An Introduction to America’s Music

420 PART 4 | SINCE WORLD WAR II

timing section text comments

0:00 introduction 4-bar electric guitar solo suggests opening of

the vocal melody, then slides down a series of

chromatic chords. A sudden silence sets up vocal

entrance.

0:06 stanza 1 I’m a rolling stone all

alone and lost...

In fi rst 16-bar stanza, fi lls on pedal steel guitar

create halo effect around voice.

0:35 stanza 2 Just a deck of cards and a

jug of wine...

Fiddle fi lls behind the vocal.

1:03 instrumental

stanza

Bluesy guitar solo for bars 1–8, fi ddle double stops

with pedal steel fi lls for bars 9–12, guitar for bars

13–16, echoing introduction.

1:32 stanza 3 I was just a lad, nearly

twenty-two...

Mandolin tremolo fi lls behind the vocal.

2:01 stanza 4 Now boys don’t start your

rambling around...

Guitar fi lls behind the vocal.

2:30 tag 4 bars, similar to introduction.

songwriter: Leon Payne

date: 1949

performers: Hank Williams with the

Drifting Cowboys. Instrumentation: electric

and acoustic guitars, mandolin, fi ddle, pedal

steel guitar, bass

genre: honky-tonk

meter: duple

form: strophic

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR

• relaxed dance rhythm, with sock rhythm
  emphasizing the backbeat


• prominence of electric guitar, amplifi ed
  steel guitar, and fi ddle


• pentatonic melody


• three-chord (I, IV, V) harmony

CD 3.13 Listening Guide 17.2 “Lost Highway” HANK WILLIAMS

Listen & Refl ect

1. What aspects of the performance reinforce the mood of the lyrics, and what aspects seem
   to work against that mood? What would be the song’s effect if the latter aspects were
   either eliminated or changed to agree with the former?

172028_17_412-439_r3_sd.indd 420 23/01/13 10:58 AM