For the next 30 days, I’ll be taking the #AprilAcrossAmerica challenge, picking one song a day as I make my way across the country and across genres at the same time.
Day 21: Lawrence, KS
Americana is one of the more intriguing genres to be somewhat formalized in the music listening lexicon. The label seems so appropriate when you hear music under its moniker, primarily because the genre has a relatively broad definition – essentially anything that stems from a music style rooted in America, like country, bluegrass and blues. It’s why Americana fits well for a broad range of artists, from Dylan to Cash to Springsteen. Josh Ritter may not be the legend that those aforementioned names are, but he has been a long mainstay in the Americana scene, crafting songs about American life, including “Lawrence, KS”.
Earlier this month, I featured John Mellencamp’s “Small Town” on Mental Jukebox. Both “Small Town” and “Lawrence, KS” are about small town life. But they are presented from two very different perspectives. While Mellencamp romanticized small town life, there’s something extremely vulnerable and raw about Ritter’s “Lawrence, KS” and other tracks from his catalog. It’s a town that the protagonist can’t seem to leave despite how it kills him inside.
“And my debts are not like prison Where there's hope of getting free. Lord I can't leave this world behind.”