Special shout out to my son-in-law this week, as a couple of years back at a family gathering, he suggested I give this week's featured tune a listen. He nailed it--much like last week's music post (though the two songs couldn't be more dissimilar), one listen was all it took to fall in love with it. Couldn't help but notice that as I was playing it this week in preparation for writing this week's music post that my wife asked what the song was...which usually means she's taken a hankering to it, too.
This week's bio paragraph is going to be mercifully short, as neither Wikipedia nor Joe Purdy's website had much of a history. Purdy is from northern Arkansas and began releasing albums in 2001. He's had several songs featured in movies and television shows, and in 2017 made his acting debut in a movie called American Folk. For his career, Purdy has released 16 studio albums (which is quite the output for 21 years), which have had over 800,000 single downloads. His latest album was released in March of this year, and he is currently on tour in support of it.
Fun Fact: After Purdy played at the Wireless Festival in Leeds, England, Pete Townshend of The Who (like there's another Pete Townshend of some other band I'd be mentioning....) enjoyed Purdy's tunes so much he asked him to join him and his girlfriend Rachel Fuller at a series of their acoustic shows known as "In the Attic."
"Why Do I?" was released on Purdy's fifth album, Only Four Seasons, in 2006. Unfortunately, neither song nor album came anywhere near the Billboard charts. In fact, the only link I could provide for either was from AllMusic, which merely denotes that both were officially released.
The more I listen to it, the more "Why Do I?" reminds me of the best of alt-country. Purdy's lyrics are a subtle foray into the sorrows of an ordinary man (not sure if the protagonist a) has a problem with alcohol, b) a problem with happiness, c) a problem with being lonely on the road, or d) some combination of the three, though it really doesn't matter), and show a quiet introspection that is the hallmark of a songwriter coming into his own. Purdy's vocals gently render the sadness that is part and parcel of loneliness and never once does he let them take a maudlin turn. The music compliments it all with a slow drawl, and I have to admit that I was particularly enamored of the instrumental breaks which well captured the protagonist's inherent uncertainty. A smart song for people who appreciate smart songs...just like my son-in-law.
Lyric Sheet: "So why do I get so lonely/When there really ain't nothing wrong/'Cause I can sleep just fine when you hold me/Can't sleep at all when you're gone..."
Enjoy:
Republican = Traitor
Peace,
emaycee
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