Robert Earl Hardy

The story of Townes Van Zandt’s life is mostly a sad one. Possessed of sublime poetic sensibilities, and revered by many fellow songwriters, Van Zandt was also cursed with luck bad and hard. Hardy makes clear the attraction that life on the road had for Van Zandt, his commitment to the troubadour life, and his inability to find peace of mind. The drink and drugs both caused and eased the pain; the constant movement was both an escape from and a getting to. With Hardy’s even-handed treatment, we don’t know whether to egg him on or turn him away. But, damn—the songs. The music that the rest of us got out of the deal makes it almost worth it.

The road—the highway—is one of Van Zandt’s favorite metaphors, one that he used repeatedly, always treating the road as though it were a natural, not a man-made, feature. ‘Highway Kind’ is Townes’ expression of his place in the universe, the familiar and highly imperfect place that he has accepted as his destiny. The song’s real subject is the Tao, the true way, where darkness and light share a dependent relationship. It’s easy to picture a weary traveler as he looks from the window of a car speeding to another gig in another town, feeling his destiny, seeing it literally in front of him, the stripes on the road flying toward him like lightning bolts, only to flash past in the blink of an eye, and then more of the same. And that’s what the traveler has come to crave, not only accepting his destiny, but relishing it. Or does he?

Avery White Rascal Witbier
Dark Horse Crooked Tree IPA… (lisätietoja)