Welch and Rawlings have collaborated on seven critically acclaimed albums, five released under her name, and two released under the name Dave Rawlings Machine. Her 1996 debut, Revival, and the 2001 release Time (The Revelator), received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. Her 2003 album, Soul Journey, introduced electric guitar, drums, and a more upbeat sound to their body of work. After a gap of eight years, she released a fifth studio album, The Harrow & The Harvest, in 2011, which was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Welch was an associate producer and performed on two songs of the soundtrack of the Coen brothers 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a platinum album that won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002. She also appeared in the film attempting to buy a Soggy Bottom Boys record. Welch, while not one of the principal actors, did sing and provide additional lyrics to the Sirens song "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby." In 2018 she and Rawlings wrote the song "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" for the Coens' The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, for which they received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Welch has collaborated and recorded with Alison Krauss, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, Emmylou Harris, the Decemberists, Sam Phillips, Conor Oberst, Ani DiFranco, and Robyn Hitchcock.
Gillian Howard Welch was born on October 2, 1967 in New York City, and was adopted by Mitzie Welch (née Marilyn Cottle) and Ken Welch, comedy and music entertainers. Her biological mother was a freshman in college, and her father was a musician visiting New York City. Welch has speculated that her biological father could have been one of her favorite musicians, and she later discovered from her adoptive parents that he was a drummer. Alec Wilkinson of The New Yorker stated that "from an address they had been given, it appeared that her mother ... may have grown up in the mountains of North Carolina". When Welch was three, her adoptive parents moved to Los Angeles to write music for The Carol Burnett Show. They also appeared on The Tonight Show.
As a child, Welch was introduced to the music of American folk singers Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Carter Family. She performed folk songs with her peers at the Westland Elementary School in Los Angeles. Welch later attended Crossroads School, a high school in Santa Monica, California. While in high school, a local television program featured her as a student who "excelled at everything she did."
Welch and Rawlings incorporate elements of early twentieth century music such as old time, classic country, gospel and traditional bluegrass with modern elements of rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll, jazz, and punk rock. The New Yorker's Alec Wilkinson maintained their musical style is "not easily classified—it is at once innovative and obliquely reminiscent of past rural forms".
The instrumentation on their songs is usually a simple arrangement, with Welch and Rawlings accompanying their own vocals with acoustic guitars, banjos, or a mandolin. Welch plays rhythm guitar with a 1956 Gibson J-50 (or banjo), while Rawlings plays lead on a 1935 Epiphone Olympic Guitar.The New Yorker's Wilkinson described Rawlings as a "strikingly inventive guitarist" who plays solos that are "daring melodic leaps". A review in No Depression by Andy Moore observed that Rawlings "squeezes, strokes, chokes and does just about everything but blow into" his guitar.
Many songs performed by Welch and Rawlings contain dark themes about social outcasts struggling against such elements as poverty, drug addiction, death, a disconnection from their family, and an unresponsive God. Despite Welch being the lead singer, several of these characters are male. Welch has commented, "To be commercial, everybody wants happy love songs. People would flat-out ask me, 'Don't you have any happy love songs?' Well, as a matter of fact, I don't. I've got songs about orphans and morphine addicts." To reflect these themes, Welch and Rawlings often employ a slow pace to their songs. Their tempo is compared to a "slow heartbeat", and Cowperthwait of Rolling Stone observed that their songs "can lull you into near-hypnosis and then make your jaw drop with one final revelation".
Barroom Girls
Gillian Welch Lyrics
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And fell at her feet in a beautiful mess
The smoke and the whiskey came home in her curls
And they crept through the dreams of the barroom girls
Well she tosses and turns because the sun is unkind
And the heat of the day is coming in through the blinds
But eave all the blue skies for the rest of the world
Oh the barroom girls go by your side
Like the ponies who pass on a carousel ride
And all of the colors go 'round in a swirl
When you dance in the arms of the barroom girls
Now she rolls to her feet when she can't sleep no more
And looks at her clothes lying out on the floor
Last night's spangles and yesterday's pearls
Are the bright morning stars of the barroom girls
Last night's spangles and yesterday's pearls
Are the bright morning stars of the barroom girls
The lyrics of Gillian Welch's "Barroom Girls" describe the life of women who spend their nights in bars, seeking a momentary escape from the hardships of everyday life. In the first stanza of the song, Welch paints a vivid picture of a chaotic night spent in a bar, with smoke and whiskey permeating the space and ultimately seeping into the dreams of the barroom girls. The second stanza delves into the aftermath of that night, as one of the barroom girls struggles to sleep and awakens to find herself surrounded by the remnants of her wild night. The final stanza highlights the solidarity shared between these women, who come together on the dance floor like "ponies on a carousel ride". The song speaks to the reality faced by many women who find themselves on the fringes of society, searching for connection and release through shared experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh the night came undone like a party dress
The night was chaotic and wild, just like a party dress that has come apart or fallen apart.
And fell at her feet in a beautiful mess
The wildness of the night was so much, it felt like it had fallen apart or collapsed into a beautiful, colorful mess at her feet.
The smoke and the whiskey came home in her curls
The heavy smoke and whiskey from the night has made her hair messy and tangled, and it feels like it has come home with her.
And they crept through the dreams of the barroom girls
The memories of smoke and whiskey seeped into the dreams of women who frequent bars, in the form of troubled dreams and restless sleep.
Well she tosses and turns because the sun is unkind
She is unable to sleep peacefully in the morning because the heat from the sun is harsh and unrelenting.
And the heat of the day is coming in through the blinds
The light and heat of the day is creeping into the room through the open blinds, making it even more difficult for her to sleep.
But leave all the blue skies for the rest of the world
She is requesting to leave the clear blue skies outside of her room and let others enjoy it because she is in no mood to appreciate the beauty of the day.
Because the neon will shine for the barroom girls
Instead of the blue skies, the neon lights of the bars will provide light and ambiance for the women who frequent them.
Oh the barroom girls go by your side
Women who frequent bars will always support and be there for you when you need them.
Like the ponies who pass on a carousel ride
Just like how ponies keep moving in a carousel ride, time keeps moving and the women keep accompanying you, no matter where you are headed.
And all of the colors go 'round in a swirl
When the barroom girls dance, the flashing lights, colors, and swirls create an unforgettable spectacle.
When you dance in the arms of the barroom girls
Dancing with the barroom girls is a cherishing and intoxicating experience that one may not forget soon.
Now she rolls to her feet when she can't sleep no more
She finally tries to get up and stand when she is no longer able to sleep and rest peacefully.
And looks at her clothes lying out on the floor
She takes a look at what she had worn and left on the floor, which may be the reminder of the wild night that she had earlier.
Last night's spangles and yesterday's pearls
The bright, shiny pieces of apparel she wore, which were associated with the previous night's celebration, are lying on the floor now.
Are the bright morning stars of the barroom girls
For women who frequent bars, flashy and glittering dresses worn during wild nights are the gems that shine brightly, even in the morning.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVID TODD RAWLINGS, GILLIAN HOWARD WELCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind