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by Adrian Begrand.
Nobody can say it any better than Adrian already has said, and I quote:

¨Watching Martin Scorsese's 1978 film The Last Waltz on DVD, the sadness is inescapable. When you see the 1978 film, which documents The Band's final concert on Thanksgiving Night, 1976, you couldn't care less about the nattily-clad Robbie Robertson and his clean-cut rock star posing; rather, you find yourself drawn to the two guys over to Robertson's right. You smile as pianist Richard Manuel sings self-effacingly on "The Shape I'm In", and you get goosebumps when bassist Rick Danko takes a solo turn on the astonishingly beautiful "It Makes No Difference", and damn, if it isn't next to impossible to prevent tears from welling up when you see Manuel and Danko asked by Scorsese what they're going to do next, and the poor guys have no idea. Performing was what they did, the road their home. They'd been doing it for more than a decade, and that bastard Robertson was yanking their world from beneath their feet. Richard Manuel hung himself in 1986. Rick Danko battled heroin addiction, and died in his sleep in 1999.

Following in the footsteps of The Band, the Drive-By Truckers are today's version of rock 'n' roll journeymen, touring with a relentlessness that few independent bands can match, playing marathon shows night after night. While the tandem of hardened veterans, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, have been doing this for ages now, third singer/guitarist Jason Isbell is the "kid" of the band, having joined a couple years ago, and in "Danko/Manuel", his astounding, heartwrenching tribute to his dead heroes in The Band, he wonders aloud if he's made for this kind of life, singing a voice that's eerily similar to a certain guy from Simcoe, Ontario, "They say Danko would have sounded just like me/Is that the man I want to be?" ¨
End Quote
Thanks Trukers, and thanks Adrian for that trip back through memory lane!

Danko/Manuel
Drive-By Truckers Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Let the night air cool you off.
Tilt your head back and try to cough.
Don't say nothing 'bout the things you never saw.
Let the night air cool you off.

I ain't living like I should.
A little rest might do me good.
Got to sinking in the place where I once stood.

Now I ain't living like I should.

Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Maybe I can only hear it in my head.
Fifteen years ago we owned that road
Now it's rolling over us instead.

Richard Manuel is dead.

God forbid you call their bluff.
Like the nightmares ain't enough.
Remember when we used to think that we were tough?
God forbid you call their bluff.

First they make you out to be
The only pirate on the sea.
Then they say Danko would have sounded just like me.
"Is that the man you want to be?"

Can you hear that song? It sounds like gold.
Maybe I could make it bigger overseas.
Fifteen years ago we owned this road
Now it only gives us somewhere else to leave.

Something else you can't believe.

Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Maybe I can hear poor Richard from the grave
Singin' where to reap and when to sow
When you've found another home you have to leave.

Something else you can't believe.

Overall Meaning

The Drive-By Truckers’ song “Danko/Manuel” is a reflective ballad about the fragility of life and the bittersweetness of nostalgia. The band’s lead singer, Patterson Hood, sings about the hardships of life and how the passage of time affects everyone. The song’s title refers to two members of The Band, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel, both of whom died tragically. The lyrics “Richard Manuel is dead” are particularly poignant as Manuel took his own life in 1986, aged just 42.

The song’s opening verse sets the scene for the melancholy lament that unfolds. Hood encourages the listener to take a moment to breathe in the night air and forget about the troubles of the world. The following verse delves deeper into Hood’s personal struggles and the feeling of being stuck in a rut. He longs for rest and respite from the chaos of life, but also laments the loss of his former self.

The latter half of the song is a reflection on the glory days of his band and the music industry at large. Hood recalls a time when they were on top of the world and could do no wrong. The lyrics “Fifteen years ago we owned this road” serve as a reminder that the band has been around for a while, and the toll that time can have on success. The song ends on a haunting note with Hood contemplating the inevitability of death and what it means to truly leave a lasting legacy.

Line by Line Meaning

Let the night air cool you off.
Take a moment to relax and cool down in the fresh air.

Tilt your head back and try to cough.
Breathe deeply and clear your head.

Don't say nothing 'bout the things you never saw.
Don't talk about things you don't know or understand.

I ain't living like I should.
I'm not living up to my own expectations.

A little rest might do me good.
Taking a break could benefit me.

Got to sinking in the place where I once stood.
I feel like I'm going under in a familiar place.

Now I ain't living like I should.
I'm still not living up to my own expectations.

Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Do you hear that beautiful music?

Maybe I can only hear it in my head.
It's possible that I'm imagining it.

Fifteen years ago we owned that road
We used to be in control of our destiny.

Now it's rolling over us instead.
Things have changed and we feel helpless.