Exploring Music and Popular Song

– by Steve Wacker

Eight years ago this month, the songwriter Dave Carter died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 49. I wasn’t aware of his music at the time, probably because I had only recently re-entered the world of music making and songwriting after a 17-year hiatus. But I kept hearing from so many different sources about what a tragic loss it was, because he had such an amazing gift. And I remember being deeply moved by his partner Tracy Grammer’s description of his last moments (he died while they were on tour), which she wrote about on their website.

It took me a while to get around to listening to Dave and Tracy, and when I finally did I was amazed and humbled and inspired all at once. In this month’s column I hope to convey something about why his work struck me so deeply.

As I’ve grown older I’ve become increasingly attuned to the notion of songs and songwriting. I think it’s because I find something incredibly magical about describing a feeling or relating a story in a few minutes within the confines of a flexible but highly structured “package” of sound. I’ve loved language and music for about as long as I can  remember, and there is nothing quite like hearing people combine the two in ways that appeal to my intellect and touch my heart. Dave Carter’s songs certainly accomplish both.

After a few months I finally purchased the debut recording of Dave and Tracy, an album titled When I Go, which was actually by ‘Dave Carter with Tracy Grammer’ – the Dave and Tracy moniker and duo status came later. (When I Go dates from 1998. I understand that Dave released a solo recording a few years earlier, although I’ve never heard it.)

I still remember inserting the CD into my car’s player and listening to the title track. “When I Go” is a hauntingly joyful statement about leaving this plane of existence which, considering Carter’s recent demise, I found more than a little eerie. But after a minute or so, the language completely overwhelmed me. I remember I had to stop driving and pull over so I could let his poetry wash over me, and after the song ended I had to play it again. And I chided myself for taking so long to seek this music out.

The instrumentation of “When I Go” is very sparse. Carter quietly fingerpicks a banjo and sings the main lyric, and Grammer sings harmonies with him and plays complementary fiddle interludes between the verses. The imagery is magnificent and majestic, but also striking because it emerges from a voice that somehow conveys strength as well as a deep sense of humility and gratitude for the gift of existence.

come lonely hunter, chieftain and king
i will fly like the falcon when i go
bear me my brother under your wing
i will strike fell like lightning when i go

i will bellow like the thunder drum, invoke the storm of war
a twistin pillar spun of dust and blood up from the prairie floor
i will sweep the foe before me like a gale out on the snow
and the wind will long recount the story, reverence and glory
when i go

This is just the beginning; the lyric continues with equally sustained grace and power throughout the song. A few more excerpts:

i will leap like coyote when i go
--
i will climb the rise at daybreak, i will kiss the sky at noon
raise my yearnin voice at midnight to my mother in the moon
--
i will crumble down uncountable in showers of crimson rubies
when i go

Grammer’s harmonies and fiddle fit the song beautifully; she’s a very good fiddle player but has a superb voice. The way her voice blends with Carter’s adds a significant dimension to the song.

The final verse almost makes me wonder whether Carter had a sense of prescience about the duration of his life.

and should you glimpse my wand’rin form out on the borderline
between death and resurrection and the council of the pines
do not worry for my comfort, do not sorrow for me so
all your diamond tears will rise up and adorn the sky beside me
when i go

I quickly became a fan of Carter’s songs, and read whatever I could find on the Web about him. I was fascinated to read extended interviews in which Carter discussed his views on songwriting as well as some of the ways he practiced his craft and his theories about images and symbols. I also learned that a friend of mine was an acquaintance of Carter’s, and I’ve heard a bit about what he was like. Although I was never able to hear Dave and Tracy perform, I’ve seen a few videos on YouTube that show their remarkable onstage presence.

Dave and Tracy went on to release Tanglewood Tree in 2000, and this album was a definitive statement that the relative success of their first release was no fluke. When I Go was mostly recorded in Tracy’s kitchen (seriously!), but Tanglewood Tree was produced in a studio with a group of talented professional musicians, although Dave and Tracy are still prominent. It possesses an air of polish and accomplishment that When I Go simply didn’t – or couldn’t – have.

The song “Crocodile Man” from Tanglewood Tree might be my favorite Carter lyric – it’s a dizzying, kaleidoscopic array of fantastic remembrances of mostly outrageous circumstances. For example:

mama she raised me on riddles and trances
fatback, channel-cat, lily white lies
rocked my cradle in a jimmy-crack fancy,
never met papa and I never asked why

And

hooked up with a carny, little outa Memphis –
slavin in a sideshow, pennies in a jar
beetle-eyed jokers and hicktown princes,
rhinestone rubies and rubber cigars

Not only are the lyrics compelling (not to mention hilarious and almost orgiastic for a language junkie like me), but the song also features an uptempo driving backbeat and a wailing harmonica that help draw the listener in. Perhaps the craziest thing is the lead vocal performance, which is not by Carter but Grammer. Her voice is altered just slightly to sound more – androgynous? I dunno – and the effect is stunning. The verses are mostly spoken, and her rapid-fire delivery is superb.

For my money, the final verse might be the best example of Carter’s command of and felicity with the language:

underneath the levee in a cattail thicket,
hidden in the shadow of a shady grove
there’s a thatched roof risin from a poke fence picket,
white smoke billows from a kettle-black stove

inside the house is a hall of mirrors
inside the mirror is a temple of sin
inside the temple is the face of mama
and mama she know just where I been
yeah, mama know exactly where her bad boy been

Grammer ends this final verse with a definitive and sexy “Huh” that still brings a smile to my face – I never tire of listening to this song.

I’ve quoted from these songs perhaps more extensively than I typically do, but I feel that Carter’s gift for wordplay demands it. These songs I’ve referenced are from the first two Dave and Tracy recordings; they released another superb album in 2001, Drum Hat Buddha, that showed Carter’s continued growth as a songwriter and the duo’s gift for creating beautiful arrangements. And in 2006 Tracy released the final Dave and Tracy recording, seven is the number, which was recorded in December 2001 and includes material from Carter’s first solo release (now out of print) plus two new songs.

If you’re not familiar with the work of Dave and Tracy, do yourself a favor: buy all of their CDs and immerse yourself in some of the finest songwriting, singing and playing in recent times while enjoying the jewels that are Dave Carter’s songs.

“When I Go” and “Crocodile Man” are written by Dave Carter and published by David Robert Carter (BMI).

For more information about Dave and Tracy, visit their website at daveandtracy.com.

Steve Wacker is a songwriter, guitarist, writer and longtime editor of the Victory Review. He released his first album Smoke Ring Haloes in 2004 and is working on his second. You can find out more about his music and writing at www.wackerwordsandmusic.com.