Some lyrics

The first is a song by Ralph McTell from an album about Dylan Thomas. (If you haven't read any of Dylan Thomas's beautiful poetry, you can find some here.) The songs themselves are as much about Caitlin Thomas as they are about her husband (their marriage could kindly be described as 'turbulent'; they were both alcoholics with fierce tempers), and about not writing poetry rather than writing it. This one is both.

( This union is soldered... )

The second is by a band called Richmond Fontaine, a group named after a drifter the lead singer met while travelling through Mexico (the drifter later disappeared and left everything behind right after saying he was about to get his life together, which says a lot about the band). It's a song about being addicted to gambling, written by a man who used to eat breakfast in a casino every day. You expect certain things from that kind of song. This one starts off in the Superficially Happy But Miserable Deep Down vein, and you're all set to expect the rest of it to continue the same way; the character in the song is far too happy about gambling, and therefore clearly doesn't know what it's doing to him. That impression does not last long. It's one of the saddest songs I know.

( Drop me off... )

The third is by Lucinda Williams.

( I envy the wind )