Adam Carroll – “Highway Prayer”
Posted on | December 22, 2009 | 2 Comments
1. Ryan Bingham has made sure to let everyone know that the traveling life of a musician is not for the faint of heart. I covered “The Weary Kind” a few weeks back, and it does an able job of warning would-be musicians about the hardships of his occupation. “Highway Prayer”, originally from Adam Carroll’s 2008 release Old Town Rock and Roll, is an inversion of that — offering encouragement and support to those who might find themselves trapped in such a life. The upcoming release Hard Times has Michael O’Connor taking over vocals, with his rasp adding a good bit of weariness to the song.
2. “Highway Prayer” begins by specifying the groups to whom the song is written: those who “the road is all that matters”, that “live on borrowed time”, whose “seeds in life are scattered”. It takes a subtle personal turn, as Carroll dedicates the song to “those who have lived on next to nothing/ playing in a bar in Jacksonville”, a town just down the road from his home of Tyler. The chorus warns such people not to “stay too late” or “cry too long”, for soon they will be back home, regaling friends and family with stories of their travel.
3. When Carroll identifies himself with those weary travelers in the second verse, the song gains another layer, functioning as a support message for travelers and an internal mantra, repeated over and over again as the white lines fly by. Gabe Rhodes’ harmonium gives this song the appropriate hymnal feel, as it salutes traveling musicians that have gone by and ones to come. “Highway Prayer” is a stunning song, delivered simply enough for everyone to understand it, but with implied weight well beyond its verses.
Michael O’Connor – Highway Prayer
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December 22nd, 2009 @ 10:19 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeff, Jeff. Jeff said: All traveling musicians out there (and anyone on the road): Listen to this song and be soothed. http://bit.ly/6w6T96 [...]
January 25th, 2010 @ 11:32 am
[...] Jeff over at Sounds Country has had a lot to say about the album… [...]