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 (nƩe 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 classifiedāit 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".
Dark Turn of Mind
Gillian Welch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't ever treat me unkind
'Cause I had that trouble already
And it left me with a dark turn of mind
Now I see the bones in the river
And I feel the wind through the pine
And I hear the shadows a-calling
But oh ain't the nighttime so lovely to see?
Don't all the night birds sing sweetly?
You'll never know how happy I'll be
When the sun's going down
And leave me if I'm feeling too lonely
Full as the fruit on the vine
You know some girls are bright as the morning
And some have a dark turn of mind
You know some girls are bright as the morning
And some girls are blessed with a dark turn of mind
The lyrics of Gillian Welch's song Dark Turn of Mind are a powerful meditation on the experience of navigating the ups and downs of interpersonal relationships. The first stanza of the song speaks directly to the theme of love and the pain of being treated unkindly. The singer warns their lover that they have already experienced this kind of trouble before and it has left them with a "dark turn of mind." This phrase is repeated throughout the song and is a central metaphor for the feelings of melancholy and introspection that come with heartbreak.
The second verse of the song continues the refrain of the dark turn of mind and describes the singer's relationship to the natural world. They see the bones in the river, feel the wind through the pine, and hear the shadows calling. The imagery here is stark and haunting, evoking a sense of isolation and melancholy. The final verse of the song offers a glimmer of hope - the singer acknowledges that some girls are bright as the morning, but others have a dark turn of mind. It's a gentle reminder that there is beauty in sadness, and that even those who struggle with emotional pain are deserving of love and affection.
Overall, Dark Turn of Mind is a powerful ode to the complexity of the human experience. It acknowledges the pain of heartbreak while also honoring the beauty and resilience of the human spirit.
Line by Line Meaning
Take me and love me if you want me
Accept me for who I am and treat me with love and kindness if you choose to love me
Don't ever treat me unkind
Promise to never mistreat me
'Cause I had that trouble already
I have been hurt in the past
And it left me with a dark turn of mind
My past experiences have led me to have a pessimistic outlook on life
Now I see the bones in the river
I have witnessed the harsh realities of life
And I feel the wind through the pine
I am in touch with nature and the world around me
And I hear the shadows a-calling
I am haunted by my past and negative thoughts
To a girl with a dark turn of mind
My negative thoughts and experiences have shaped me into a person with a pessimistic outlook on life
But oh ain't the nighttime so lovely to see?
Despite my negative outlook, I am still able to appreciate the beauty in the world
Don't all the night birds sing sweetly?
The sounds of nature can bring a sense of peace and joy
You'll never know how happy I'll be
Others may not understand how I find happiness despite my negative thoughts
When the sun's going down
I find peace and comfort in the darkness
And leave me if I'm feeling too lonely
If I am feeling alone, it's okay to leave me be
Full as the fruit on the vine
Despite my negative thoughts, I am still fulfilled and complete
You know some girls are bright as the morning
Some people have a positive outlook on life and are full of energy in the morning
And some have a dark turn of mind
Others have had negative experiences that have shaped their outlook on life
Lyrics Ā© Wixen Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management
Written by: David Todd Rawlings, Gillian Howard Welch
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
federico ligorio
Gillian welch
"Dark Turn Of Mind"
Take me and love me if you want me
Don't ever treat me unkind
'Cause I had that trouble already
And it left me with a dark turn of mind
Now I see the bones in the river
And I feel the wind through the pine
And I hear the shadows a-calling
To a girl with a dark turn of mind
But oh ain't the nighttime so lovely to see?
Don't all the nightbirds sing sweetly?
You'll never know how happy I'll be
When the sun's going down
And leave me if I'm feeling too lonely
Full as the fruit on the vine
You know some girls are bright as the morning
And some have a dark turn of mind
You know some girls are bright as the morning
And some girls are blessed with a dark turn of mind
Roger Wilco
That song is so soft and sweet, yet hits you like a freight train going a hundred miles an hour. Absolutely beautiful song.
Roger Wilco
Gillian Welchš¶ I would absolutely love that. Your music inspired me to pick the guitar back up. Thank you so much.
Jennifer Mercer
@Roger WilcoMe too xx
Joe Zellers
Damn!!! How the hell did I miss this album ???? One of the best things I've heard in all my 78 years of listening to music of all kinds.
jude999
Next, check out C.W. Stoneking. He was, 22 years on, the next time I heard something as good as Gillian.
stuart hack
Thatās the beauty of music, thereās always something new to listen to, first time listening to Gillian myself.
Joe Zellers
Gillian Welchš¶ Why.... (gulp).... YES !! I
Diana Virginia
I always end up listening to this song when I'm feeling down and it makes me feel human again.
Kevin O'Reilly
Yes indeed. Me to
D D P
I heard this song on the radio in my truck and had to pull over and listen to it. Then I had to figure out what the name of it was. It was worth it. It's as mesmerizing as it is beautiful