Growing up, there were few promising opportunities for young man of Legg’s stripe in Cajun country and things eventually got difficult and strange: chronic bouts of depression, habitual drug use, small town drama, and arrests soon became routine. During one gloomy episode - deflated, broke, and strung out - Legg climbed the Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge, determined to dive into the next life, but after a last minute change of heart, humbly climbed back down and vowed to find a better way to exist. He immediately drove himself to rehab in a stolen Camaro and rededicated himself to his creative pursuits, namely songwriting. He formed the southern tribal rock band, Santeria who had a 10-year run of chaos and bedeviled kookiness (1994-2004). After four albums, they disbanded in an anarchic heap of bad luck, poverty, exhaustion, and voodoo curses they suspected were cast on the band to hasten their demise.
Legg spent the next year living in low-rent motels and trailer parks, writing new songs that tapped into the haunting style of the Delta Blues greats. With an odd ease, the songs poured out, spitting new life into the genre, not by hackneyed imitation, but by infusing original Delta-slide songs with his own experience of growing up in the Deep South—young, white, alienated, and lost. Legg’s Robert Johnson-on-Thorazine-style slide work paired with his droning-rural psychedelia brought the backwoods sounds of Louisiana (hurricanes, cows, cicadas) to life while remaining firmly rooted in the troubled and death-obsessed masters. This batch of songs became the first Brother Dege release, the now critically-acclaimed Folk Songs of the American Longhair (2010) - a record that Quentin Tarantino later referred to as “almost like a greatest hits album” of new Delta blues.
Home-recorded in Alan Lomax-like austerity, the album delivered postmodern tales of desperate southerners, apocalyptic prophecies, midnight angels, hippie drifters, burning barns, and the endless ghosts that haunt the history the Deep South. Quietly self-released with no distribution, no representation, and absolutely no hype, Folk Song of the American Longhair quickly earned 4-star reviews (UNCUT) and gained the attention of numerous tastemakers in film and TV, scoring sync placements on Discovery Channel’s After the Catch, Nat Geo’s Hard Riders, women’s cycling documentary Half the Road, Netflix’s The Afflicted, and most notably hand-picked by Quentin Tarantino for inclusion in the movie and soundtrack to Django Unchained.
Brother Dege quickly expanded his cinematic vision of the South with two follow-up albums: How to Kill a Horse (2013) and Scorched Earth Policy (2015). Teaming with otherworldly slide guitars, country psych, barn burning anthems, the tradition continues with his latest release Farmer’s Almanac (2018), a sprawling, southern concept album that further explores the unique mysteries of small towns.
Brother Dege’s latest album is the critically acclaimed Farmer’s Almanac, an 11-track, southern gothic journey that explores escapism, class structure, and the opiated dark side of America’s small town rural communities. Brother Dege’s fourth album swarms with otherworldly slide guitars, rustic psychedelia, possessed barn burners, and swamp-drenched cinematic songcraft.
How to Kill a Horse
Brother Dege Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So come to me slowly and lay. I got a horse to kill.
Can you help me bind his reins?
Deep in the ruins of shame, where only dogs dust, dust, and fools shall remain.
I kicked and cracked my heel to find a vein.
To beget a tear and yet be gone away. I got a horse to kill.
Can you help me bind his reins?
I got a horse to kill that no man can break.
To beget a fear and yet be gone away.
I got a horse to kill can you help me bind his reins.
I got a horse to kill that no man can break. No man can break.
They say no man can break.
No man can break.
You know a man can break
The lyrics to Brother Dege's song "How to Kill a Horse" seem to be about someone who is on a mission to kill a horse. The first two lines of the song, "Deep in the warm, driving rain, there's a shadow claim," set the mood for the rest of the lyrics. The tone of the song is dark and gloomy, and the sense of urgency is palpable. The singer asks someone to help him bind the reins of the horse he intends to kill. The next two lines, "Deep in the ruins of shame, where only dogs dust, dust, and fools shall remain," seem to indicate that the singer is in a place of misery, and all that's left around him are dust, dogs, and foolish people.
The singer seems to be trying to evoke some emotion by kicking and cracking his heel to find a vein, but all he can manage is a tear. He's got a horse to kill, and he needs someone's help to accomplish his mission. The next verse brings in more elements of the supernatural. The singer talks about being deep in the dogma of dreams, where only fog, fate, and fools remain. His intention to kill the horse is more like a dream, and perhaps he believes that accomplishing this task will bring him some sort of redemption or freedom. The chorus keeps repeating that the horse to be killed is unbreakable, and no man can break it.
The lyrics of this song are cryptic, and the meaning isn't clear. However, there seem to be some hints about redemption, and the singer's desire to accomplish some impossible task to find it. The gloomy tone and the supernatural elements in the song lend it an eerie quality that makes it a captivating listen.
Line by Line Meaning
Deep in the warm, driving rain, there's a shadow claim.
In the midst of life's chaos and confusion, there's a hidden desire.
So come to me slowly and lay. I got a horse to kill.
Take your time, because I have something important to do: kill a horse.
Can you help me bind his reins?
Assist me in restraining this horse before I kill it.
Deep in the ruins of shame, where only dogs dust, dust, and fools shall remain.
In a place of despair and regret, only those who have no hope or sense will linger.
I kicked and cracked my heel to find a vein.
I am so consumed by this task that I am injuring myself to prepare for it.
To beget a tear and yet be gone away. I got a horse to kill.
Though I may feel some emotion, I must still complete this important task of killing the horse.
Deep in the dogma of dreams, where only fog, fate, and fool shall remain. Some say the evil will wane.
In a place of illusion and false beliefs, only confusion, destiny, and foolishness persist; some say the evil will diminish.
To beget a fear and yet be gone away.
Though I may experience fear, I must still complete this necessary act and leave quickly.
I got a horse to kill can you help me bind his reins.
I have a crucial task to accomplish and need your assistance in restraining the horse.
I got a horse to kill that no man can break.
This horse is strong and resilient, and no man can handle it except me.
No man can break.
No one else can handle this horse but me due to its strength and temper.
No man can break.
This horse is impossible for anyone else to handle because of its wildness and power.
You know a man can break.
Only I am capable of taming this horse due to my strength and skill.
Contributed by Amelia C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@TimVKFlyn
my all time favorite song of yours !
@miltingarfield4407
Another great track