This previously unreleased song by My Morning Jacket has been shared as a taster for the 20th anniversary release of ‘The Tennessee Fire‘ which has been beefed up to a full 2CD Deluxe Edition with all 16 original tracks and 16 previously unreleased demos, outtakes, alternate versions and more.
Of this song, Jim James (whom, grammar pedants, likes to use a lower case “i” to refer to himself) says: “this is one of the first song poems i ever wrote- i always liked the idea of a song being this little picture or puzzle, and not necessarily having to “mean” something or be about some big story or have tons of linear lyrics, but more just painting a weird little scene. i have always tried to make my music gender neutral when it comes to love or romance for the most part, so that a person of any gender could experience a song and not feel excluded if i was using “he’s” or “she’s” or whatever and this is an early experiment with that, of a person named john, which is traditionally a “male” name, who is dying her hair red and sitting in the shower til it all turns back brown- and maybe one would think- “well why did she ever even dye her hair red in the first place?” Why indeed.
My Morning Jacket are commemorating the album tonight at a sold out gig in Port Chester, NY which rejoices in the snappy title of ‘My Morning Jacket Presents: A Tennessee Fire 20th Anniversary Celebration‘. If you aren’t going then just enjoy this song.
