Music

Top 10 Lucinda Williams Songs

The phrase “patience is a virtue” certainly applies to Lucinda Williams‘ career. The Louisiana native released her first album in 1979 (Ramblin’), but she didn’t find widespread success until she released her self-titled 1988 album.

In turn, Lucinda Williams featured “Passionate Kisses,” which hit it big in 1993, once Mary Chapin Carpenter covered it. Five years after that, Williams finally became a household name with the alt-country touchstone Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

Since then, Williams has released a steady string of albums and remained a critical darling and Americana pillar. It’s tough to narrow down her catalog — an honorable mention for this list goes to “Changed the Locks,” a song Tom Petty covered on Songs and Music From She’s the One — but below, The Boot counts down Williams’ Top 10 songs.

  • 10

    “Get Right With God”

    From ‘Essence’ (2001)

    A deceptively low-key, country-flecked number, “Get Right With God” seems like a rather self-explanatory song. The protagonist is willing to make sacrifices to “get right with God” and go to heaven (“I would risk the serpent’s bite / I would dance around with seven / I would kiss the diamond back”). The underlying message, however, is that this faith is less about deep-seated belief and more about surface action — which means the song can be read as a subtle criticism of modern religion. “Get Right With God” nabbed Williams a Best Female Rock Vocal Performance Grammys trophy in 2002.

  • 9

    “Sweet Old World”

    From ‘Sweet Old World’ (1992)

    The string-dusted title track of Williams’ 1992 album urges those struggling to hold on and think about what they might miss if they depart this mortal coil: “A sweet and tender kiss / The sound of a midnight train, wearing someone’s ring.” To mark Sweet Old World‘s 25th anniversary, Williams released a live re-recording of the album.

  • 8

    “World Without Tears”

    From ‘World Without Tears’ (2003)

    Williams’ gorgeous, emotion-trembled voice takes center stage on the title track of her 2003 album. A low-lit slow dance with a waltzing tempo and smoldering riffs, the song illuminates that sorrow is an unfortunate part of life.

    “If we lived in a world without tears,” Williams sings, “How would misery know which back door to walk through?”

  • 7

    “Righteously”

    From ‘World Without Tears’ (2003)

    In a sense, “Righteously” is a sophisticated update of “Passionate Kisses.” The slow-burning, searing blues riffs convey the main character’s stance that she deserves desire and respect (“Be the man you ought to tenderly / Stand up for me”) and that her man simply needs to love her, not impress her: “You don’t have to prove / Your manhood to me constantly,” Williams sings.

  • 6

    “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”

    From ‘Car Wheels on a Gravel Road’ (1998)

    The easygoing title track of Williams’ mainstream breakthrough is a vivid recollection of childhood — Loretta Lynn and Hank Williams on the radio, a road trip with “cotton fields stretching miles and miles” — that captures a poignant snapshot of time. Nostalgic without romanticizing the past, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” demonstrates Williams’ keen observational eye, and her ability to cut right to the emotional quick. No wonder Car Wheels on a Gravel Road took home Best Contemporary Folk Album at the Grammy Awards in 1999.

  • 5

    “I Just Wanted to See You So Bad”

    From ‘Lucinda Williams’ (1988)

    Williams’ 1988 self-titled record — an Americana touchstone — kicks off with this upbeat, organ-swirled song. After starting off rather innocuously (“I drove my car in the middle of the night / I just wanted to see you so bad”), the brisk, twangy song evolves into something more like obsession: “We’d always talked on the telephone / But I’d never been with you all alone,” Williams casually sings, before letting it slip that the visit is perhaps a surprise. “I got off on the seventh floor, I just wanted to see you so bad.”

    Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have notably covered this song in recent years.

  • 4

    “Joy”

    From ‘Car Wheels on a Gravel Road’ (1998)

    Car Wheels on a Gravel Road contains a multitude of moods. In fact, the fiery “Joy” turns the tables on despair, and takes a rebellious stance toward sadness.

    “I don’t want you anymore, ’cause you took my joy,” Williams says, a snarl in her voice matching angry guitar squeals. “You got no right to take my joy/I want it back.”

  • 3

    “Honey Bee”

    From ‘Little Honey’ (2008)

    This fuzzed-out number quickly became a staple of Williams’ live sets, and it’s easy to see why: Raucous blues-twang riffs and a stomping tempo pair with one of her most ferocious vocal performances — a match for the song’s charged lyrics, which take the form of a poetic comparison between a stinging bee and a sexual relationship.

  • 2

    “Can’t Let Go”

    From ‘Car Wheels on a Gravel Road’ (1998)

    Produced by E Street Band member Roy Bittan, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road redefined what alt-country could be — and sound like. Then again, perhaps it’s more correct to say that people finally warmed up to what Williams had been doing all along. “Can’t Let Go,” a chronicle of the bittersweet experience of hanging onto a failed (or failing) romance, is a Texas roadhouse barn-burner, with charred licks and vocals that convey equal parts anguish and defiance.

  • 1

    “Passionate Kisses”

    From ‘Lucinda Williams’ (1988)

    Mary Chapin Carpenter famously took “Passionate Kisses” to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1993 and won Best Female Country Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards for her take on this song; however, Williams also won the Best Country Song Grammys trophy for writing the jangly tune, which was originally released in 1988. It’s easy to see the song’s appeal: It’s a modern-day feminist anthem about having it all — a comfortable bed, food, a rock band and passionate kisses.

    “I shout it out to the night,” Williams declares. “Give me what I deserve ’cause it’s my right.”

Articles You May Like

Keepin’ It Kenny: See Kenny Chesney Pictures Through the Years
Future & Metro Boomin Have Joint Album Arriving This Friday ‘WE DON’T TRUST YOU’
Here Are The 2024 National Book Critics Circle Award Winners
Sydney Sweeney Oozes Happiness with Fiancé Jonathan Davino In NYC
See Timothée Chalamet In First Official Image From His Bob Dylan Biopic