It's in the bloodstream of the Bohannons and in a sound that emphasizes that everyone seems to be getting through all of their problems, so what's the big deal? It's about the highest of highs and the lowest of lows that sniff around and take their prisoners and crown their winners, whenever they want. It's about embracing the ways that people are pulled. It's about being one of the buffalo and being one of the buffalo killers and some days being unable to tell the two apart. There's loneliness and pain all over the songs and the decent people are just as in need of salvation as the wrecked ones are. Everyone's got their debts and everyone's got their skeletons. They can all leave sweet scents trailing behind them, as Bohannon sings, "It seems the train has left it's tracks/She has rode right onto her back/Again/I love that sound." Something bad has happened, but what else is new?
*Essay originally published February, 2012