Dayton now has several more solo albums under his belt these days, and has also played on records by The Supersuckers,Ray Price, Waylon Jennings, Tenderloin and three albums with his rockabilly group The Road Kings. In 2005, filmmaker Rob Zombie recruited Dayton to create music under the moniker of Banjo & Sullivan for the soundtrack to horror flick The Devil's Rejects.
Dayton's talent is unmistakable & his all-american appeal is cross genre & generational, allowing him to tour with acts as diverse as George Strait, Mike Ness and Joe Strummer. In November of 2008 he set up a series of regular weekend residencies at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for events like Nascar Week, Bike Week, and the National Rodeo Finals.
Dayton's latest independently released project for 2008 on Stag is "Holdin' Our Own" a duet album with Brennen Leigh in the classic George Jones & Tammy Wynette tradition.
http://www.jessedayton.com
Carmelita
Jesse Dayton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the tubes they glow in the dark
And I'm there with her in ensenada
And I'm here in echo park
Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
Well I'm sittin' here playing solitaire
With my pearl handled deck
The county won't give me no more methadone
And they cut off your welfare check
Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town
Well I pawned my smith corona
And I went to meet my man
He hangs out down on alvarado street
At the pioneer chicken stand
Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town
Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town
The song "Carmelita" by Jesse Dayton is a tragic tale of addiction and desperation. The singer is stuck in a cycle of drug abuse and poverty, pawning his possessions to maintain his habit. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of his surroundings, from the mariachi music on the radio to the pearl handled deck of cards he uses to pass the time. The stark contrast between his current location of Echo Park in Los Angeles and his memories of Ensenada serves to emphasize the depth of his despair.
The repetition of the phrase "Carmelita, hold me tighter, I think I'm sinking down" reveals the singer's longing for comfort and escape from his circumstances. He feels himself slipping further away from reality as he succumbs to his addiction. The final verse, where he meets his drug dealer at a fast food stand, highlights the bleakness of his situation as he risks arrest or worse.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I hear mariachi static on my radio
I'm listening to my radio and hearing a mariachi station with some static interference
And the tubes they glow in the dark
The glowing tubes within the radio are visible due to the darkness in the surrounding area
And I'm there with her in ensenada
The music makes me feel like I'm in Ensenada, Mexico with someone special
And I'm here in echo park
But in reality, I'm actually in my current location of Echo Park in Los Angeles
Carmelita, hold me tighter
I'm calling out to Carmelita, asking her to hold me closer
I think I'm sinking down
I feel like I'm spiraling down into a dark place
And I'm all strung out on heroin
My drug addiction is taking control of me
On the outskirts of town
I'm currently located in the less populated, rural areas beyond the city limits
Well I'm sittin' here playing solitaire
I'm trying to distract myself by playing solitaire
With my pearl handled deck
Using a fancy and probably expensive deck of cards with pearl handles
The county won't give me no more methadone
The county has stopped giving me a prescribed drug called methadone for my addiction
And they cut off your welfare check
The government has also stopped providing financial assistance to Carmelita
Well I pawned my smith corona
I had to sell my typewriter brand, Smith Corona, to acquire money
And I went to meet my man
I'm going to meet my drug dealer
He hangs out down on alvarado street
My dealer frequents Alvarado street for business purposes
At the pioneer chicken stand
He conducts his operations near the Pioneer Chicken fast food restaurant
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Warren Zevon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind