Mary Gauthier (photo by Alexa King Stone)
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and author Mary Gauthier dropped two exquisitely written truth bombs on us at her No Depression Session at Jaan’s House during AmericanaFest 2023.
We know that we are getting a masterclass in songcraft within the first few phrases of “Dark Enough to See the Stars,” the title track from her most recent album (ND review). “Days go by, nothing works / I can’t believe how much this hurts / I don’t know where you are / It’s dark enough to see the stars.”
What a perfect gem of a phrase to communicate the feeling of clarity through loss. As friends and family pass away over the course of our lives, we can be tempted to wallow in the sadness that comes with the territory. The profoundly optimistic message of this song is that because of the darkness, we can allow ourselves insight into which of the brighter parts of life matter the most while we are here. And we can bring the human experience into perspective for those who follow us after our own passing.
I double-dog dare you to listen to this phrase without your goosebumps getting goosebumps, knowing that Gauthier is mourning the loss of life, while at the same time appreciating the insights that help add meaning to otherwise arbitrary pain: “Under heaven’s canopy / Tiny diamonds you and me / Lightning bugs inside a jar / Dark enough to see the stars.”
For the second song, Gauthier tells us that she digs the idea of poetic recitation as opposed to always singing a full-throated melody, and so “Last of the Hobo Kings,” from her 2007 album Between Daylight and Dark, is a fitting song choice. The song is inspired by the memory of Steam Train Maury Graham, a man who “knew how his nation was doing / by the length of a sidewalk cigarette butt.” Talk about keen observation, wow, WOW! I had never considered judging the economic health of an area based on how much of a cigarette its inhabitants can afford to discard. Gauthier tells us that “hobos pay attention. … When times are hard, you’re goin’ down to the filter, man!” Cheers to one Americana luminary singing and writing about a fellow razor-sharp cultural observer.
Find previous No Depression Sessions at AmericanaFest 2023 here.
