DBT Tracks Week 12 -- "I'm Sorry Huston"

[RevMatt]

I'm Sorry Huston

I just met Huston, He was lookin' for your door.
He said he'd like to buy a horse.
I saw he had a map of the county in his hand.
He had your house circled red.
Cherokee is too damn far to come back by and ol' Huston needs a ride.

You just missed Huston, He was lookin' so confused.
I guess he really needed you.
He was old and tired and lookin' for the truth.
I guess ol' Huston's got the blues.
Cherokee is too damn far to go back dry, I promise Huston I'll try.

You ain't givin' up on lookin' for your thing,
even if you probably should.
I'm sorry Huston. I ain't got what you need
but I promise you I'd help you if I could.

One of the things I like about this song is that the narrator is using her encounter with Huston to express her own experience of heartbreak and loss. As much as we would like to be able to help another through it, ultimately it is something we go through mostly on our own. Loneliness, grief and a broken heart are rough.

[Smitty]

Not one of my favorite DBT songs...

[Mrs Swamp]

[The Black Canary]

What the hell do I know!!!

[Duke Silver]

Not one of my favorite DBT songs...

Same here. Rather than write 1,000 words about what I don't like about this song (the music, Shonna's vocals, its placement on the album), I'll focus on the one thing I like - the lyrics. Shonna just gets out of the way and lets a simple story tell itself, which allows the sadness and grief to come through on its own. She has a tendency to get too cute in her other BTCD songs ("If Jesus walked on water, where'd he get them shoes" , all of "Home Field Advantage"). If you're going to stand shoulder to shoulder with Cooley/Hood...cute probably isn't the way to go. "Huston" is my favorite of the three Shonna songs on BTCD, but that doesn't mean much since, unless I'm not near the stereo when they come on, I skip them all anyway.

[Zip City]

Of the 3 Shonna songs on BTCD, this one ranks 2nd (behind Purgatory Line, ahead of Homefield Advantage).

I also think it plays much better on the record than it does live, where it's a real party stopper

[Clams]

Shonna's stated in interviews that the song is based on a real life encounter where some old man knocked on her door looking for a horse (though the song is ripe for interpretation about a guy looking for drugs). I like how it's understated and allows you to create your own images of the old man and the encounter in your head. I think it fits the mood of BTCD perfectly. Thumbs up for Huston.

[dime in the gutter]

always loves songs about smack.

cherokee is too damn far to come back dry.

[misterbrow]

I saw an interview with her about this one on the old DBT website and I thought she said the guy was literally looking for a horse. I had always skipped that song as well until then. Then I had this image of the old guy expecting to buy and ride a horse back home. That image actually made this one that I like of hers. I too generally skip her tracks, many times think, "Damn, I miss Isbell" and put Decoration Day in.

The ones on TBDT are at least short. Riding in a car with friends they kind of remind me of Spade and Farley singing Superstar in Tommy Boy. Nobody wants to sing...but told you soO-O-O gets stuck in your head.

[Indian Rider Oz]

Shonna's stated in interviews that the song is based on a real life encounter where some old man knocked on her door looking for a horse (though the song is ripe for interpretation about a guy looking for drugs). I like how it's understated and allows you to create your own images of the old man and the encounter in your head. I think it fits the mood of BTCD perfectly. Thumbs up for Huston.

Hi Clams,
You are 100% correct about what Shonna has said about this song, Shonna spoke with my wife & I in Norfolk about this song back in the 9B days when there was a whole tread about & she thought it was kinda funny that people thought there was some hidden meaning in this song she said that it's just about a guy who wanted to buy a horse Literally,
I thought it was about "H" when I first heard it but my wife didn't , My wife always thought it was just about what she sings & she was right. Woman's intuition I quess.
I do agree with you about it being open to interpretation.
Cheers brother
Oz

[OtisTheBulldog]

I like this tune. First, I think it's extremely well executed on the record. Patterson & Shonna harmonize so well together.

Secondly, having seen those interviews - I always liked this song for the very reason that it is an extremely simple song based on a real life experience. Songwriting is just talking about life. And we have some pretty mundane or seemingly small moments - such as a brief encounter with a stranger who comes to the door. And she took that small moment, put it to music and came out with a very well done song. That's good work.

[Duke Silver]

Shonna's stated in interviews that the song is based on a real life encounter where some old man knocked on her door looking for a horse (though the song is ripe for interpretation about a guy looking for drugs). I like how it's understated and allows you to create your own images of the old man and the encounter in your head. I think it fits the mood of BTCD perfectly. Thumbs up for Huston.

Hi Clams,
You are 100% correct about what Shonna has said about this song, Shonna spoke with my wife & I in Norfolk about this song back in the 9B days when there was a whole tread about & she thought it was kinda funny that people thought there was some hidden meaning in this song she said that it's just about a guy who wanted to buy a horse Literally,
I thought it was about "H" when I first heard it but my wife didn't , My wife always thought it was just about what she sings & she was right. Woman's intuition I quess.
I do agree with you about it being open to interpretation.
Cheers brother
Oz

You can't trust a songwriter to interpret their own material, though. I think "Huston" is about horses in the same sense that "A Ghost to Most" is about Cooley not being able to find a good suit.

[Fool No Where]

I saw a guy pay $100 to move up one spot, so he could be on the rail, when Shonna sang this. He later got kicked out.

[RevMatt]

I love this song and think it is first rate songwriting and storytelling. She takes a simple encounter -- an old man knocks on her door while lost on the backroads somewhere -- and she turns it into a meditation on heartbreak and grief. The narrator cannot possibly know Huston's story and when that is done in a song, story or poem told from a first person point of view it usually means that the character is telling his or her own story. In my mind's eye I picture a man driving to an ex-wife or girlfriend's house with the excuse to buy one of her horses but the real reason is that he wants to know why she's left him. The story resolves itself with the character realizing that there is nothing one person can do to help another through heartbreak. The narrator is coming to terms with her own heartbreak.

I think this is an excellent song and one of these days somebody famous will cover it and have a hit.

[OtisTheBulldog]

Shonna's stated in interviews that the song is based on a real life encounter where some old man knocked on her door looking for a horse (though the song is ripe for interpretation about a guy looking for drugs). I like how it's understated and allows you to create your own images of the old man and the encounter in your head. I think it fits the mood of BTCD perfectly. Thumbs up for Huston.

Hi Clams,
You are 100% correct about what Shonna has said about this song, Shonna spoke with my wife & I in Norfolk about this song back in the 9B days when there was a whole tread about & she thought it was kinda funny that people thought there was some hidden meaning in this song she said that it's just about a guy who wanted to buy a horse Literally,
I thought it was about "H" when I first heard it but my wife didn't , My wife always thought it was just about what she sings & she was right. Woman's intuition I quess.
I do agree with you about it being open to interpretation.
Cheers brother
Oz

You can't trust a songwriter to interpret their own material, though. I think "Huston" is about horses in the same sense that "A Ghost to Most" is about Cooley not being able to find a good suit.

I would disagree with this sentiment. I'm an amateur shitty songwriter - but when I write something, for the most part, I know precisely what it means, line for line. Not to say I haven't written some shit and thought, "where the hell did that come from?" but more times than not, my lines have a specific personal reading.

Now, if you were to read one of those songs and see something else, cool. That's the beauty of lyrics and songs feeling personal to so many people and the way they take on a life of their own. But some times I think the song, originally at least, just is what it is and the meaning, origin, etc - it's all staring you in the face.

With that said, I really enjoy RevMatt's interpretation. I think it's cool you see it that way.

[RevMatt]

I think the real strength of the songwriting is that she keeps the lyrics simple and doesn't try and do too much with it. This song proves the old adage, less is more.

[Tequila Cowboy]

I really like this song. The simple story, as others have pointed out, makes it. I also love Shonna's vocal on this one.

[dime in the gutter]

i have said this before...shonna makes dbt a better band.

love everything she brings to the table. they are lucky to have her.



just my opinion.

[Smitty]

i have said this before...shonna makes dbt a better band.

love everything she brings to the table. they are lucky to have her.



just my opinion.

agree -
its a decent song, I wouldn't skip it but I wouldn't actively play it either - I like it more than "Homefield Advantage", but they're my least fav songs on BTCD - I love "Purgatory Line", it and "You Got Another" are two of the most achingly vulnerable songs I've ever heard, they make me just wanna give her a hug or something.

[Iowan]

I never was (and still aren't) wild about her stuff on BTCD, but I love Shonna's songs on TBTD.

That's all I got here.

[Zip City]

I never was (and still aren't) wild about her stuff on BTCD, but I love Shonna's songs on TBTD.

That's all I got here.

personal ranking:

1. You've Got Another
2. Purgatory Line
3. I'm Sorry Huston
4. It's Gonna Be (I Told You So)
5. Homefield Advantage

[Tequila Cowboy]

I never was (and still aren't) wild about her stuff on BTCD, but I love Shonna's songs on TBTD.

That's all I got here.

personal ranking:

1. You've Got Another
2. Purgatory Line
3. I'm Sorry Huston
4. It's Gonna Be (I Told You So)
5. Homefield Advantage

Holy shit! I think I agree with Zip's ranking 100%! I hope the apocalypse isn't coming I've got a lot of driving to do...

[Zip City]

I never was (and still aren't) wild about her stuff on BTCD, but I love Shonna's songs on TBTD.

That's all I got here.

personal ranking:

1. You've Got Another
2. Purgatory Line
3. I'm Sorry Huston
4. It's Gonna Be (I Told You So)
5. Homefield Advantage

Holy shit! I think I agree with Zip's ranking 100%! I hope the apocalypse isn't coming I've got a lot of driving to do...

[Duke Silver]

I rank 'em:

1. Told You So
.
.
.
2. You Got Another
.
.
.
3. Everything else. Told You So is the only one I go out of my way to listen to, and that's at least half due to the slide guitar parts.

I love what Shonna brings to the band as a bassist (she rules on the slower stuff on BTCD, and I can't wait to hear her on the R&B record), and background vocalist. Her voice sounds incredible next to Patterson's especially. At this point I can't imagine the band without her. BUT... in my opinion, her songs are what side projects and solo albums are for. There's just so much good music out there and so little time, I'm not interested in hearing/watching her go through her growing pains as a songwriter, at least not in the context of DBT albums and (especially) shows, where she's taking time away from songwriters/performers who are probably 500 songs ahead of her in their development.

[beantownbubba]

If u think that DBT is more than the sum of its songs, then you've gotta love that they've given shonna the space and encouragement they have. It's yet another thing i love about this band.

The live show's another matter, tho. Her songs don't really fit and it seems to me that it's as unfair to her as to the audience to have her regularly stop the show's momentum.

[Duke Silver]

If u think that DBT is more than the sum of its songs, then you've gotta love that they've given shonna the space and encouragement they have. It's yet another thing i love about this band and her

I agree with that. But on the other hand, if the songs were stronger it wouldn't need to be viewed as an act of generosity on the part of the band.

[RevMatt]

I like Shonna as a songwriter which is why I chose this song. The only song of hers I haven't been a fan of is "I Told You So". But the rest have been fantastic. She is a great musician and I don't think the rest of the band is merely being charitable by giving her a couple songs on an album. She may not be where Patterson and Cooley are but we forget that Shonna is younger than either of those guys were when DBT was formed. One thing I sense is that she has trouble singing live through the sound system and monitors. That is a skill that you learn only by singing complete sets night after night.

[Smitty]

I never was (and still aren't) wild about her stuff on BTCD, but I love Shonna's songs on TBTD.

That's all I got here.

personal ranking:

1. You've Got Another
2. Purgatory Line
3. I'm Sorry Huston
4. It's Gonna Be (I Told You So)
5. Homefield Advantage

Holy shit! I think I agree with Zip's ranking 100%! I hope the apocalypse isn't coming I've got a lot of driving to do...

Swap I Told You So and I'm Sorry Huston and you got my ranking too - I Told You So is just a fun, catchy song
you picked up crazy and you let it your head

[Slipkid42]

I too, agree with Zip's list. I Told You So is the best one live, though. I don't find her songs an intrusion to the Rock Show (if they are properly placed). For instance, on the current tour if they were to play say Space City, You've Got Another, & Santa Fe back to back; I would welcome the temporary relief to my eardrums.
Shonna writes good stuff or they wouldn't include it on the albums. It's not like they lack for material. The diversity of their music is what makes DBT so good. Shonna brings a fresh perspective; that still touches on the bare emotions, that are the root of the Trucker's sound. I'm Sorry Huston (whatever it's about) tugs at the heartstrings. Songs like that aren't all that common.

[Slipkid42]

I too, agree with Zip's list. I Told You So is the best one live, though. I don't find her songs an intrusion to the Rock Show (if they are properly placed). For instance, on the current tour if they were to play say Space City, You've Got Another, & Santa Fe back to back; I would welcome the temporary relief to my eardrums.
Shonna writes good stuff or they wouldn't include it on the albums. It's not like they lack for material. The diversity of their music is what makes DBT so good. Shonna brings a fresh perspective; that still touches on the bare emotions, that are the root of the Trucker's sound. I'm Sorry Huston (whatever it's about) tugs at the heartstrings. Songs like that aren't all that common.