Albums You Must Hear From The New Millennium
A Hidden America
When the Drive-By Truckers recorded The Dirty South they tapped into a side of white America few ever realize exists. I slipped into this America as a teenager trying to escape the suburban hellscape of my youth. It exists all over this country, remaining a truly American subculture full of drugs, moonshine, crimes small and large, and struggles for survival. It has its own distinct code of honor, loyalty, and friendship. Apolitical and non-religious at its core, however proud and true in its nature. The Dirty South is real and the Truckers are its storytellers.
Let this be a lesson to you girl: Don't come around where you know you don't belong. They're riding on the avenue and probably coming after you and they all look mean and strong. Mean and strong like liquor. Mean and strong like fear. Strong like the people from South Alabama and mean like the people from here. Take it from me We ain't never gonna change. Never Gonna Change - Drive-By Truckers (2008)
Characters of The Dirty South
Less a concept album and more a collage the Drive-By Truckers create a musical menagerie of various images and characters, their lives and situations. Each song pulls you deep into the psyche and emotional state of the protagonists. They become familiar like distant friends, whom you really can’t help, but still care for from the bottom of your heart. Some characters you want to just wrap in your arms and hug. Others you wished you had never met. Knowing you can’t always pick your friends you keep an uneasy loyalty, ready to lend that helping hand while hoping they will never reach out.
Son come running You better come quick This rotgut moonshine is making me sick Your mama called the law And they're gonna take me away Down so far even the devil won't stay Where The Devil Won't Stay - Drive-By Truckers (2008)
Invisible Republic
Although not all songs intersect or relate, an underlying theme remains. That of what Greil Marcus calls an Invisible Republic. The images that the Drive-By Truckers create are at home in this very Republic, ”a presence at the very center of America that is both there yet not there, ignored by the great majority yet beating at the deep heart’s core”(Christopher Rollason). And much like Greil Marcus in his book Mystery Train, the Truckers tie their heroes, Danko/Manuel, along with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Mr. Phillips to broader and older trends in American culture – offering the connections they see as a recognition of unities in the American imagination that already exist’ (‘Mystery Train’, p. xii).
Can you hear that singing, sounds like gold? Maybe I can only hear it in my head 15 years ago they owned that road Now it's rolling over us instead Richard Manuel is dead Danko/Manuel - Drive-By Truckers (2008)
Song Styles of The Dirty South
With 3 songwriters composing in their very own distinct styles one could suspect an element of disjointedness. However, The Dirty South works as a cohesive unit leading many to consider it a concept album, albeit an abstract one. The Truckers do revisit several themes throughout the album but ignore a sense of order. This turns out to be its strength rather than weakness. You have angry and defiant songs of outlaws and villains intertwined with alt-country ballads of lives filled with tragedy and loss. The Truckers then weave in scenes of true Americana portraying heroes, both real and mythical, of times gone by. However, this is not happyville and often the hopelessness of the situation becomes too much to bear.
Mary Alice got cancer just like everybody here Seems everyone I know is gettin' cancer every year And we can't afford no insurance, I been 10 years unemployed So she didn't get no chemo so our lives was destroyed And nothin' ever changes, the cemetery gets more full And now over there in Huntsville, even NASA's shut down too Puttin' People On The Moon - Drive-By Truckers (2008)
With The Dirty South the Drive-By Truckers create a multifaceted tour de force bursting with the most fervent elements of Southern Rock and deep dark American culture. They follow up hard and unrelenting songs with soulful and heartfelt ballads, and interweave these with moments of utter nihilism. You can bang your head one minute and cry in your beer the next. Give this masterpiece a full listen and you will fill your imagination with colorful characters and engaging stories. For a short moment you will sink deep into this Invisible Republic, The Dirty South.
I came to tell my story to all these young and eager minds Look in their unspoiled faces and their curious bright eyes Stories of corruption, crime and killing, yes, it's true Greed and fixed elections, guns and drugs and whores and booze Cottonseed - Drive-By Truckers (2008)
What Makes This A Great Album?
At 14 songs and 70 minutes this basically is a double album, but the kind that never gets boring. As in a good movie, the scenes created let time slip away. Each song stands on its own while remaining a part of a larger story. You want to hear what comes next. Unlike many albums this length I distinctly remember every song. I wouldn’t want to miss out on a single note. The picture in my mind of The Dirty South would become incomplete.
It's been several years since my daddy passed away But his picture's on my dash, every time I go to race I lost more than I won, but I ain't gonna give up 'Til they put me in the ground or daddy's name's on that cup Daddy's Cup - Drive-By Truckers (2008)