The Righteous Path: Essential Drive By Truckers # 2 (Hood)

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While the first track of this series, "Heathens", is a light and bittersweet tune "The Righteous Path"
is something else all together. There are probably five or six "types" of songs that Hood writes, and this is one of them. 

Here, Patterson Hood weaves together the fuzzed out hard rock of Neil Young's Crazy Horse, the working class ethos of Bruce Springsteen, and the heart of the south into a distinct Truckers tune. A full frontal assault is staged with the guitars as Hood goes into overdrive painting a character sketch of a stressed out, middle aged dude with a family and dwindling monetary supplies. He's got a whole lot of debt and a boat sitting in the backyard that "hasn't seen the water in years". 

Towards the end of the song, lead guitarist Mike Cooley lays down some atmosphere as Hood goes from descriptive to sensitive, singing "we're hanging out/ and we're hanging on/we try our best/to keep on moving on". Earlier in the song, Hood continues to use the road and "the ditches" as a metaphor for life, much like he did in "Heathens".

It all works together quite nicely as the Truckers channel their inner Crazy Horse and tell the tales of the desperate over aggressive 12 bar riffs with just enough sensitivity to expose the heart underneath. Listen below:


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