About The Song
Not gonna lie: “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean” has never been one of my favorite Waylon hits. Call me what you will, but I’ve always thought the flat production employed in that studio recording just doesn’t quite give the song the momentum it needs to chug along successfully for the full three and-a-half minutes, which ultimately dulls the piece’s fairly interesting story .
That said, I dig it appreciably more in live settings that allow the electric guitars to blast out the song’s sweet country-rock licks at full power. And that’s the approach that seems to be at play in this new take on the Outlaw anthem, an exciting preview of Jennings’ upcoming collaboration with son Shooter and Shooter’s southern rock outfit, the .357’s. The album is titled Waylon Forever, and that moniker seems appropriate; if this steel-heavy track is any indication, the guests have done a pretty good job of updating the older material for future generations without detonating out the tradition with unnecessary electric trickery.
But for all the points the younger Jennings’ crew scores with their arrangement, the ultimate high of this rendition is the vocal, which finds the late older Jennings (who would have been around sixty-eight at the the time of this recording in 1995) ripping into the iconic number with a fiery conviction that only makes it all sound that much more bad-ass. If for some reason you’ve never heard “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean” before, consider this a rare and valuable opportunity to experience a country-rock song that is actually equal parts country and rock. If you’re a veteran, consider this a rare and valuable opportunity to hear a signature spell outcast by its own enigmatic wizard.
Video
Lyrics
On a Greyhound bus
Lord, I’m traveling this morning
I’m goin’ to Shreveport and down to New Orleans
Been travelin’ these highways
Been doin’ things my way
It’s been making me lonesome, on’ry and mean
Now her hair was jet black
And her name was Codene
She thought she was the queen of the Basin Street Queens
She got tired of that smokey-wine dream
Began to feel lonesome, on’ry and mean
We got together, and we cashed in our sweeps
Gave ’em to a beggar who was mumbling through the streets
There’s no escaping from his snowy white dreams
Born lookin’ lonesome, on’ry and mean
Now I’m down in this valley
Where the wheels turn so low
At dawn I pray to the Lord of my soul
I say do Lord, do right by me
You know I’m tired of being lonesome, on’ry and mean