Because the music is so spare, this song doesn't immediately jump out at you like some of the others on English oceans. But there's nothing like DBT in storytelling mode. "When Walter Went Crazy" is one of those under-the-radar Patterson Hood songs where just a few sparse lines and words set a scene so vivid in your mind. I have this perfectly clear image of the living room where Walter and his wife grind the gears - she painting her toenails and watching Matlock, drinking the Tab and talking to her mother on the phone, and him with the cigarette and demented eyes, veins and heart. Very few songwriters that I know of can craft a scene as well as Patterson - Lucinda Williams and James McMurtry come to mind, Springsteen back in the day. Other Patterson Hood songs I'd put in this class include Daddy Needs a Drink and The Opening Act. While "Walter" will never get played on the radio and it only gets played sparingly in concert, I consider it one of the foundation songs on English oceans.



When Walter went crazy she was sitting on the couch
Painting her toenails and drinking a Tab
He walked out of the bedroom with a cigarette in his mouth
and he poured gasoline in a circle all around the house

When Walter went crazy he had rattlesnake in his eyes
blended whisky in his veins and murder in his heart
She watched him walk out the door and knew he was gone
Matlock on the TV and her mama on the phone

When Walter went crazy, they say he just snapped
It had gone on for so long and she wasn’t coming back
She hadn’t been off the couch in at least a dozen years
Deafened by silence and the grinding of the gears

Their friends could see it coming like yellow piss on snow
Like a house fire in the distance like a car crash in slow mo
Their friends could see it coming but what could someone do
When it’s speeding down the runway
and the brake line’s torn in two

When Walter went crazy and the house went up in flames
You could see his hands shaking from the bourbon and the shame
He never planned the ending he just rolled the credit names
When the lights came up we all went home but never quite the same

I'm with you. Love the vivid picture it paints. One of my favorites on the record for sure.

Great song. Those last two lines remind us all that Patterson likes writing the movie version.

Musically, this song is straight from Heat Lightning (not literally, but it has that sound to it)

Like many of you, this may not be my absolute favorite song; however, I believe it has some phenomenal lyrics.

"He had rattlesnake in his eyes."
This makes me think of fourth grade writing class and learning about similes and metaphors. Most folks would say "Walter's eyes looked like a rattlesnake's" however, Patterson's writing style is so much more effective here. Walter was so mad and so crazy that his eyes became rattlesnake eyes!

"Blended whiskey in his veins"
I picture a plastic bottle of Segrams-7.

"like yellow piss on snow"
What an effective description; everyone knows what that looks like and how distinctive it is!

"hands shaking from the bourbon and the shame"
I guess Walter stepped up from Segrams-7 to Old Crow as the night progressed!

Also, hearing about drinking a "Tab" takes me back to 1985. Are they still manufactured?

Clams wrote:Very few songwriters that I know of can craft a scene as well as Patterson

Agreed... these two lines paint quite a vivid picture of life in their house:

She hadn’t been off the couch in at least a dozen years
Deafened by silence and the grinding of the gears

In recent years Patterson Hood has written several songs told from the community's point of view. "The Wig He Made Her Wear" and "Drag The Lake Charlie" are two examples of this. IMO, "When Walter Went Crazy" is one of his best songs written from this perspective. One gets the sense that the narrator is a neighbor who has known the family for a long time. There is no sense of superiority, as if they were making fun of some crazy neighbor who had a psychotic breakdown. Instead, one gets the sense that Walter is as much a part of the neighborhood as anyone else and the whole thing is a tragedy. True, it is one they saw coming but despite being in a position to see it a neighbor cannot really do something like initiate an intervention.

This song always makes me think of the tragedy of Vic Chesnutt's death. No, it was nothing like the Walter story but from what I understand he lived near Patterson and I imagine that night when Chesnutt died the people in the neighborhood found out because of the flashing of the ambulance and sort of knew what had happened before anyone told them.

This is a great Patterson song.

Beaverdam wrote:
Also, hearing about drinking a "Tab" takes me back to 1985. Are they still manufactured?

Just cracked one open.

Spent an hour reassembling a futon tonight busting my knuckles and cursing up a storm and had this song in my head the entire time.

They should play this at IKEA.

wooswiff wrote:Spent an hour reassembling a futon tonight busting my knuckles and cursing up a storm and had this song in my head the entire time.

They should play this at IKEA.

I think "When WIlmer Went Crazy" would be a huge hit in Sweden

I love this song.

Does anyone know of a reason why they play it so infrequently live?

It's grown on me a bit, although it's still not one of my favorites.

As far as playing it live....it's kinda a momentum killer....being slow, but sort of a "bouncy" slow song the way something like Natural Light or World of Hurt is.

My wife loves the "He had rattlesnake in his eyes" line.