Album: Decoration Day
Year: 2003
Decoration Day was probably where I realized why I loved Drive-by Truckers so much: they reminded me of Sedan Delivery, my favorite of all the bands I’ll ever be in.
We had a lot in common: a healthy love of the entire continuum of rock and roll, dark lyrics wedded to uplifting music and multiple singer-songwriters who were equals.
That last was the true rarity. Most bands have a principle songwriter — someone who provides a unity of vision and and clarity of musical purpose. Either that, or two or more people write together. But different folks bringing in their songs is pretty rare. So much so that one time when I was trying to persuade Don to let us play one of his songs in Sedan Delivery, he asked me to “name one great band” that had multiple songwriters.
“The Beatles,” I replied. And we played his song. But also: Hüsker Dü, Uncle Tupelo and Drive-by Truckers. Of course, the first two famously flamed out for exactly the same ego-driven reasons Don wanted up to focus on Joe’s songs and not his, but DBT have lasted this long because they’ve always allowed multiple voices in.
None of this has to do with “My Sweet Annette,” a highlight of Decoration Day and one of my all-time favorite Patterson Hood story songs.
Me and my Annette, we was as fond as we could be
We were set to marry in October ’33
I set my sights to courtin’ her, as fine as she could be
I never ever noticed her best friend MarileeTook a job at the saw mill and I bought my girl a ring
Had a pre-wedding party, close friends and family
Everything was fine, eatin’ homemade ice cream
I swear I never noticed Maid of Honor Marilee
Told, presumably, from the viewpoint of an old man many years later, “My Sweet Annette” basically tells us what’s going to happen before it gives us any of the details.
And my sweet Annette was left standing at the altar
My sweet Annette was left standing at the altar
The music is a speed-up country two-step, with guitars playing rings around each other and a fiddle weaving in and out. Meanwhile, Hood continues.
Marilee was taken ill, it was several miles from home
Back then it wasn’t fittin’ for a girl to leave alone
Sweet Annette, she asked me to walk her to the door
As innocent as children back before the war
After another chorus, the song stops dead in its tracks, as we find out exactly what we’d already figured out the second we heard him mention Marilee.
Lord have mercy for what we done
Lord have mercy when two people get alone
Neither one of us had done anything like that you see
By the next sunset, I had eloped with Marilee
By the next sunset, I had eloped with Marilee
By the next sunset, I had eloped with Marilee
As he sings about eloping with Marilee, the music builds and builds, and as the pedal steel and violin give away to dueling electric guitars, you start realizing how much has been left out of the story.
What were the consequences? Are there any regrets? Was the marriage to Marilee good, or did it end immediately? I’ve always imaging the guy in this song looking back at his youth and just shaking his head at what an idiot he was. I wonder what happened to sweet Annette. Did she ever recover?
All we know is what we are told, and that’s the kind of the beauty of “My Sweet Annette;” it’s a snapshot of a situation that changes the lives of everybody involved — because how could it not? — but we never know how it changed everybody’s lives.
So I keep listening to “My Sweet Annette” over and over, wondering if maybe next time I might find out.
“My Sweet Annette” performed live in 2006