“Stunning” is definitely not too strong a word to use when describing Eric Taylor’s latest recording, The Great Divide. That one musician could cover such a range of emotion and wealth of experience within the scope of just 12 songs, and do it with understanding and grace, is a true gift to his listeners. Taylor’s music possesses a most unique combination of sound and feeling. His guitar-picking style, a paradox of sorts, relies on strong, clear notes rather than fancy acrobatics, yet he displays an almost fragile quality at times. His road-weary vocals, sparse and knowing lyrics, and acoustic guitar accompaniment balance one another without seeming ponderous, in spite of his heavy subject matter. In “Shoes” Taylor muses about the attire he’ll be wearing when he meets the devil, and in “Big Love,” his protagonist is a painfully lonely 400-plus-pound man. Taylor also covers songs by Townes Van Zandt (“Brand New Companion”) and blues legend Arthur Jackson (“Ain’t But One Thing Give a Man the Blues”). – Dirty Linen
1. The Great Divide
I got a horse named Corsicana
I got a dog named Moon
And I got a woman that calls me a fool
I got scars up and down my leg
I got a crooked smile
’Cause I got another woman that drives me wild
’Cause I got another woman that drives me wild
I got a Ford that won’t stop runnin’
I got a daddy but he’s dead
I got a woman that lives just to burn my bread
I got a house with two back doors
I got a rollaway bed
’Cause I got another woman rather treat me good instead
’Cause I got another woman rather treat me good instead
I got a sailboat down in the Yucatan
I got a coffee tree
I got a woman says she’s ashamed of me
I got a picture I took upon the Great Divide
I got a book of prayers
But I got another woman that’ll take me anywhere
I got another woman that’ll take me anywhere
I got a drum from the Belfast boys
I got a pack of ukelele strings
I got a woman just hates to hear me sing
I got tears from here to there
I got one good eye
And I got another woman just rocks me when I cry
Yeah, I got another woman just rocks me when I cry
I got another woman just rocks me when I cry
2. Big Love
I found your name and number
On this pack of matches
Thought that I might call you up
And talk about myself
My name is James Willis Hardin
I weigh four fifty-nine
My mother owns this flower shop
Down here off South Columbine
And I sit down here with the roses
And the roses and baby’s breath
There ain’t never been no used-to-be
It’s always been like this
(chorus)
Big Love, Big Love
My sugar candy, beautiful babe
Big Love, Big Love
Now you be still, be good, behave
I used to have a parakeet
But my mother’s got a cat
I’ll take her gun and shoot that thing
If I can find out where he’s at
Hey, everybody thinks I’m crazy
That lives around down here
If it weren’t for Mother’s Day and Valentine’s
I wouldn’t see ’em twice a year
I guess I oughta hang up now
Somebody’s beatin’ down the door
My mother’s goin’ to be some mad
About me bleeding on this floor
– chorus –
Big Love’s not my real name
Jim Willie, that’s alright
Big Love’s what my mother sings
Almost every night
– chorus –
3. Whorehouse Mirrors & Pawnshop Knives
Whorehouse mirrors and pawnshop knives
Cut you down deep inside
Cut you any place you’ve been
Like there’s no way out, it’s a long way in
(chorus)
But I know a doctor with a gold skull ring
He can take the pain out of anything
You’ll swear you’ll never come again
But you know you will and you just don’t know when
I goin’ down to Hampton, Georgia
Goin’ by the way of Hampton Road
Ain’t her man a handsome darlin’?
Drinkin’ my liquor and wearin’ my clothes
– chorus –
Austin, Texas is a low-jack town
Take a high-jacked hung man and cut him down
Loosen the rope around his chin
Roll ’im over, kick ’im again
– chorus –
Corpus Christi, body of Christ
Put the salt in the whiskey, put the sugar on the dice
Tell ’em you’re Able, tell ’em you’re Cain
But anything you tell ’em, look ’em straight in the face
– chorus –
– 1st verse –
4. Mickey Finn
She had high heels and she had twenty bills
Pretty as the day is long
Cheap thrills and steering wheels
If nothing else goes wrong
I rode into Memphis with Mickey Finn
Went straight to sleep and out again
Over to Arkansas on the Mississippi shore
Back into Memphis and caught the night before
We went back into Memphis and caught the night before
You know that Tennessee is the cradle of love
You cross the Mississippi River when you’ve had enough
And on the other side you’ll hear them say
It’s a whole ’nother world just a river away
It’s a whole ’nother world just a river away
She had high heels and she had twenty bills
Pretty as the day is long
Cheap thrills and steering wheels
If nothing else goes wrong
I heard the Queen of Diamonds say
Over in Memphis just the other day,
Well, you play the hearts, boys, fuck the rest
’Cause it’s rhythm oil that burns the best
’Cause it’s rhythm oil that burns the best
Now the corner boys are ashamed of me
I rolled a seven, I was lookin’ for a three
Now somebody’s darlin’ on this cruel night
Is out there cruisin’ paradise
She’s out there cruisin’ paradise
She had high heels and she had twenty bills
Pretty as the day is long
Cheap thrills and steering wheels
If nothing else goes wrong
If nothing else goes wrong
If nothing else does
5. Ain’t But One Thing That Can Give a Man the Blues
Ain’t but one thing that can give a man the blues
Ain’t got no bottom on ’em, in his last pair of shoes
Looked down that road ’bout as far as I could see
Man had my woman, Thank God them blues had me
Oh I got ’em, oh I got ’em, oh I got ’em
What makes the rooster call the morning before day?
What makes a hard-headed woman mad and won’t do what you say?
Oh I got ’em
Woke up this morning ’bout the break of day
I turned and grabbed that pillow where my baby used to lay
Oh I got ’em, man I got ’em, I got ’em
You got one woman, man, you better get you five
Cause two might quit you and the other three might die
I started out walkin’, walked till my feet got soakin’ wet
Ain’t found my baby, and I ain’t stopped walkin’ yet
Buddy I got ’em, buddy I got ’em
I’m goin’ to sing this verse, and I ain’t goin’ to sing no more
You give me one more half a pint, boys, and I’ll tell you everything I know
You give me one more half a pint, boys, and I’ll tell you everything I know
Ain’t but one thing give a man the blues, buddy boy
Ain’t but one thing give a man the blues
Ain’t but one thing give a man the blues
6. Just Short of the Line
One more time around the moon
I go running after
The sun went down much too soon
And she got something faster
(chorus)
Here I’ve gone and done it again
You’d think I’d learn in time
It’s a race been run by better men
Who fell just short of the line
Well, you catch me and I’ll catch you
And we’ll run around in circles
You take May and I’ll take June
And we’ll chase ’em back to April
– chorus –
I caught the bus to Milledgeville
And counted my white horses
It cost a twenty-dollar bill
Just to make it back to Georgia
– chorus –
7. Manhattan Mandolin Blues
I can’t make no money playin’ this mandolin
I put this thing down, then I pick it up again
Things don’t get better, I might can hold out till then
But I can’t make no money playin’ this mandolin
Down near Virginia I stole a car today
Up near the East River I steal somethin’ every day
It’s goin’ to take more than some damn Chevrolet
To drive these Manhattan mandolin blues away
(chorus)
Put it on the table, baby, count it out thin
Ain’t enough to carry, baby, boot it on in
I’ll come lookin’ when I’m out again
I’ll play you down on this mandolin
Well, I could take you someplace and wash your hands and your hair
Get yourself clean, get you somethin’ to wear
But so many things can happen just between now and then
How many strings have I got left on this mandolin?
– chorus –
Hey, maybe spot me fifty towards my forty-four
Anybody asks me, I ain’t never seen you before
And if I get to heaven, they just might kill me again
For playin’ songs about big Mary on this mandolin
– chorus –
I can’t make no money playin’ this mandolin
I put this thing down, then I pick it up again
Things don’t get better, I might can hold out till then
But I can’t make no money playin’ this mandolin
I can’t make no money
I can’t make no money
8. Storms
It’s quiet as a street lamp
Some kind of town
Whiskey go easy when the sun goes down
My best to the midnight now
God, look at the moon
There’s enough for two shadows
There’s only one in the room
There’s only one in the room
(chorus)
There’s a storm out on the water
Oh, bless the ships at sea
There’s a storm down in that woman’s heart
Oh, God bless me
I want to be blown by the wind of her breathin’
Shown by her lightnin’s flashin’
Never been afraid of the thunder
I wonder if she’ll rain on me
Will she rain on me?
Is loneliness contagious?
Another damn song about a waitress
It’s the only hotel here, and the engine’s gotta cool
I’m a bad hand at solitaire
Lie to yourself and no one cares
The wallpaper fades as the sun takes the moon
There oughta be two in this room
– chorus –
I want to be blown by the wind of her breathin’
Shown by her lightnin’s flashin’
Never been afraid of the thunder
I wonder if she’ll rain on me
Will she rain on me?
9. Shoes
Something’s goin’ to happen today
I can feel it in my shoes
The old lace-up broke-down blacks
The ones I hardly ever use
Stacey Adams down on Dowling Street
These things used to fit my feet
They’re the ones that I got married in
Back when I got married
Something’s goin’ to happen today
I can feel it in my jacket
I lied and said a Paris tailor made it
But I bought it off the rack
Two-button blue pinstriped kind
Twenty-two years it’s mine
It’s the one I met Loretta in
Back when I met Loretta
Something’s goin’ to happen today
I can feel it in this tie
Hand painted silk Italian job
Same color as my eyes
Today it seems a little loose
It’s got a smell of gin or vermouth
It’s the one I did confession in
Back when I did confession
Something’s goin’ to happen today
I can feel it in these clothes
Layin’ up nice in a satin box
With the lid about to close
Well, I think I look alright
My shoes and my jacket and my tie
They’re the ones I’ll meet the devil in
When I meet the devil
They’re the ones I’ll meet the devil in
When I meet the devil
Something’s goin’ to happen today
I can feel it in my shoes
The old lace-up broke-down blacks
The ones I hardly ever use
Stacey Adams down on Dowling Street
These things used to fit my feet
They’re the ones that I got married in
Back when I got married
10. Brand New Companion – Chambermaid – Dirty Dirty
I got a brand new companion
Think I might just do alright this time
I got a brand new companion
Think I might just do alright this time
The way she cools me with her breathin’
Drinks me like a bottle of wine
She fits just like my guitar
Near ’bout as tall as me
This woman fits just like my guitar
Just ’bout as tall as me
She lives way out on the D-train, but
Man, she’s as Texas as can be
She got a homespun disposition
Just about as gentle as you want to please
This woman got a homespun disposition, man
You know she’s just about as gentle as you would ever want to please
She got arms like two rattlesnakes
legs like willows in the breeze
This woman got arms like two rattlesnakes
Legs like willow in the breeze
—
Where’s that careless chambermaid?
What’s she done with my perfume?
Where’s my hat, now where’s my cane?
You get somebody up here and clean this room
Get somebody up here and clean this room
’Cause it’s dirty dirty
Dirty dirty
Man, it’s dirty dirty, but it’s alright with me
Little Johnny Piper out behind the house
His momma say, “Get your fingers out that little girl’s mouth”
Man, it’s dirty dirty
Dirty dirty
Dirty dirty, but it’s alright with me
I ain’t never did that well in Sunday school
Kept gettin’ hit by the Golden Rule
Everybody said it was dirty dirty
Dirty dirty
Where’s that careless chambermaid?
What’s she done with my perfume?
Where’s my hat, now where’s my cane?
You get somebody up here and clean this room
You get somebody up here and clean this room
’Cause it’s dirty dirty
Boy, it’s dirty dirty
Well, it’s dirty dirty, but it’s alright with me
Man, it’s dirty dirty, but it’s alright with me
It’s dirty dirty, but it’s alright with me
—
I got a brand new companion
Think I might just do alright this time
I got a brand new companion
Think I might just do alright this time
I want to trace her with my body
Want to track her with my mind
I want to trace her with my body
I want to track her with my mind
11. Bonnie & Avery
Avery sweeps across the barroom
Bonnie sets the clocks
Hands that tell the weather, Lord
Double-check the locks
Time’s been good to Bonnie Wilder
Time’s been good to Avery, too
All except when Panama left ’em childless
Time’s been pretty good
Bonnie was a ten-cent dancer
Tickets on a roll
Avery played in a coronet band
Silver and gold
The dancers dressed themselves like hungry sailors
And stood to buy a dance from Bonnie Wilder
And she’d smile and wink at Avery when the song was over
And say that’s pretty good
(chorus)
Ah, it’s love, sweet love, with the dancers gone
And it’s love, sweet love, when you’re tired to the bone
Rest your troubled mind, Avery Wilder
As Bonnie tears a ticket from the roll
The years they moved on easily
For Avery and the band
Bonnie’s line of sailor boys were tired old veterans
Used to hear ’em say when the song was over
Ah, honey, you still dance as good as ever
We’re just a little slow, now that don’t matter
You still look pretty good
– chorus –
Outside the door the walkers-by
Goin’ to sit down with their gin
I swear it’s just like clockwork
This ol’ woman and ol’ man
Close this bar at exactly twelve o’clock
I hear tell from the boys down on the dock
That she used to dance in a ten-cent hall down there
And she was pretty good
– chorus –
– 1st verse –