I’ve always liked this kind of music. It’s hard to put it into one category. You can call it alternative country, Americana, or roots rock. I just call it good music. This song is one of those songs that sounds like it could have been recorded twenty years earlier or yesterday. It has a country feel to it, but there is plenty of rock underneath. Jay Farrar has a voice that fits this kind of music perfectly.
Son Volt formed in 1994 after Uncle Tupelo broke up. That band had been led by Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy, and when they went their separate ways, Tweedy formed Wilco while Farrar formed Son Volt. Farrar brought in former Uncle Tupelo drummer Mike Heidorn, along with brothers Jim and Dave Boquist. Their debut album, Trace, was released in 1995, with this song opening the album. It’s one of those records that helped define the alternative country sound of the nineties.
This is a song about getting away for a while, driving down the road, and trying to leave your troubles behind. The acoustic guitars, pedal steel, and Farrar’s voice give it a relaxed feeling, but there is a little sadness underneath it all. That’s what I like about the song. It’s just a great melody with a little country and rock mixed together. Sometimes the best thing you can do is get in your car, turn up the radio, and drive. This is a perfect song for that.
The album peaked at #166 on the Billboard Album Charts and #7 on the Billboard Heatseekers Charts.
Windfall
Now and then it keeps you running
It never seems to die
The trail’s spent with fear
Not enough living on the outside
Never seem to get far enough
Staying in between the lines
Hold on to what you can
Waiting for the end
Not knowing when
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel
May the wind take your troubles away
Trying to make it far enough, to the next time zone
Few and far between past the midnight hour
You never feel alone, you’re really not alone
Switching it over to AM
Searching for a truer sound
Can’t recall the call letters
Steel guitar and settle down
Catching an all-night station somewhere in Louisiana
It sounds like 1963, but for now it sounds like heaven
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Discover more from PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Great tune Max. I used to hear a lot of Son Volt on SiriusXM’s Outlaw station. Don’t listen to it much anymore so kind of got away from them. Thanks for bringing me back!
Thanks for listening Randy…
“Switching it over to AM…Catching an all-night station” brings back memories of ancient road trips and finding Beaker Street out of Little Rock, or high-powered stations out of Mexico. 50,000 watt clear channel stations could be heard coast-to-coast (or nearly so) late at night.
When my dad traveled across America selling the guitars he made…he would tell me about those AM radio stations. He would drive from Nashville to LA non stop, with chemical help of course, but how he would tune them in when passing through towns.
Jay Farrar and Son Volt are right up my alley. I only “discovered” him less than 1o years ago. Some of his music I’ve heard reminds me a bit of Neil Young, and that’s certainly not a bad thing in my book! Overall, to date, I’ve paid more attention to Son Volt than to Jeff Tweedy and Wilco, though I generally also dig what I’ve heard from Tweedy thus far.
They are two different kind of styles…of the same music at first. You could tell the difference between the two.
I like it. And you open with the description of why they never made it big, nor did Wilco in the ’90s, nor Blue Rodeo outside of Canada. Too pop or rock, or lo-fi for country radio, too country for rock stations, not upbeat or polished enough for the Whitney/Mariah hits stations…they never found a home commercially.
It’s almost the same thing about power pop Dave. Too rock for pop radio and too pop for rock radio. But…is it the listeners fault? Or is radio’s fault for not even giving us a chance to like or not to like….as a famous write once wrote lol.
oh no argument there, it’s good music the problem is too many timid radio programmers and bosses who won’t veer out of their normal 300 song lane
Yes…they will not take chances so that means they are stuck in the stale lane. For goodness sake people….take some chances! If you or I were rich…I swear we would start our own station…and I think we would succeed.
At least it would be worth listening to
I still get lots of listening ut of this band. When UT split I floowed bth creative paths. Volt is to shef in my book. So much i like about the music. Never boring to my ear. Carriers of the torch of all that’s good in American music.
That is the definition of American Music…I agree. It’s been a while and I had to remind myself and everyone else of them. What a great time in music in the 90s with those bands coming out.
Coudnt agree more Max. When UT showed up on my radar they got my attention big time. This music just moves me. All I can say. They arent pretenders.
I would have loved to hear more UT…but at least with this we got more music this way from both the frontmen…
There’s something so evocative, so romantic about the idea of up and just driving away.
Call me old and cynical but it just won’t be the same unplugging the Tesla, sitting back, putting hands on lap and saying ‘car, git me to Amarillo.’
One along the same line that I like but is a bit of a sad ride is Jason Isbell, ‘Speed Trap Town.’ As I say, a downer but lyrically great.
No it would not be the same! It’s something romantic about a car…like we said the other day…that freedom to go anywhere…especially when you are 16.
My daughter Kath and I loved listening to this song this morning. It’s a beauty, Max. Thanks!
Thanks Matt! I love this one as well.
Beautiful song. I have a lot of respect for Jay Farrar. I heard something online a year or more ago of a conversation he and Steve Earle had. Kindred spirits.
I can see that totally.
I do love this guy’s voice. I have at least one of their songs on a spotify playlist. Good music that reaches in, Max!
I haven’t played this for a while but I remember enjoying it. Kind of crazy that Tweedy became the breakout star.
I think that as well… I also never knew how much Uncle Tupelo influenced other artists…but after listening to this period…they really did.