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".
Wrecking Ball
Gillian Welch Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's what I was when I first left home
I took every secret that I'd ever known
And headed for the wall
Like a wrecking ball
Started down on the road to sin
Playin' bass under a pseudonym
But my mind cuts through it all
Like a wrecking ball
Oh, just a little deadhead
Who is watching, who is watching
I's just a little deadhead
I won a dollar on a scholarship
Well, I got tired and let my average slip
Then I's a farmer in the pogonip
Of a weed that I recall
Was like a wrecking ball
Met a lovesick daughter of the San Joaquin
She showed me colors I'd never seen
Drank the bottom out of my canteen
Then left me in the fall
Like a wrecking ball
Standin' there, in the morning mist
A Jack & Coke at the end my wrist
I remember when first we kissed
'Though it was nothing at all
Like a wrecking ball
Hey boys, a little deadhead
Who's watching, who's watching
I's just a little deadhead
With too much trouble for me to shake
Oh, the weather and the blindin' ache
Was ridin' high until the '89 quake
Hit the Santa Cruz Garden Mall
Like a wrecking ball
In Gillian Welch's song Wrecking Ball, she describes the life of a wanderer who struggles with finding a place to call home. Throughout the song, she draws a comparison between herself and a wrecking ball that tears down everything in its path. She begins the song by telling us that she's a rolling stone and that's what she was when she first left home. She took with her every secret that she had ever known and headed towards the wall like a wrecking ball. These opening lyrics suggest that she was a destructive force at the beginning of her journey. She then talks about her time on the road and playing bass under a pseudonym. She says the days were rough, but her mind cuts through it all like a wrecking ball. This line suggests that her mind was sharp, and she knew what she wanted in life. The second verse talks about how she won a scholarship but let her average slip and became a farmer. She describes the weed that she recalls as being like a wrecking ball. This line could be interpreted as the weed being a destructive force in her life. In the next verse, Gillian talks about meeting a girl who showed her colors she’s never seen before. She drank too much and was left alone in the fall, like a wrecking ball. Then in the last verse, she talks about the 89 quake that hit the Santa Cruz Garden Mall, which could be interpreted as an earthquake that destroyed that area. With the earthquake, Gillian had nothing left and was left feeling like a wrecking ball. Overall, the song is about the struggle to find a place to belong and the idea of being a wandering soul who is destructive to anything in their path.
Line by Line Meaning
Look out boys, 'cause I'm a rollin' stone
I am on a journey to explore and live my life to the fullest.
That's what I was when I first left home
I was carefree and seeking adventure when I left home.
I took every secret that I'd ever known
I took all my experiences and knowledge with me on my journey.
And headed for the wall
I was determined to live my life on my own terms, regardless of the obstacles.
Like a wrecking ball
My determination and strength are like a powerful force breaking through all barriers.
Started down on the road to sin
At first, I felt guilty for leaving home and seeking adventure, but I did it anyway.
Playin' bass under a pseudonym
I pursued my passion for music anonymously, without any recognition or fame.
The days were rough, and it's all quite dim
My early days were difficult and gloomy, but I persevered through it all.
But my mind cuts through it all
I am able to see the light and find hope in the midst of darkness.
Like a wrecking ball
My inner strength and resilience are a force to be reckoned with.
Oh, just a little deadhead
I am a hippie and a fan of the Grateful Dead.
Who is watching, who is watching
I wonder who is observing my life and my journey.
I's just a little deadhead
I am just a simple, free-spirited person on a quest for meaning and adventure.
I won a dollar on a scholarship
I was once a promising student, but I lost my focus and motivation.
Well, I got tired and let my average slip
I became lazy and complacent, and my grades suffered as a result.
Then I's a farmer in the pogonip
I tried my hand at farming, but it didn't work out.
Of a weed that I recall
I remember growing a particular type of weed that was challenging to cultivate.
Was like a wrecking ball
Farming was a tough job that tested my inner strength and resilience.
Met a lovesick daughter of the San Joaquin
I fell in love with a woman from a rural area in California.
She showed me colors I'd never seen
She introduced me to new experiences and perspectives.
Drank the bottom out of my canteen
We spent so much time together that I ran out of water.
Then left me in the fall
She left me without warning.
Like a wrecking ball
Her departure was a powerful force that shook me to my core.
Standin' there, in the morning mist
I am alone and lost in my thoughts, surrounded by fog.
A Jack & Coke at the end my wrist
I am drinking to forget my pain and sorrows.
I remember when first we kissed
I fondly recall the beginning of our love story.
'Though it was nothing at all
Our love was brief and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
With too much trouble for me to shake
I am burdened by many problems and worries that I cannot easily overcome.
Oh, the weather and the blindin' ache
My physical and emotional pain is overwhelming and unbearable.
Was ridin' high until the '89 quake
I was doing well until the earthquake of 1989 disrupted my life.
Hit the Santa Cruz Garden Mall
The earthquake damaged the shopping mall where I worked.
Like a wrecking ball
The earthquake was a powerful force that destroyed everything in its path.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DAVID TODD RAWLINGS, GILLIAN HOWARD WELCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind