![]() Short Sharp Shocked (1988) [ larger cover art ] |
( Jean Ritchie)
When I was a curly headed baby
My daddy set me down on his knee
Saying, 'Son you go to school
You learn your letters
Now, don't you be no dusty miner, boy, like me'
Oh, I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
Now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
I used to think my daddy was a black man
With scrip enough to buy the company store
But now he goes to town with empty pockets
And, Lord, his face is white
As the February snow
I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
Never thought I'd live to learn to love the coaldust
Never thought I'd pray to hear those temples roar
But, God, I wish the grass would turn to money
And then them greenbacks
Would fill my pockets once more
I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
Last night I dreamed I went down to the office
To get my payday like I done before
But them old kudzu vines, they was covering over the doorway
And there was leaves and grass
Growing right up to the floor
I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
Aw, the L&N don't stop here anymore
| Aud (lost in lakecity) | Posted: Apr 03, 2013 - 23:34 NanaNatalie wrote: I freaking love this song! Have'nt heard it in years. Whatever happened to Michelle. Was she a one hit wonder. Love her work. getting her concerts cancelled |
| xkolibuul (Chuckanut sandstone) | Posted: Mar 03, 2013 - 12:06 NanaNatalie wrote: I freaking love this song! Have'nt heard it in years. Whatever happened to Michelle. Was she a one hit wonder. Love her work. I was wondering the same. According to AMG, she's anything but a one-hit wonder (well even I, a complete amateur, could have told you that) and has continued to release new material as recently as 2009. Much of her work has been gospel-influenced. |
| Tennisgirl (Stones Throw from T.O.) | Posted: Mar 03, 2013 - 12:04 NanaNatalie wrote: I freaking love this song! Have'nt heard it in years. Whatever happened to Michelle. Was she a one hit wonder. Love her work. I have always loved Michelle and all her albums....she has so many great cuts! Saw her about 2 years ago at the Hughes Room in Toronto, a great performance except that her gospel back-up singers apparently got stuck at the border and couldn't get into Canada so she was completely solo. |
| NanaNatalie (Pretoria) | Posted: Jan 31, 2013 - 04:14 I freaking love this song! Have'nt heard it in years. Whatever happened to Michelle. Was she a one hit wonder. Love her work. |
| LucretiaUK | Posted: Jan 31, 2013 - 04:13 Oh my, this was on a folk mix tape that a friend made for me years ago and I never knew what it was. Lovely song. Very good to hear it again. |
| AndyJ (Oregon) | Posted: Dec 30, 2012 - 20:13 Wikipedia says...Louisville and Nashville Railroad coy wrote: what does L & N stand for ?? |
| eve_silver (Southwest Germany) | Posted: Nov 29, 2012 - 11:14 7 -> 8 Must have been a long time ago when I rated this song. Don't remember I did. Just caught my attention - again, as I had to realise ![]() |
| coy (san antonio) | Posted: Nov 29, 2012 - 11:13 what does L & N stand for ?? |
| Bleyfusz | Posted: Nov 29, 2012 - 11:10 Stingray wrote: Why Michelle is not a star? Or is she...? In Europe she is basically "unknown"! Not for me. |
| Stingray | Posted: Sep 27, 2012 - 15:27 Why Michelle is not a star? Or is she...? In Europe she is basically "unknown"! |
| RKeaton (South of Paradise) | Posted: Jul 26, 2012 - 21:46 Bless you for playing this song, this album, this woman. |
| bachbeet | Posted: Jul 26, 2012 - 17:11 This is a really good album. Not the best song from it but it's really good. |
| Boy_Wonder (Bath, back in the UK) | Posted: Jun 25, 2012 - 06:53 And now heard twice in a month.... still thanks Bill!! |
| Boy_Wonder (Bath, back in the UK) | Posted: May 24, 2012 - 10:46 Haven't heard this for ages.... thanks Bill! |
| Jackson_Feelgood (Australia) | Posted: Mar 22, 2012 - 00:20 dwlangham wrote: June Carter Cash's version of this song is the gold standard for me. Surely you Jest ? |
| dwlangham | Posted: Jan 18, 2012 - 12:16 June Carter Cash's version of this song is the gold standard for me. |
| FooledAgain (43°40'N 79°20'W) | Posted: Dec 17, 2011 - 19:23 marcc wrote: i guess i could google this, but isn't the album title taken from a line in a pink floyd song (from the dark side... album)? "short, sharp, shocked. dig it?" Yes. I think it's "shock", present tense, in the song. But I quibble. And tardily. |
| coy (san antonio) | Posted: Jun 11, 2011 - 14:02 i'm a believer |
| marcc (columbia, sc) | Posted: Apr 09, 2011 - 08:53 i guess i could google this, but isn't the album title taken from a line in a pink floyd song (from the dark side... album)? "short, sharp, shocked. dig it?" |
| Derecho (A Land Without Traffic Lights) | Posted: Mar 08, 2011 - 20:48 ![]() |
| victoryluna (stuck in Zincinnati) | Posted: Feb 05, 2011 - 13:05 Tippster wrote: Fantastic song from a truly great album. |
| kayc | Posted: Jan 05, 2011 - 05:58 ![]() |
| Tippster (Washington, DC) | Posted: Dec 04, 2010 - 14:52 Fantastic song from a truly great album. |
| Otomi (La orilla de la civilización) | Posted: Dec 04, 2010 - 14:52 Randomax wrote: Interesting about the cover of this album A ten just for that. The song deserves it anyway. |
| MortimerS | Posted: Oct 02, 2010 - 07:24 fredriley wrote: Don't they just? You could spend years researching the ways that railroads (railways this side of the Pond) have been used as metaphors in songs, and I'll bet that plenty of PhDs have been written on the subject. I think it might be something specific to the US, on account of the sheer size of the country and its pioneering history. Somehow the UK railways don't have quite the same, erm, romanticism and imagery, perhaps because this country's so small in comparison. Strange. Having finished a Delderfeld novel for the first time since I was 13, I was just thinking about a comparison of our coal mines and the welsh of 100 years ago. In Delderfields ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._F._Delderfield ) 19th century England, trains were a mixed blessing. From this side of the pond, trains were not controversial to the majority at any point. I enjoy this version of the song but haven't placed the author yet. |
| Randomax (Wimberley, TX) | Posted: May 27, 2010 - 14:12 Interesting about the cover of this album |
| Baby_M (a 100-year old building in downtown Akron, Ohio) | Posted: May 27, 2010 - 14:03 there were about ten or fifteen years between the first time I heard this and the second. It was one of those songs that made such a strong impression that I could hear it in my head whenever I thought about it, after just that one listening. |
| james_of_tucson (Tucson AZ) | Posted: May 27, 2010 - 14:01 rcurrier wrote: Railroads make such great imagery for songwriters. As do poverty and despair... |
| Jeff09 (Gainesville, Florida USA) | Posted: May 27, 2010 - 14:00 parttime wrote: Great song and a pivotal CD agreed...Texas Campfire Tapes was the start. |
| parttime (Kona Hawaii) | Posted: Dec 20, 2009 - 21:14 Great song and a pivotal CD |
| WonderLizard (2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise) | Posted: Nov 19, 2009 - 10:22 gjeeg wrote: Wherever did Michelle go? She's still around: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifqxqr5ld0e~T1 |
| fredriley (Nottingham, UK) | Posted: Sep 17, 2009 - 10:06 rcurrier wrote: Railroads make such great imagery for songwriters. Don't they just? You could spend years researching the ways that railroads (railways this side of the Pond) have been used as metaphors in songs, and I'll bet that plenty of PhDs have been written on the subject. I think it might be something specific to the US, on account of the sheer size of the country and its pioneering history. Somehow the UK railways don't have quite the same, erm, romanticism and imagery, perhaps because this country's so small in comparison. |
| teliko (The Netherlands) | Posted: Jul 16, 2009 - 07:16 Nice version, although I prefer the version by Johnny Cash. |
| WayUpNorth (Down on the Farm) | Posted: Jul 16, 2009 - 07:16 I was really in to Michelle Shocked for quite some time ... liked her music and her attitude. She seemed liberated from lots of feminine stereotypes without becoming masculine. What she was doing was really fresh at that time. Where'd she go? |
| gjeeg (Syracuse, New York) | Posted: Jun 14, 2009 - 11:33 Wherever did Michelle go? |
| cc_rider (Austin Texas. Y'all.) | Posted: Mar 11, 2009 - 14:53 rcurrier wrote: Railroads make such great imagery for songwriters. And I'm such a sucker for them. This one's got trains AND coal. Always reminds me of John Prine's 'Muhlenburg County'. |
| Skinwalker | Posted: Feb 08, 2009 - 01:16 God, I'd forgotten how much I love this song. I'd love to hear some of the other recordings of it, though...Michelle's great and all, but this is not the best version of it I've heard. Sadly, it's been so long since I've heard it at all that I can't remember who else I've heard done it. I guess Bill will just have to dig up a sampling :) |
| Limpopoking (The Parish of St. Alfonzo) | Posted: Jan 07, 2009 - 09:39 Classic Michelle Shocked. |
| rcurrier (San Juan Capistrano, CA) | Posted: Dec 06, 2008 - 19:26 Railroads make such great imagery for songwriters. And I'm such a sucker for them. |



