More Darius Rucker
Posted by Richard on February 12, 2012
I’ve got music on my mind, and while driving around running errands Saturday, I heard two Darius Rucker songs, so I’m thinking it’s time to post some more of him. As songwriter and lead singer for Hootie and the Blowfish, he was very good. Since launching his solo career as a country artist, he’s become great — absolutely great.
No one writing and singing today, IMHO, expresses and evokes emotions as well as Rucker. Here are a couple of songs that are guaranteed to move anyone who can relate to them (and I suspect that’s many of us). First, the heartbreaking “I Got Nothin’.”
Next, the regret-filled “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It,” with the great lyric:
Don’t think it don’t get to me
Between the work and the hurt and the whiskey
Quite a bit more positive is the bittersweet and beautiful paean to daughters, “It Won’t Be Like This For Long.”
And finally, one I’ve posted before (this time, the music video; last time, I posted the album version, with lyrics— even better, IMHO). “This” is my absolute favorite Darius Rucker song. In fact, I think “This” is the best song of any genre in at least the last 10 or 20 years.
At this stage in my life — old, divorced, living alone, and grateful for the affection of a sweet cat named Coco — I can’t really relate in any direct way to this song. But it’s such a joyous song, such a glorious celebration of life, that every time I hear it, my heart wells up. Rucker is happily married with a daughter and son, so I think “This” is an expression of the joy he feels in his own life. Listening to it is an opportunity to share in his joy. Envy is foreign to me (I hope it is to you, too), so his happiness makes me happy. I can’t listen to “This” often enough. I hope you feel the same way (and buy some of his music).
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