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"Cold Rain and Snow" is a Grateful Dead song based on the old song "Red Rocking Chair." What they have in common is: haunting melody (not quite the same, but almost), most of the lyrics, and a theme of a bad marriage. The differences are striking. In "Red Rocking Chair" the narrator proposes to send their spouse back to their mama next payday, and they discuss who's going to take care of the baby, and the narrator says he'll rock the baby and sing the song "what more can a poor boy do?" This is where "Cold Rain and Snow" diverges. It borrows a bit from "Little Margaret" to describe the wife descending the stair coming out her yellow hair and having red cheeks. And then--she meets her fatal doom, and the narrator justifies this by repeating that his wife gave him trouble all his life and left him out in the cold rain and snow.
This song has been rerecorded enthusiastically by platoons of country and rock musicians. What do they think their doing? I mean yeah, the storytelling is pretty skillful, and the moment when you realize just what is being said packs a punch. But it's smug and disgusting.
The changes run on the tune are really lovely. I can't get it out of my head (this is something that happens to me a lot though). But I can't help wishing there was a different song to this tune. I mean, it's a folk-process situation, right? The Grateful Dead-whatshisname, their songwriter--mooshed up some old favorites to express what they wanted to. So copyright or not, anybody is morally free to moosh this one up to express whatever they want. I'm just surprised nobody has wanted to before? Why not?
Today different words were floating to the surface, but only some.
"Before I'd be your(a?) wife I'd live single all my life
and stay out in the cold rain and snow"
That's a floater from like sixteen thousand other songs of course. So anyway.
this might be going in a semi-humorous direction:
"I'll go up in the hills and tend to my still
and stay out in the cold rain and snow"
I could grab a piece from a Jimmie Rodgers song ("Away out on the Mountain") and turn it backwards:
"I'll keep my love for some turtle dove
and stay out in the cold rain and snow"
and so on. I mean, that's three verses, it's halfway there.
This song has been rerecorded enthusiastically by platoons of country and rock musicians. What do they think their doing? I mean yeah, the storytelling is pretty skillful, and the moment when you realize just what is being said packs a punch. But it's smug and disgusting.
The changes run on the tune are really lovely. I can't get it out of my head (this is something that happens to me a lot though). But I can't help wishing there was a different song to this tune. I mean, it's a folk-process situation, right? The Grateful Dead-whatshisname, their songwriter--mooshed up some old favorites to express what they wanted to. So copyright or not, anybody is morally free to moosh this one up to express whatever they want. I'm just surprised nobody has wanted to before? Why not?
Today different words were floating to the surface, but only some.
"Before I'd be your(a?) wife I'd live single all my life
and stay out in the cold rain and snow"
That's a floater from like sixteen thousand other songs of course. So anyway.
this might be going in a semi-humorous direction:
"I'll go up in the hills and tend to my still
and stay out in the cold rain and snow"
I could grab a piece from a Jimmie Rodgers song ("Away out on the Mountain") and turn it backwards:
"I'll keep my love for some turtle dove
and stay out in the cold rain and snow"
and so on. I mean, that's three verses, it's halfway there.