2000 Great Songs #1266: Thoughts And Prayers

Besides being one of the truly great American bands of the past quarter-century, the Drive-By Truckers are, without hyperbole, the most thoughtful purveyors of protest music since Bob Dylan. And while their pointed everyman concerns, most often expressed by co-leader Patterson Hood, are frequently wrapped in exquisite storytelling (see, e.g., the out-of-work widower in "Puttin' People On The Moon," the family landowner facing foreclosure in "Sink Hole"), sometimes they take a more direct route.

"Thoughts And Prayers," off 2000's somber (first) Trump-term The Unraveling, is an unvarnished take on gun culture and school shootings, as devastating and brutally honest as the subject deserves. (And, yeah, what can be more American than the need for multiple songs about school shootings?) It's an explicit Fuck You to the right wing thoughts & prayers crowd who view dead children as a fair price to pay for unfettered access to unlimited firepower. 

When my children's eyes look at me and they ask me to explain, it hurts me that I have to look away.
The powers that be are in for shame and comeuppance, when Generation Lockdown has their day.
They'll throw the bums all out and drain the swamp for real, perp-walk them down the Capitol steps and show them how it feels.
Tramp the dirt down, Jesus, you can pray the rod they'll spare, stick it up your ass with your useless thoughts and prayers.

Of course, it would just be a well-intended political message if it wasn't adorned with a beautiful piece of heartland Americana, a jangly country song I truly wish the country music crowd would pay attention to. Not the sort of thing I can play very often, but I'm glad it exists.

Patterson Hood, solo acoustic:

Live 2021:

NEW! You can now see the entire Top 2000 to date in a sortable database!