller: the second in her (at least) six week takeover of themes. As I said last week, her blog – The Elephant’s Trunk – is well worth a look. This week’s invitation is to play you songs about God or the afterlife, and as I am not in the least religious I went straight for the afterlife. I just hope that doesn’t hasten my journey towards it! This song has been recorded many times since Lefty Frizzell first did it in 1959, but the one that I first recall hearing, and still my favourite, is this one:
And the lyrics:
Ten years ago on a cool dark night There was someone killed ‘neath the town hall light There were few at the scene and they all did agree That the man who ran looked a lot like me
The judge said “Son, what is your alibi? If you were somewhere else then you won’t have to die” I spoke not a word although it meant my life I had been in the arms of my best friend’s wife
She walks these hills in a long black veil She visits my grave where the night winds wail Nobody knows, no, and nobody sees Nobody knows but me
The scaffold was high and eternity neared She stood in the crowd and shed not a tear But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans In a long black veil she cries over my bones
The Band recorded their version of Long Black Veil for their debut album, Music From Big Pink, which was released in July 1968 and made #12 in their native Canada and #30 in the US, but didn’t chart in the UK. I bought it on the strength of hearing the single taken from it in August of that year – The Weight (UK #21) – which is potentially a risky thing to do. Not in this case, though: I loved the album, and still do. The song tells the story from beyond the grave of a man who preferred to be executed for a murder he didn’t commit rather than use his alibi – which was that he had been enjoying nookie with his best friend’s wife at the time of the crime. The video I am playing today is from a concert DVD recorded in 1983, by which time Robbie Robertson had left, but Rick Danko’s vocals are still just as good as they ever were. The accompaniment is slightly more uptempo than the recorded version, but it is still a great listen.
I mentioned that there have been many other versions of this song, and thought I’d play you another as a little bonus. This one is from an album I also bought on its release in January 1995, from the traditional Irish folk band The Chieftains. They had previously made several albums on which they had invited guests to sing with them, and chose The Long Black Veil as the title track for this one. Here is their version, with Mick Jagger on vocals, in an atmospheric little video that someone has made to accompany it:
I do love The Chieftains, and this is also a great album, with other contributions from Sting, Sinéad O’Connor, Van Morrison, and Ry Cooder, among others. It has gone Gold in the US and Silver in the UK: Wikipedia doesn’t list any chart placings for it but the Official Charts Company show that it spent 13 weeks in the UK Albums chart, peaking at #17.
On balance, whilst both of these are good I’d go for The Band’s version. Maybe that’s because it was the one I grew up with, or perhaps it is just that little bit better. Who knows?
That’s all for today, and I hope you’ve enjoyed them. See you again for Tuesday Tunes, when I’ll be showing you how I’m bringing my six week mini-series to its conclusion. Be well and safe 😊
Take It Easy 