Saturday, September 18, 2010

Song(s) of the day: Piano Bill, Roy Harvey, Charlie Poole


Song(s) of the day (9/18/2010):
Piano Bill, Roy Harvey, Charlie Poole - Milwaukee Blues


For some people, Milwaukee is just one thing: home. For others, especially people from other places, it can be many things:
  • A trap
  • Utopia
  • The worst decision they ever made
  • The best decision they ever made
  • A giant question mark on the US map
  • A place they're just passing through
  • Somewhere they've moved on from
  • A town they miss crazily
These two songs kind of show the gamut.

The Piano Bill version (Piano was from Detroit) is about emigrating to this great place on a great lake for the love of a lady. It's more her he's lusting after than the city, but his heart may melt all over the city itself come stage two.

The other song (performed by both Roy Harvey & Charlie Poole—both are great and I couldn't decide which to post, so I posted both. Poole wrote the song) is about a hobo getting stuck in Milwaukee. And having a miserable time here. He just wants to jump back on the train and make it back out west. But it never happens. Then he dies.

So, Milwaukee: A place where love blooms and hobos die.

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