So things have finally started looking up – relatively speaking – after 100 days of lockdown. We finally received our property! Now that I have my MP3 player (Prison-Pod), I spent a couple hours piecing together a new playlist. This one has the added benefit of drowning out MAGA Man’s snoring!
1. Folsom Prison Blues. Might as well jump right in with a classic, but let’s switch it up by going with a version by Keb Mo from Kindred Spirit: A Tribute to Johnny Cash.
2. Bartender. This song sums up the attitude you get from a lot of guys in prison. The “Oh, I f__ked up this time, might as well just sit here and take it.” No bitterness, just a resigned, “Oh well.”
3. Tennessee Whiskey (Chris Stapleton version). No offense to any Kentucky bourbon fans, but Jack Daniels is the woe-is-me country drink of choice.
4. Whiskey Glasses (Morgan Wallen). What’s a country song without whiskey and women? Although, if you follow the news, old Morgan has some other issues to contend with right now.
5. You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive (Patty Lawless). Hauntingly beautiful song. I’ve met some guys from the nearly mythical Harlan County, and it sounds like a pretty rough life. Melancholic story that puts things in perspective. For some, day-to-day life is a struggle.
6. Beers and Sunshine (Darius “Hootie” Rucker). Not all country songs are about sorrowful drinking. Hootie picks us up a little bit. This song makes me think about the current state of the world, when he sings, “The only BS I need is Beers and Sunshine” and “…everyone’s down in a world gone crazy.”
7. Allentown (Eric Church). Okay, just stop! Before anyone yells about this being a Billy Joel song and not country, it’s my playlist and my hometown, so I can include it if I want. Plus Eric Church makes it country. I include this not only because I like my hometown, but because of some of the lyrics. You have to be tough to have grown up in Allentown back in the day. Granted, I missed a lot of this (thanks to my wonderful parents), but the ethos is passed down. As the song says, “It’s hard to keep a good man down, but I won’t be giving up today!” This song speaks to my current situation, too. Toughness and resiliency are needed even at the “easiest” prison. All I can say is, I won’t give up today. It’s just how we roll in A-Town.
8. I See a Darkness (Johnny Cash). Performed here by the Man in Black, this song was written by one of the Oldham brothers (Will, I think) from the band Palace. He also goes by the name Bonnie Prince Billy. All I can say about this song is that I’m man enough to admit that at times it makes me cry. Sitting alone in the dark, thinking about some of the friends I’ve made in prison. We’ve seen the true Darkness, but we still hope that the love we have in us will win out, that family, friends and society will the true us. “To live I wont’ let go.”
9. Sometimes I Cry (Chris Stapleton). Life in Prison: “There are days I can walk around like I’m alright/I can keep the pain from coming out of my eyes/but sometimes, sometimes I cry when I can’t do nothin’ else.”
10. Stick that in Your Country Song (Eric Church). A tale of the hard workin’, maybe mildly disillusioned American. A good old rebellious country shout.
11. Sinners Like Me (Eric Church). A little drinkin’, a little growin’ up, a little regret, memories.
12. In Color (Jamey Johnson). A family story about coping with tough times the best you can.
13. Jack Daniels (Eric Church). No equivocation here. Just straight up a man and his bottle, the bottle kicking his ass again and again.
14. Nobody to Blame (Chris Stapleton). When he says, “Turned my life into this country song,” that about says it all. Prison is one long country song, when you think about it.
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