Million Dollar Bill
Our favorites are rarely the hits.
I’ve burned out on country. Because it’s so formulaic. It’s like everybody in Nashville has to wear a cowboy hat and sing about God and family. You’d think everybody’s in church, never swears and has no pain that is not shared in a prayer circle. Once upon a time country was where you went for honesty, the real America, now it’s as fake as the botoxed stars in Hollywood, and like those puffed-lip princesses, the songs are indistinguishable. Whereas true greatness is always a bit crooked, in viewpoint and execution, it doesn’t give us what we want, it takes us where we want to be, even though we don’t know it until we get there. Great songs are like iPods, uniquely great and different. Steve Jobs did no market research because the public couldn’t predict the future, they couldn’t grasp it, that was his job, to lead them there.
When it hits me that she’s gone
I think I’ll run for president
Get my face put on the million dollar bill
Although heartbreak is not age specific, the anxiety and frustration of love, the agony and the ecstasy, is best depicted by twentysomethings, finally free from their parents, looking for the perfect thing, unaware that it doesn’t really exist. Your twenties are about opportunities, blind alleys and wasted time. You’re playing a game you believe you can win, just like you played AYSO soccer before you hit puberty. Whereas oldsters are disillusioned, they no longer think they can win. They can sing about what they’ve lost, but there’s no optimism, not even a wink of the eye. Getting old is about staying home, intrigued by politics and the news. Doesn’t make for magic music, which is why we’re drawn to the angsting-young ‘uns.
So when these rich men that she wants
Show her ways they can take care of her
I’ll have found a way to be there with her still
I’m reading this book, "The Marriage Plot", by Jeffrey Eugenides. Despite mediocre reviews, it’s truly magical. A great author searches for inner truth, he cares not a whit what the audience thinks, and when he nails it we smile, say that’s the way it is, it’s the opposite of modern country. Anyway, the title refers to old literature, when life came down to marriage, whether you made a good one. There was money involved, a dowry, and there was no divorce. But money still matters. In China families erect fake second stories to appear richer, to improve the marriageability of their sons. We all believe we’re great inside, it’s hard to lose out because of externalities.
The singer’s pissed. He had her and now she’s gone. She’s left for something better, she’s desirous of wealth. You think he’s gonna become president and print million dollar bills so he too will be rich, so she’ll come back. But like the really old country songs, he knows he’s already lost. But he doesn’t want to be forgotten, he wants to be part of the transaction, he wants to be part of her consciousness.
When it hits me that she’s gone
I think I’ll be an astronaut
Make the moon my home and leave the earth behind
What I love about Dawes is the songs don’t have to be linear, the plot doesn’t have to continue, the singer doesn’t still have to be president.
So when she steps out into the night
And finds the light that makes her prettiest
She’ll be facing me every time she shines
He wants to be with her. Forever.
When it hits me that she’s gone
I think I’ll be a movie star
Play the finest men the world has ever seen
So when these lovers that she’s found
Show her ways they learned to talk to her
Behind each perfect word there’ll be a little bit of me
Did you catch that? The hits rarely challenge us. We can digest them with one bite. But great songs we’ve got to chew upon, we’ve got to masticate and tear apart so we can comprehend them, it takes a while.
Everything I know about sex I learned from the movies.
Everything we know about romance we know from the movies.
He wants to be the teacher. He wants to be part of the transaction.
"Million Dollar Bill" is wistful, it’s a dirge. If you put it on in a nightclub, it would clear the dance floor. Same deal at a party. Our modern music is all upbeat. And sure, sometimes country is down, but it’s defiant, I am woman and I will emerge victorious!
But the singer of "Million Dollar Bill" is a loser.
This is a great song.
I’m not even sure it’s country.
But it’s got everything a great country record has.
It’s honest. It’s intimate. It’s life.
