Interesting how the version you hear first kind of sets the tone for what comes later. I'd never heard Cooley's older, slower versions of Pulaski, so the pacing and sound of the Go Go Boots version sound just right to me.
FWIW, I always assumed that she fell in with the wrong crowd and it was drugs that got her. But like most Cooley songs, it could go a lot of different ways.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 9:54 am
by beantownbubba
RevMatt wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:
RevMatt wrote:I consider Dolly to be the best female songwriter ever.
Joni Mitchell Carole King Ellie Greenwich Lucinda Williams Laura Nyro
For starters...
You wouldn't include Dolly in this group?!?!
The point is that you don't include Dolly in this group.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 11:38 am
by Zip City
Madness.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 12:13 pm
by one belt loop
People still snort cocaine?
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 4:01 pm
by beantownbubba
one belt loop wrote:People still snort cocaine?
She died a long time ago. Or at least the song was written a while back. I'm sure smitty can provide the relevant details. Sir?
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 4:48 pm
by Tequila Cowboy
one belt loop wrote:People still snort cocaine?
When they can't get it on donuts.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 10:41 am
by one belt loop
Tequila Cowboy wrote:
one belt loop wrote:People still snort cocaine?
When they can't get it on donuts.
14-day countdown to NOLA for me!
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 11:05 am
by JimmerDette
One of my fav Cooley songs.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 12:19 pm
by Smitty
beantownbubba wrote:
one belt loop wrote:People still snort cocaine?
She died a long time ago. Or at least the song was written a while back. I'm sure smitty can provide the relevant details. Sir?
The first time it was performed that I know of was in 2001, so it's atleast that old - but I can promise powder still gets snorted, every day.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Sun May 06, 2012 8:35 am
by Smarty Jones
Love, love, love this song - definitely one of Cooley's best.
I wonder if this is just me, or if any of y'all have noticed this as well - I have no gripe with the album version, it's still one of my favorite songs off of it. But I've heard this song played in both a stripped down setting and a rawk show setting live (as in I was there) and this is what I thought - When Cooley plays this song solo or as an acoustic duet with Patterson, it sounds insanely beautiful. The magic of the song is spellbinding. Like this video they did for the Mahogany Sessions:
But when I've heard it played at a full-on show, the only way I remember it was played is if I keep a running setlist. All the magic is gone and the song becomes utterly forgettable. I've apparently heard it twice in person at the rawk show and I honestly can't recall it in my memory. Maybe that's just my bad memory or something, but I do feel like a bit of the spark that makes this song so remarkable gets lost in the full-on electric band ensemble. I feel like this song needs the more laid-back acoustic arrangement to fully be appreciated. Perhaps Cooley should start swapping this one out of the rawk show set with Sounds Better in the Song. Sounds Better in the Song sounds so good with the electric treatment; Pulaski, not so much.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Mon May 07, 2012 2:16 pm
by GuitarManUpstairs
^^^^Agree.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 2:37 am
by jeromejohn
This song always reminded me of Townes Van Zandt's Tecumseh Valley, which was masterfully covered by Steve Earle on his classic album Train a Comin:
The name she gave was Caroline The daughter of a miner And her ways were free and it seemed to me The sunshine walked beside her She come from Spencer 'cross the hill She said her Pa had sent her 'Cause the coal was low and soon the snow Would turn the skies to winter
Well she said she'd come to look for work She was not seeking favors For a dime a day and a place to stay She'd turn those hands to labor
The times were hard Lord the jobs were few All through Tecumseh Valley But she asked around and a job she found Tending bar for Gypsy Sally
She saved enough to get back home When spring replaced the winter But her dreams were denied her Pa had died The word came down from Spencer
She turned to whorin' out on the streets With all the lust inside her It was many a man returned again To lay himself beside her
Well they found her down beneath the stairs That led to Gypsy Sally's In her hand when she died Was a note that cried Fare thee well Tecumseh Valley
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 8:58 am
by cortez the killer
Great call jj. I never made the connection before. "Tecumseh Valley" is my favorite TVZ song.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Wed May 09, 2012 9:52 am
by Clams
GuitarManUpstairs wrote:^^^^Agree.
I agree with Smarty's post as well.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Sun May 29, 2016 10:49 am
by jr29
brett27295 wrote:This song has always reminded me of Elvis Presley's Long Black Limousine. Both have similar story lines, girl leaves small town and ends up coming back in a pine box.
Wish I knew what happened out there in California though lol. I guess we can all interpret it the way we choose.
Very, very similar to "Long Black Limousine". Good call.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 6:04 pm
by John A Arkansawyer
There is a bust of Casimir Pulaski, for whom that town and this county are named, not a hundred yards from where I type this. I'll give it a good look next time I walk by. Maybe now we'll need another:
Nara Schoenberg wrote:When the skeleton believed to belong to the Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski was first examined by modern scientists in the late 1990s, the results were disappointing.
“You’ll just have to shoot me,” a forensic anthropologist told the head of the scientific team, according to a new Smithsonian Channel documentary.
“It’s a woman. It’s not Pulaski.”
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 1:11 am
by dime in the gutter
i don't remember this thread.
johnny cash tennessee two step shuffle back beat. angels singing in the fog. patterson delicate plucking. freaky deaky organ/pedal steel/accordian mash up.
studio version is a wonder to behold.
i've never really listened to the lyrics. what's it about?
a great song on a criminally underrated album.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 7:42 am
by John A Arkansawyer
dime in the gutter wrote:i've never really listened to the lyrics. what's it about?
Small town girl makes good, American style.
dime in the gutter wrote:a great song on a criminally underrated album.
Preach it, brother!
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 9:27 am
by Clams
It' was mesmerizing when cooley played it at his solo show few months ago
Stumbled upon this thread/post, and damn, it hurts...
Sure does. And not just 'cause of Smitty. Lots of people i'd love to see back here, even occasionally, and some really good commentary. Plus one of the few old threads that didn't make me cringe when I look back at my contributions.
Little known (at least to me) fact about Pulaski, TN: It is the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan. I'm surprised that factoid didn't make it into the thread, but maybe it is as obscure a fact to everyone else as well. I don't think there's anything in the lyrics that suggests that this fact influenced Cooley's choice to use the town in his song, but who knows, maybe it could be the basis for a brand new interpretation of the song. Oh, Smitty, we need you.
Stumbled upon this thread/post, and damn, it hurts...
Sure does. And not just 'cause of Smitty. Lots of people i'd love to see back here, even occasionally, and some really good commentary. Plus one of the few old threads that didn't make me cringe when I look back at my contributions...Oh, Smitty, we need you.
TC posted two days ago that it was the 6-year anniversary of "American Band". At that point, I didn't know any of you existed. Despite that, with a lot of Heathens I think I've made up for a lot of lost time since.
But one of my real regrets in coming late to the party is missing a lot of this stuff, these to me pretty thoughtful threads (I know there's bunches that are...not) and not getting to meet Smitty at his brilliant best. The musical knowledge at his fingertips is astonishing, even in this robust company, and he cared about it so much.
Stumbled upon this thread/post, and damn, it hurts...
Sure does. And not just 'cause of Smitty. Lots of people i'd love to see back here, even occasionally, and some really good commentary. Plus one of the few old threads that didn't make me cringe when I look back at my contributions...Oh, Smitty, we need you.
TC posted two days ago that it was the 6-year anniversary of "American Band". At that point, I didn't know any of you existed. Despite that, with a lot of Heathens I think I've made up for a lot of lost time since.
But one of my real regrets in coming late to the party is missing a lot of this stuff, these to me pretty thoughtful threads (I know there's bunches that are...not) and not getting to meet Smitty at his brilliant best. The musical knowledge at his fingertips is astonishing, even in this robust company, and he cared about it so much.
As Phungi said, damn, damn, damn...
Indeed. Imo the «boards» format, although perhaps antiquated, is superior to other platforms for these type of discussions. There are tons of great stuff in here for those willing to do some digging. There was another board before this one that was shut down around the time I got into the band and joined here, so I have felt similar regrets.
Sure does. And not just 'cause of Smitty. Lots of people i'd love to see back here, even occasionally, and some really good commentary. Plus one of the few old threads that didn't make me cringe when I look back at my contributions...Oh, Smitty, we need you.
TC posted two days ago that it was the 6-year anniversary of "American Band". At that point, I didn't know any of you existed. Despite that, with a lot of Heathens I think I've made up for a lot of lost time since.
But one of my real regrets in coming late to the party is missing a lot of this stuff, these to me pretty thoughtful threads (I know there's bunches that are...not) and not getting to meet Smitty at his brilliant best. The musical knowledge at his fingertips is astonishing, even in this robust company, and he cared about it so much.
As Phungi said, damn, damn, damn...
Indeed. Imo the «boards» format, although perhaps antiquated, is superior to other platforms for these type of discussions. There are tons of great stuff in here for those willing to do some digging. There was another board before this one that was shut down around the time I got into the band and joined here, so I have felt similar regrets.
Agreed. I was on 9B all the time for a few years but then much less here after it started. Now I've wound up circling back because I appreciate that stuff.
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 11:48 am
by beantownbubba
It's pretty obvious which media platform I prefer, lol. I'm still not sure why there was such a mass migration from here to [mostly] Facebook, except for the mass migration of women participants which is a whole other depressing, regrettable story.
A lot of what happens here seems to me to be preferable to the equivalent discussions on FB (as of the last time I looked which was some time ago) but that's just one man's opinion. I joke (semi seriously) about some of the awkward or dated stuff that pops up in old threads, but on the whole I'm pretty happy with the quality and substance of discussions here. I guess message boards are like your dad's Oldsmobile, but I keep hoping for a turnaround rather than a complete wipeout.
It's pretty obvious which media platform I prefer, lol. I'm still not sure why there was such a mass migration from here to [mostly] Facebook, except for the mass migration of women participants which is a whole other depressing, regrettable story.
A lot of what happens here seems to me to be preferable to the equivalent discussions on FB (as of the last time I looked which was some time ago) but that's just one man's opinion. I joke (semi seriously) about some of the awkward or dated stuff that pops up in old threads, but on the whole I'm pretty happy with the quality and substance of discussions here. I guess message boards are like your dad's Oldsmobile, but I keep hoping for a turnaround rather than a complete wipeout.
My new mantra is morphing into, "Take your blood pressure meds, put on your glasses and ALWAYS GO TO THE SHOW."
Re: dbt tracks week #103 - Pulaski
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:30 pm
by Beaverdam
Well pearlbeer the REAL fans wear Depends, but you do you!!!!
Well pearlbeer the REAL fans wear Depends, but you do you!!!!
Haha. That reminded me of a quote during The Secret to a Happy Ending, "we wear diapers to the show so we never miss a song!", said by a drunken 20 year old co-ed.