Video: Drive-By Truckers: "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife" (Live on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien")
This is a fucking sad song, and maybe not the obvious one to play on Conan. Reportedly written about the murder of Richmond musician Bryan Harvey and his family, it's a somber, midtempo meditation on tragedy, revenge, and the idea of heaven as an infinite Saturday morning. It's also arguably the best Patterson Hood track on Brighter Than Creation's Dark. As Shonna Tucker's backing vocals shadow Hood's lead, the band adds tender country flourishes of keyboards and pedal steel. It may sound like Mike Cooley flubs his banjo part, but he's actually providing a reminder that it's just a song and meaningless tragedies don't have happy endings. Heady stuff for a comedy show.
[from Brighter Than Creation's Dark; out now on New West]