Tag: If You Didn’t Laugh You’d Cry

My friend Ron (Hanspostcard) recommended this band to me not long ago. I had mentioned the V-Roys, and he asked if I had heard of these guys. This is another band that Steve Earle signed to his E-Squared Records in the 1990s. Like the V-Roys song from yesterday, this one took one listen, and I was sold. Ron had said that live, they were a lot like the Replacements but just more alt-country.

They came out of Philadelphia in the late 1990s. The band centered around brothers Dave Bielanko and Serge Bielanko. They mixed rock, folk, soul, and bar-band energy into something that sounded rough around the edges but real. Early records like Let’s Cut The Crap and Hook Up Later Tonight built a small following, but Kids in Philly in 2000 really put them on the map. That album captured city streets, broken people, late nights, and hope, all wrapped inside loud guitars and singalong choruses.

The band toured hard for years. They became known for long, wild live shows and a loyal fan base. Bruce Springsteen even praised them during that period. Marah never quite broke into the mainstream, but they built a reputation as one of those bands that people discovered and held onto like The Replacements, Big Star, and others. They kept pushing their mix of heartland rock and the personal Philadelphia stories.

This song came off the 2005 If You Didn’t Laugh, You’d Cry album. This was recorded after a difficult stretch for the band. They had dealt with industry pressure and changing lineups, and the record felt more stripped down and personal because of it. Dave Bielanko wrote songs about Philadelphia, working-class life, and trying to keep going when things were falling apart around you.

This song captured that feeling perfectly. The Philadelphia bridge itself became a symbol for movement and escape. You are tied to the city, no matter how far you drove. Acoustic guitars, rough vocals, and a live feel. The band never wanted things to be too clean. They liked records that sounded lived-in and not crystal clear. That approach gave the song its emotional weight.

The album did not sell in big numbers, but fans connected deeply with it. This song became their signature song.

Walt Whitman Bridge

Got seven dollars to my name
Got sixteen cigarettes somehow I just ain’t smoked yet
Got two shoelaces and two shoes
I should toss ‘em on the telephone wire as a monument to my blues

I’m goin’ down to get a coffee
Gonna mean one less buck
Maybe six will bring me luck
Got a little shake I kept in the fridge
Gonna drink my bean and walk out smoking on the Walt Whitman Bridge

Faraway from these winter streets
On a cloudless day
Your memory
Blows away

Got a leather wallet on a chain
Got a picture of my lover’s lips before they dried up under my kiss
A prayer in my heart I’m too scared to recite
Oughtta toss that stale loaf of words to the birds as a monument to my whole life

Faraway from these winter streets
On a cloudless day
Your memory, Your memory, Your memory
Blows away

Your memory, Your memory, Your memory
Blows away