I’m always game for a 10-minute folk tale about wanderlust.. mentions of banjos, chickens, trains, hatchets, black hearts, hotel wives, coffins on the rails.. Yeah, there’s definitely a dark undertone to “The Trip,” from the brand new Dave Rawlings Machine record, Nashville Obsolete. I have deep respect for artists like Dave Rawlings and his partner in tunes, Gillian Welch, in that they’ll include a song like “The Trip” – shirking any expectations, and laying down a ten minute track, with verse upon verse of evocative lyrics interspersed with fiddle and acoustic guitar solos. So many good lines: “so what’s a bullet or two between friends”; “hotel lives and hotel wives, they come and go with the sheets”; “there’s no one waiting for them, there’s no judgment down the line”…
And the recurring refrain with Dave & Gillian’s beautiful and comforting harmonies: “So take a trip wherever your conscience has to roam / It’s much too hard to try to leave the lyin’ at home”
A five star tune and a great album overall. Check out Nashville Obsolete.
The song isn’t on YouTube yet, but here’s “The Trip” on Apple Music, and here’s the embed from Spotify: