dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

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Smitty
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Smitty »

beantownbubba wrote:Sorry I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but I always find local customs and traditions interesting. So, it's quite literally Decoration Day, in terms of fixing up the graves and not being limited to remembering war dead. IOW, it's something different than Memorial Day, not just another name for it? And taking it another step, does this mean that Jason's not writing about Memorial Day? And btw, just because, when did Decoration Day become Memorial Day, anyway?


It's totally separate from Memorial Day, atleast around here - the decorating isn't limited to people who passed in the last year, but that's who are acknowledged in the DD service - it usually coincides with
local "Dogwood festivals", which celebrate the blooming of the dogwood trees -

from the DD press release:
Decoration Day is the day many southern churches set aside to place flowers on the graves of their departed loved ones. DBT's Decoration Day is 15 songs about the choices people make (good and bad) and their repercussions. The resulting album is an ambitious mix of the full-on "three guitar ROCK" that the band so prominently displayed on Southern Rock Opera and the more "countryish" elements from their earlier albums. The album features guest appearances from Muscle Shoals legend Spooner Oldham on the Wurlitzer Electric Piano, singer Clay Leverett, and fiddles from Centro-Matic's Scott Danbom. John Neff returns to play Pedal Steel on several cuts. (He had played on DBT's first two albums).
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cortez the killer
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by cortez the killer »

gerg wrote:
cortez the killer wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:And btw, just because, when did Decoration Day become Memorial Day, anyway?

I didn't know either, but this was helpful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day


And you guys call yourselves DbT fans. Shame on you. :geek:

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Smitty
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Smitty »

It's also usually the same week at the Confederate Memorial Day.
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by beantownbubba »

As has been previously observed, the sheer volume of things i don't know or understand is pretty damn vast and pretty much leaves me shameless, gerg ;) But this one hit me right between the eyes. It doesn't actually change much meaning wise (though it is a little more clear i suppose), but having assumed from the very first time I heard of and then heard the album and the song that the referenced date was Memorial Day it's now a little disorienting to learn otherwise. Huh! Go figure :o

Thanks for the link, Cortez. If anybody else follows it, note that the first reference to the name change (1882) is wrong which is good because it made no sense to me LOL. Later in the article there's a longer section devoted specifically to the name change which ties growing popular usage of "Memorial Day" to the post - WWII period and gives the date of the official change as the 1960's (67 I think).
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Smarty Jones »

beantownbubba wrote:As has been previously observed, the sheer volume of things i don't know or understand is pretty damn vast and pretty much leaves me shameless, gerg ;) But this one hit me right between the eyes. It doesn't actually change much meaning wise (though it is a little more clear i suppose), but having assumed from the very first time I heard of and then heard the album and the song that the referenced date was Memorial Day it's now a little disorienting to learn otherwise. Huh! Go figure :o

Thanks for the link, Cortez. If anybody else follows it, note that the first reference to the name change (1882) is wrong which is good because it made no sense to me LOL. Later in the article there's a longer section devoted specifically to the name change which ties growing popular usage of "Memorial Day" to the post - WWII period and gives the date of the official change as the 1960's (67 I think).


My family has always referenced Memorial Day as Decoration Day, so I always thought they were one and the same. Our family doesn't really like to refer to it as Memorial Day because it has too deep of a military implication. Instead of honoring just the handful of veterans in our family, we consider the holiday as a time to remember everyone that's passed on, serviceman or not. I guess that's why grandma's refused to call it anything but Decoration Day....
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Iowan »

Smitty wrote:It's also usually the same week at the Confederate Memorial Day.


And this is why those of us from non-seceding states are ignorant of the distinction.

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

So what I get from the story is this:

The younger Lawson is looking back, first on how the whole thing got started (which he doesn't really know), then on the incident which led directly to his father being killed: First his father beats him in front of his brothers, then he and his brothers cripple another young man.

He's grown since then, and has moved his family away (in distance both physical and otherwise) in the hopes of breaking the chain of violence which (we assume) leads back from his father into the past. He's trying to free his family from what he himself cannot get free from.

Despite reason, despite knowing better, despite doing almost all he can to be different, he is still loyal to his father and his feelings of duty.

He knows what Howard Hill drives. He knows where he'll be on Decoration Day, which is now. He's there to kill him. He hopes that will be an end to it.

He knows better. And here he is.
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by cortez the killer »

John A Arkansawyer wrote:So what I get from the story is this:

The younger Lawson is looking back, first on how the whole thing got started (which he doesn't really know), then on the incident which led directly to his father being killed: First his father beats him in front of his brothers, then he and his brothers cripple another young man.

He's grown since then, and has moved his family away (in distance both physical and otherwise) in the hopes of breaking the chain of violence which (we assume) leads back from his father into the past. He's trying to free his family from what he himself cannot get free from.

Despite reason, despite knowing better, despite doing almost all he can to be different, he is still loyal to his father and his feelings of duty.

He knows what Howard Hill drives. He knows where he'll be on Decoration Day, which is now. He's there to kill him. He hopes that will be an end to it.

He knows better. And here he is.

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Iowan »

John A Arkansawyer wrote:So what I get from the story is this:

The younger Lawson is looking back, first on how the whole thing got started (which he doesn't really know), then on the incident which led directly to his father being killed: First his father beats him in front of his brothers, then he and his brothers cripple another young man.

He's grown since then, and has moved his family away (in distance both physical and otherwise) in the hopes of breaking the chain of violence which (we assume) leads back from his father into the past. He's trying to free his family from what he himself cannot get free from.

Despite reason, despite knowing better, despite doing almost all he can to be different, he is still loyal to his father and his feelings of duty.

He knows what Howard Hill drives. He knows where he'll be on Decoration Day, which is now. He's there to kill him. He hopes that will be an end to it.

He knows better. And here he is.


I like this interpretation. This is the best one yet. Bravo.

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Tequila Cowboy »

Apropos of nothing, Jason & The 400 Unit killed on this one last night. It's become much more of a take no prisoners Neil Young style fuzz fest than it was in DBT. Top notch.
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by cortez the killer »

Tequila Cowboy wrote:The album has great songs by three great songwriters. There isn't a track on it I don't like and if it wasn't for Marry Me I may never have gotten into the band in the first place. Ranking it is a futile and pointless exercise (not that I don't partake in those from time to time). As far as DD the song, that one just cuts to the core and rocks like a motherfucker (especially with the fake ending and subsequent rock & roll awesomeness). That is all.

Well, as far as I see it, you aren't allowed to rank anything until you finish this mess. That is all.
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Swamp »

Speaking of local customs.
Unless you're in a southern biker gang, ain't no self respecting southern boy gonna fight with a chain.
It's either fist or guns, maybe a knife or two.

I also find John A Arkansawyer's interpretation right on.
and the rest as they say is uh er uh, well somebodies history somewhere?

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by EddieHinton »

Here’s how I see it

It's Decoration Day.
And I've a mind to roll a stone on his grave.
But what would he say.
"Keeping me down, boy, won't keep me away."
Decoration Day is a day to honor your dead ancestors, separate from Memorial Day.
The father is dead.
The son dislikes his father, wanting to disrespect his memory by rolling a stone on his grave, but his old man’s ghost is such a bastard he reminds him that that won’t help

It's Decoration Day.
And I knew the Hill Boys would put us away,
but my Daddy wasn't afraid.
He said "We'll fight till the last Lawson's last living day"


I never knew how it all got started
a problem with Holland before we were born
and I don't know the name of that boy we tied down
and beat till he just couldn't walk anymore.
But I know the caliber in Daddy's chest
and I know what Holland Hill drives.
The state let him go, but I guess it was best
cause nobody needs all us Lawsons alive.
What this tells us-The son knows it is a bad idea, but the old man doesn’t care. They beat a Hill boy until he couldn’t walk. The old man received a bullet in the chest by Holland Hill. Hill was not convicted. The son doesn't really mind.

Daddy said one of the boys had come by
the Lumber Man's favorite son.
He said, "Beat him real good but don't dare let him die
and if you see Holland Hill run.
Now I said, "they ain't give us trouble no more
that we ain't brought down on ourselves"
But a chain on my back and my ear to the floor
and I'll send all the Hill Boys to hell.
This is more detail from the same incident. The Lumber Man is Holland Hill. The son tries to talk the old man out of it, but being a bastard, the old man kicks his ass and sends him on his way, and they beat the Hill boy until he couldn’t walk.


It's Decoration Day
and I've got a family in Mobile Bay
and they've never seen my Daddy's grave.
But that don't bother me, it ain't marked anyway.
Cause I got dead brothers in Lauderdale south
and I got dead brothers in east Tennessee.
My Daddy got shot right in front of his house
he had no one to fall on but me.
They shot his old man.

It's Decoration Day
and I've got a mind to go spit on his grave.
If I was a Hill, I'd have put him away
and I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
His old man was a redneck son of a bitch and he’s glad he’s dead.

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by mark lynn »

EddieHinton wrote:Here’s how I see it

It's Decoration Day.
And I've a mind to roll a stone on his grave.
But what would he say.
"Keeping me down, boy, won't keep me away."
Decoration Day is a day to honor your dead ancestors, separate from Memorial Day.
The father is dead.
The son dislikes his father, wanting to disrespect his memory by rolling a stone on his grave, but his old man’s ghost is such a bastard he reminds him that that won’t help

It's Decoration Day.
And I knew the Hill Boys would put us away,
but my Daddy wasn't afraid.
He said "We'll fight till the last Lawson's last living day"


I never knew how it all got started
a problem with Holland before we were born
and I don't know the name of that boy we tied down
and beat till he just couldn't walk anymore.
But I know the caliber in Daddy's chest
and I know what Holland Hill drives.
The state let him go, but I guess it was best
cause nobody needs all us Lawsons alive.
What this tells us-The son knows it is a bad idea, but the old man doesn’t care. They beat a Hill boy until he couldn’t walk. The old man received a bullet in the chest by Holland Hill. Hill was not convicted. The son doesn't really mind.

Daddy said one of the boys had come by
the Lumber Man's favorite son.
He said, "Beat him real good but don't dare let him die
and if you see Holland Hill run.
Now I said, "they ain't give us trouble no more
that we ain't brought down on ourselves"
But a chain on my back and my ear to the floor
and I'll send all the Hill Boys to hell.
This is more detail from the same incident. The Lumber Man is Holland Hill. The son tries to talk the old man out of it, but being a bastard, the old man kicks his ass and sends him on his way, and they beat the Hill boy until he couldn’t walk.


It's Decoration Day
and I've got a family in Mobile Bay
and they've never seen my Daddy's grave.
But that don't bother me, it ain't marked anyway.
Cause I got dead brothers in Lauderdale south
and I got dead brothers in east Tennessee.
My Daddy got shot right in front of his house
he had no one to fall on but me.
They shot his old man.

It's Decoration Day
and I've got a mind to go spit on his grave.
If I was a Hill, I'd have put him away
and I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.
His old man was a redneck son of a bitch and he’s glad he’s dead.


The hard luck guy motherfucker above knows what's up.

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Sterling Big Mouth »

Some great takes have already done this song justice. I'll add that to me, the song comes down to two lines:

If I was a Hill, I'd have put him away
and I'd fight till the last Lawson's last living day.

Loyalty. Lawson Jr. knows the feud is pointless, and that his role in the fight could just as easily be reversed, but he's born a Lawson and so he has to do what he has to do.

Also, while the band has described the album as being about choices, this song to me is about the opposite. Of course, Lawson Jr. can choose to turn his back on his family and stop the cycle, but what kind of a choice is that? It's like Patterson's kin in The Southern Thing. The guy doesn't want to fight for slavery, but there's an advancing army less than 30 miles from home.

Finally, I recently had to pick an album for a friend interested in hearing DBT for the first time. I kept going back and forth between DD and TDS (I believe this is SRO territory, but two discs can be overwhelming to a casual listener), but chose DD because tracks 1-5 is a great showcase for the band and their range.
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Kudzu Guillotine »

Decoration Day isn't my favorite either but during a recent discussion with someone that had never heard the Truckers, it's the album I recommended. In fact, I think that's usually the case. I recommended it not because I think it's their best but because I think it's the most accessible for a potentially new fan. It also showcases all the strengths of the Truckers from the subject matter to the songs styles (rockers, ballads, country, etc.).

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by mark lynn »

Kudzu Guillotine wrote:Decoration Day isn't my favorite either but during a recent discussion with someone that had never heard the Truckers, it's the album I recommended. In fact, I think that's usually the case. I recommended it not because I think it's their best but because I think it's the most accessible for a potentially new fan. It also showcases all the strengths of the Truckers from the subject matter to the songs styles (rockers, ballads, country, etc.).


And it's got Marry Me on it.

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Clams »

Bump
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by GuitarManUpstairs »

So last week Gepman posted this over in the 'Former Members' discussion. Didn't seem to be getting much attention. Thought some reference to this should belong in this thread. Jason tells the story below to an audience in Oslo earlier this year opening for Ryan Adams:

"So when I was a little kid I was about 5 or 6 years old, my Mama's Uncle Holland killed a man that lived down the street from him, and uh, this was in the 80's, about like 85-86 when the state of Alabama when the "he needed killin' defense" still stood so you could basically just say, "well he needed killin'" and that was the end of the trial and he didn't get into any trouble for it. That's kinda how it happened and I mean there's a few more details to that but the man needed killin', so... He didn't try to hide, run off, or burn the body, he just said "I killed him, he needed killin', but um sometime around my 17th or 18th year somebody in the family actually told me what happened and before that they never really talked about it that much and it wasn't the kind of thing that we really wanted everybody to know about. So, my Mother made the worst mistake in the world when she was telling me about it, right as I was learning how to write songs. So I wrote this one on the front porch in Houston Texas, about 2001..." - Jason Isbell

I guess he doesn't tell the story here in the states cause he doesn't want everybody to know about it.... :? Sorry i'm letting the cat outta the bag but I thought you all needed to know. Ya'll can keep a secret right?
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by GuitarManUpstairs »

No comments on this yet???....was I the only one in the dark about this revelation???
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by RevMatt »

I spoke to Jason about the song at the party last Saturday. I told him my son's theory that the narrator killed his own father, thus ending the feud once and for all and saving his own life. Jason said that it might be a good variation on the story but Holland Hill definately killed Lawson and the son really isn't that upset about it.
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by GW in IA »

I just didn't comment 'cause I want to keep the secre safe. ;)
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by 94dawg »

gerg wrote: even if the Isbell introduction ended up being a double-edged sword in terms of bringing a not always welcome demographic into the fold at shows.



Found this statement curious, to say the least. What demographic was that?
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Smitty »

E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Beaverdam »

Nothing life-changing here, bur I wanted to share....

My eight month old little girl is cutting her first tooth; this weekend she couldn't sleep. In desperation I started singing "Decoration Day" in my girl's ear and she stopped crying and went to sleep pretty quickly; she'll probably ask me in a year or so if she's a Hill or a Lawson!!!

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Cole Younger »

Beaverdam wrote:Nothing life-changing here, bur I wanted to share....

My eight month old little girl is cutting her first tooth; this weekend she couldn't sleep. In desperation I started singing "Decoration Day" in my girl's ear and she stopped crying and went to sleep pretty quickly; she'll probably ask me in a year or so if she's a Hill or a Lawson!!!


Lol. That's awesome. My little girl sings along to Flying Over Water any time I play it in the truck.
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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Beaverdam »

My wife just got me to read this article. "It's Decoration Day"

http://alabamaliving.coop/article/decoration-day/

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by blackwll »

Journey Proud (Samford U prof APT show):

http://journeyproudalabama.com/journey_ ... ation-day/

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Re: dbt tracks # 53 - Decoration Day

Post by Mundane Mayhem »

"Decoration Day" is American Songwriter's "Lyric of the Week."

http://americansongwriter.com/2018/04/d ... ation-day/
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