This “Lonely Feeling” Will Move You
The Medium, not just the words, make a difference
Words matter. The medium matters too. Sometimes the medium takes the form of a paper, an essay, a brief blog, a poem, or a song. One form or another often determines whether the words take the form of effective communication.
It’s a bus stop, a street cop, an old dog, the new kid, a bum
It’s fright and rejected
Neglected, and blind, deaf and dumb
But you look in the mirror
And you’re still hanging in
It’s there to remind you how lucky you’ve beenIt’s a lonely feeling, now and again
It’s only a feeling that comes now and then…
Gringo Honeymoon
“Lonely Feeling” by songwriter/musician/entertainer Robert Earl Keen is a classic example. The writing is strong but the original release of the Texas country-folk song was at best average on Keen’s 1994 CD Gringo Honeymoon.
The pace of the original studio version was slow, the song was long (8 minutes, 32 seconds), the vocals were lacking, and normally raging instrument riffs were missing. The song was easily overshadowed by other eventual Keen classics such as “Merry Christmas from the Family” and “Gringo Honeymoon” which appeared on the same CD. While the words had a piercing message, that message was lost in the medium.
Cody Canada and Cross Canadian Ragweed
The American rock/alternative-county singer Cody Canada blurs the lines between hard-edged country, rock & roll, and all the edgy sounds in between. Canada and Cross Canadian Ragweed covered “Lonely Feeling” on their 1996 live album Back To Tulsa. The band described “Lonely Feeling” as the song that made them want to play music for the rest of their lives. Nevertheless, their version was similar to Keen’s original. Even among the band’s greatest fans, or Canada’s subsequent band, The Departed, “Lonely Feeling” is not regarded as one of their top 10 songs.
Keen and Cody Canada Unite: The Power of the Medium
Keen and Canada united in 2016 as part of a remake of Keen’s de-facto greatest hits album that was originally recorded in 1996. “Lonely Feeling” this time was part of the line-up. Despite other classic songs like Lyle Lovett joining Keen for “This Old Porch” and Joe Ely accompanying Keen on “The Road Goes on Forever”, it was Cody Canada joining Keen for “Lonely Feeling” on this album that elevated the song to one of Keen’s best. After 20 years, the words had finally found the medium that made them effective.
Lonely Feelin (feat. Cody Canada) (Live) — Bing video
Close your eyes and absorb the medium. The 2016 version is 30 seconds shorter than Keen’s original, the slightly faster pace is better aligned with Keen’s lyrical style, Canada brings the words to life with his guitar riffs, and there is a passionate energy that is missing from all of the earlier live versions.
The Medium Matters
The words of “Lonely Feeling” are powerful without being part of a song. However, the journey of “Lonely Feeling” teaches us much about getting the medium right. Sometimes the medium is an essay, a poem, a blog, a song, a video, or a combination. And the style within the medium matters too.
Read the words. Close your eyes and listen to the Keen-Canada version one more time. As a writer of the words, appreciate their meaning and the medium by which they are communicated. The Medium matters.
Songwriter: Robert Earl Jr Keen; Lyrics source: Musixmatch
