Songs I Love To Play: Cigarettes And Wine (Jason Isbell cover)

I may have mentioned it once or twice or a thousand times...but right now, Jason Isbell is pretty much my favorite songwriter. The biggest reason is that he seems to be challenging my writers block and writing from inside my head. Can I relate to this guy's music? Absolutely! And the songs are pretty damn terrific, and a whole lot of fun to perform live.

"Cigarettes And Wine" is from his 2009 album, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit. It plays like a blues song, but it sings and is lyrically a very alternate country tune. It has everything you would need...a beautiful woman, love, heartbreak, longing...all of the tings that great country songs have that don't mention trains or mama. Or Merle Haggard.

Anyway...I love singing this song, and I hope you enjoy this performance. Here's some lyrics so you can sing along!

CIGARETTES AND WINE
words & music by JASON ISBELL

I saw her in Roosevelt Springs w
Where time doesn't touch anything
She never did say she could sing
But I figured it so
I needed some company then
Not sisters or children or men
That's a hell of a spot to be in
But she put me in tow

Money and liquor and lust
Had taken my heart and my trust
I could see ashes and dust
Were headed my way
She tended bar in the town
Her alto settled me down
So I started hanging around
Didn't need much to say

She smelled like cigarettes and wine
She kept me happy all the time
I know that ain't much of a line
But it's the Gods' own truth
She lives down inside of me still
Rolled up like a twenty dollar bill
She left me alone with these pills
And the last of my youth

Wings on her shoulders and feet
A bar on Gethsemane Street
I took time to plan my retreat
And backed out the door
I must be attracted to those
Who've witnessed a man in the throes
Of life that ain't grindstone to nose
But pedal to floor

She smelled like cigarettes and wine
She kept me happy all the time
I know that ain't much of a line
But it's the Gods' own truth
She lives down inside of me still
Rolled up like a twenty dollar bill
She left me alone with these pills
And my smoldering youth

Lost on the dry side of town
My memories slowing me down
She shook me and I came around
I came back to life
With nary a mother or dad
She showed me what I never had
The princess of leaves, she gets sad
'Cause I won't take a wife

She smelled like cigarettes and wine
And she kept me happy all the time
I know that ain't much of a line
But it's the Gods' own truth
She lives down inside of me still
Rolled up like a twenty dollar bill
She left me alone with these pills
And the last of my youth

© Jason Isbell

#imusify #coverwednesday