Gillian Welch – Wrecking Ball

I met a lovesick daughter of the San Joaquin
She showed me colors I’d never seen
Drank the bottom out of my canteen
Then left me in the fall
Like a wrecking ball

I was searching around for more singer-songwriters. I’ve heard of her name a lot but didn’t know any songs by her. Smart storytelling against some great music and harmonizing. When I heard her voice and style…I automatically liked it. I use these phrases a lot, but I mean them. Down-to-earth, rootsy, and authentic. I knew I had heard of her and read about her last year on Lisa’s site. 

She grew up in Los Angeles, where she was exposed to folk and country music at an early age. She attended UC Santa Cruz and then the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she met her future collaborator, David Rawlings. She released her debut album, Revival, in 1996. She has 7 studio albums in all right now, with her last one called Woodland, released in 2024.

This song came off of her 4th album, the 2003 Soul Journey. This was written by Welch and her collaborator David Rawlings, as is most of her music. She had usually used sparse recordings up to this point. This one has a full band sound and it works well. The lyrics and music are right up my alley. 

Gillian wrote it about her time in college at UC Santa Cruz, where she started playing in bands and did some experimenting with recreational drugs. She was also apparently a Grateful Dead fan as well. The album peaked at #107 on the Billboard Album Charts, #3 on the US Indie Charts, and #65 in the UK  in 2003.

Wrecking Ball

Look out boys, ’cause I’m a rollin’ stone
That’s what I was when I first left home
I took every secret that I’d ever known
And headed for the wall
Like a wrecking ball

Started down on the road to sin
Playin’ bass under a pseudonym
The days were rough and it’s all quite dim
But my mind cuts through it all
Like a wrecking ball

Oh, just a little deadhead
Who is watching, who is watching?
I was just a little deadhead
I won a dollar on a scholarship
Well, I got tired and let my average slip
Then I was a farmer in the pogonip
Where the weed that I recall
Was like a wrecking ball

I met a lovesick daughter of the San Joaquin
She showed me colors I’d never seen
Drank the bottom out of my canteen
Then left me in the fall
Like a wrecking ball

Standin’ there, in the morning mist
A Jack and Coke at the end of my wrist
Yes, I remember when first we kissed
Though it was nothing at all
Like a wrecking ball

Hey boys, just a little deadhead
Who’s watching, who’s watching?
I was just a little deadhead
With too much trouble for me to shake
Oh, the weather and the blindin’ ache
Was ridin’ high until the ’89 quake
Hit the Santa Cruz garden mall
Like a wrecking ball

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

33 thoughts on “Gillian Welch – Wrecking Ball”

    1. I can safely say…you will NEVER hear about that song on this site. That sir…is a promise lol. Thanks…I first thought it was a Springsteen cover.

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    2. Thanks for the nod/linkup, Max. I’ve only got her Soul Journey album. First time hearing her was on pandora radio with Look at Miss Ohio. You gotta be in the “right” kind of mood to listen to their music.

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    1. That is great Jim. With that song I thought she would be a big fan…evidently she is. I read about her last year on Lisa’s site but then of course I drifted away…I’m glad I refound her.

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  5. What a hard gig trying to make a living playing this kind of music. Have to love what you’re doing and maybe get some help along the way when a better know artist covers one or two of your songs. Ilike both her and dave’s music.

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  7. There is something spooky that kinda links both your posts for me today Max. First up as you know I’m a Wilco fan, and then up pops Gillian Welch, who has had her song ‘My Morphine’ covered (brilliantly IMHO) by David Johansen and the Harry Smiths; so for me a weird kind of cosmic nod to Davids recent passing. RIP David/Buster.

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    1. That does link them quite well….Yea I read about that last night it was sad. He had an interesting career to say the least…from the New York Dolls to acting and being quite successful at it. Usually it’s hard to cross over music/acting like that be he did.

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      1. Yes he did cover a fair bit artistically-wise. I can understand why he had a few acting roles, he had a fine photogenic face for the screen. Sort of like Tim Curry.

        I really should put out a short post on his passing.

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      2. The first time I took notice of him was in acting…Scrooged where he played the ghost of Christmas Past…loved it. He had an unusual look which was cool. I then learned about The Dolls.
        That would be cool obbverse.

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    1. Glad you liked this! I just heard this song last week for the first time. Her songwriting is special.

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  10. The only album of theirs I have is Time (The Revelator), but I had heard “My Morphine” on an Alt-Country sampler. Very good song. Emmylou Harris also has a song called “Wrecking Ball” that’s totally different. Speaking of David Johansen, he was the opening act when I saw The Who on their *first* farewell tour in Syracuse, NY in Dec. 1982.

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    1. I listened to My Morphine the other day…very cool song. When I saw the song title I thought it might have been a Springsteen cover because I didn’t know when it was released.
      Johansen was something…like I told other people…it’s not easy to cross over to acting and be successful.

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  11. Man, you’re doing a good job keeping that keyboard from getting dusty now! Glad to see it. I think I’ve heard her name before but knew nothing of her. Based on this track, decent talent both singing and writing but it’s easy to see how she could get lost in the shuffle. But , tough to evaluate a career on just one song…

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    1. This is the song that really spoke to me when going over the songs. Saturday and Sunday was carbon copies Dave. Sun Volt-Lucinda Williams and Wilco-Gillian Welch today….kinda of
      Yes…I’ve been making the most out of the weekends! On Fridays and Mondays also at times. I used to post 9 a week….I did 8 since Thursday lol. I’m heading out to Atlanta on Tuesday….no snow this time.

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      1. well its good to see you back and reinvigorated (like MAX Scherzer? LOL?) . Safe travels out to Peachtree City. There are times I miss that area

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      2. I like it there Dave but I do NOT like that traffic…it’s terrible. They offered to move me there…I told him absolutely not…not going to happen.
        I probably will in some weeks end up posting almost as much…just not in consecutive days.
        Dave I figured out something…how to get “posts” to pop up in my comment bar…so I won’t miss your other posts…they got lost in the glut. I cleaned out nearly 40 bloggers I followed because they haven’t posted in a year at least…

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