Gillian Welch -- "The Way It Goes"
An article in the New Yorker several years back described the partnership of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings as a two-person band named "Gillian Welch." It's certainly true that it's eerie how well the two complement each other. On this song as elsewhere in the Gillian Welch catalog, Rawlings' harmony mimics the lead voice so well you might think that Welch was singing her own harmony -- but then you hear them perform live, and you realize you're hearing the two of them together. This track features some typical Welchian notes of desperation, despair, and resignation (along with a wry, dark little blot of humor when it comes to the line about selling "that pussycat"), but it also offers jaw-dropping lead runs that Rawlings knocks out as though they were beginner's work. It's not that anything he plays is so audacious; it's just the speed, the accuracy, and the ease with which he rattles off all those notes.
Welchian. Welchian. It's just fun to type.
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