The songs of Guy Clark tend to stay in your heart and mind long after the last note is played. Songs like "Instant Coffee Blues," "Randall Knife," and "Desperadoes Waiting for a Train" all ache with beauty and truth. On the chorus of "L.A. Freeway," Mr. Clark's voice captures a feeling that so many of us understand.
If there was ever a song that I would use to define my life, it would be Guy Clark's "Dublin Blues." I have strummed the song on my porch for years, even on my porch in Thailand; and it was the first song my good buddy Shane ever learned how to play on a guitar. It is a song that defies the everyman conventions of country music by showing that the everyman can be well-traveled and can appreciate art and culture yet still be who and what he is. Guy Clark, quite simply, was a songwriter whose work touched me in a deep, substantial way. Although I never met him, or even saw him live, he will be missed at my house and eulogized on my porch. May God rest this gentleman who made the world a better place.
Here is a link to "Red River." Among the lyrics: "Susanna, Oh Susanna / when it comes my time / just bury me south of that Red River line." Rest in peace, Guy Clark.
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