SLS — “Goodbye,” by Steve Earle

Jim Adams is the ever-loving prompt-pushing host — with his sidekick, Santana, the Tequila Worm of the banner — of Song Lyric Sunday.  Jim says:
This week we have the Cinco de Mayo related prompt words Burrito/Fajita/Mexican/Tequila.

Here are the “rules”:
• Post the lyrics to the song of your choice, whether it fits the theme or not. If it does not fit, then please explain why you chose this song.
• Please try to include the songwriter(s) – it’s a good idea to give credit where credit is due.
• Make sure you also credit the singer/band and if you desire you can provide a link to where you found the lyrics.
• Link to the YouTube video, or pull it into your post so others can listen to the song.
• Ping back to this post or place your link in the comments section below.
• Read at least one other person’s blog, so we can all share new and fantastic music and create amazing new blogging friends in the process.
• Feel free to suggest future prompts.
• Have fun and enjoy the music.

Anyone who has read my blog for long knows I have a lot of favorite musical artists and a lot of favorite songs. This song happens to be one of my FAVORITE favorites by one of my FAVORITE favorite songwriter-musicians, Mr. Steve Earle. Every time I listen to it, I cry at its poetic power that goes deep into my soul. If you don’t feel at least a twinge of something listening to it, you’ve never truly regretted losing someone you loved.

Per wikipedia:
Train a Comin’ is the fifth studio album by Steve Earle (his first in five years), released in 1995. It was the first album recorded after Earle overcame his addiction to drugs in the fall of 1994, after being convicted for possession.

Most of the songs on the album are older material written when Earle was in his late teens and twenties, including “Hometown Blues,” “Sometimes She Forgets,” “Mercenary Song,” “Ben McCulloch,” “Nothin’ Without You,” and “Tom Ames’ Prayer.” According to the liner notes of the album, “Angel is the Devil” was one of only four songs written during his hiatus, which he refers to as his “vacation in the ghetto,” and the mandolin line of “Mystery Train part II” was written in the early 1990s with the lyrics finished the day it was recorded. The album also includes an instrumental by Norman Blake and three covers: Townes Van Zandt’s “Tecumseh Valley”, the Beatles’ “I’m Looking Through You” and The Melodians’ reggae standard “Rivers of Babylon.”

“Goodbye” was written while Earle was in court-ordered rehab in the fall of 1994. In concerts, Earle introduces the song as the first song he wrote clean, and as a “ninth step in the key of C,” referring to the step in which an addict seeks to make amends.

Earle drew on established bluegrass and acoustic instrumentalists for the album, which was a departure from his earlier work with backing band the Dukes. He said to an interviewer at the time that he was seeking an older sound, and the album was recorded in just five days. “I was goin’ for a sound where it sounded like old Opry stuff, where everybody stepped around the mike, which is real close to what we actually did. It ended up being even more of an organic record than I thought it was gonna be.“

Personnel:
Steve Earle – guitar, high string guitar, 12 string guitar, harmonica, mandolin, vocals
Peter Rowan – mandolin, mandola, gut string guitars, vocals
Norman Blake – Hawaiian guitar, dobro, mandolin, fiddle, guitar
Roy Huskey, Jr. – acoustic bass (and inspiration on “I’m Looking Through You”)
Emmylou Harris – vocals on “Nothin’ Without You” and “The Rivers of Babylon”

I remember holdin’ on to you
All them long and lonely nights I put you through
Somewhere in there I’m sure I made you cry
But I can’t remember if we said goodbye

But I recall all of them nights down in Mexico
One place I may never go in my life again
Was I just off somewhere just too high
But I can’t remember if we said goodbye

I only miss you every now and then
Like the soft breeze blowin’ up from the Caribbean
Most Novembers I break down and cry
But I can’t remember if we said goodbye

But I recall all of them nights down in Mexico
One place I may never go in my life again
Was I just off somewhere just too high
But I can’t remember if we said goodbye

Goodbye, goodbye.
Songwriters: Steve Earle