Seth Reviews Songs from Before 1973: Ray Charles' "Old Man River"

On my iTunes, I have a playlist called "Misery." It's for those times when I really want to own being depressed. Stars of the playlist include "I Would Be Sad" by the Avett Brothers and Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright."

But the main attraction is Ray Charles' 1963 rendition of "Old Man River," a song from the 1927 musical Show Boat. Charles imbues Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics, written from the perspective of a oppressed, overworked African-American dock worker, with melancholy and a hint of rage.

And Charles does this despite the fact that he doesn't know the words. Due to some half-assed remastering, you can hear the recording engineer feeding Charles the lyrics line-by-line.

I don't know if that's how Charles liked to work, or if he was too strung out to memorize the song (he'd go to rehab for heroin addiction in '64), but it's real funny to hear the words transform from recording engineer monotone to soulful blues.

Recording engineer (use your most uptight white man voice): "He don't plant taters."

Charles: "He Don't Plant (half-beat rest) Tataahrs."

The song begins with a 90-second choral opening. When Charles does finally come in, his bluesy style is the perfect--and very welcome--counterpoint. It's delayed gratification at its best.

Charles reaches for your heartstrings in the song's final lines, where he snaps from anger to melancholy, and end with just a hint (maybe?) of hope.

Tote that barge / Lift that bale / And if you drink a little scotch / You land in jail

I get weary / And so sick of tryin' / I'm tired of livin' / But I'm scared of dyin'

But that Old Man River / He keeps rolling along.

And that's when I realize it's gotten very dusty, pop open another beer, and press repeat.

Charles' "Old Man River," off his Ingredients in a Recipe for Soul album, isn't available on iTunes or the Amazon music store, likely due to some arcane copyright issue. Thanks, laws. You can buy the CD from Amazon, though.