Jimmy LaFave (born 12 July 1955 in Wills Point, Texas, a small town 30 mil… Read Full Bio ↴Jimmy LaFave (born 12 July 1955 in Wills Point, Texas, a small town 30 miles east of Dallas; died May 21, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter. He is best remembered for crafting a musical style called Red Dirt music, which he did after moving to Stillwater, Oklahoma, something which cemented him as a disciple of the state's most famous folk musician: Woody Guthrie.

LaFave began school down the road from Wills Point in Mesquite and by Junior High was making music perched behind his Sears & Roebuck drum kit. It was in this landscape that he began to define his sound and soak up a combination of his experiences among authentic songwriters from the tradition of Woody Guthrie. Before leaving Oklahoma for Austin, Jimmy did some independent recording and toured the southwest with the first version of his band Night Tribe.

In an article published in The Austin Chronicle in April 2017, LaFave announced publicly that he was battling myxofibrosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that had been diagnosed one year earlier. After various treatments failed, doctors advised LaFave that there was nothing else the medical profession could provide. During the course of his illness leading up to this announcement, LaFave continued to perform – not cancelling even one show. In addition, he continued to record new songs that he hoped would add to his legacy.

At the time of the public announcement, The Austin Statesman announced that a concert to honor LaFave would be held at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas on May 18, 2017. LaFave helped in the selection of friends and musicians who would perform that night. LaFave also selected charities that would benefit from a crowdfunding effort set up in his honor. A crowdfunding effort "Celebrating Jimmy LaFave" was set up via GoFundMe and received about $55,000 in donations.

LaFave died of cancer at his home in Austin, Texas, at the age of 61. His death came just three days after making an appearance at the Paramount Theater tribute show in Austin. According to The Austin Statesman: "A sold-out audience heard artists ranging from Austin artists including Eliza Gilkyson, Slaid Cleaves and Ruthie Foster, plus some from out-of-state including Nashville’s Gretchen Peters, Boston’s Ellis Paul and Woody Guthrie’s granddaughter Sarah Lee Guthrie, primarily playing songs that LaFave wrote or were part of his repertoire."

Within 24 hours, LaFave's death was reported in numerous newspapers throughout Texas and Oklahoma, in The New York Times and as far away as England, where he often performed

He moved to Austin in 1986, where he continued to write songs and to develop his musical ideas. Shortly after arriving he was asked to help launch the songwriter nights at the new performance venue Chicago House. In 1988 he recorded his self–produced tape, Highway Angels...Full Moon Rain, which won the Austin Chronicle Reader’s Poll Tape of the Year Award. This led to a recording contract with a small independent label and allowed LaFave the opportunity to work with Bob Johnston, producer of several of LaFave’s favorite albums including Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline.

His second album, Highway Trance was released in 1994 followed by his third CD, Buffalo Return to the Plains, in 1995.

The grass roots demand and critical acclaim for LaFave’s music, which led to extensive touring in the United States and Europe, was recognized in 1996 when he was asked to tape a performance for the PBS musical series Austin City Limits, and was invited by Nora Guthrie to appear in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute to Woody Guthrie. That same year LaFave won his second consecutive Austin Music Award for Best Singer–Songwriter. His fourth CD, Road Novel, which was released in early 1997, received many glowing reviews. That year he was asked by Nora Guthrie to speak and perform at the induction of Woody Guthrie into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.

In 2001, LaFave released Texoma, a celebration of the Americana spirit with a heartfelt valentine to the heartland. KGSR Program Director, Jody Denberg called it a “phenomenon.” Denberg said, “the phones lit up immediately after it was added to the playlist, and they stayed lit.” Since the release of Texoma, Jimmy combined his solo dates with the Woody Guthrie tribute tour titled “The Ribbon of Highway – Endless Skyway,” featuring a rotating cast of Americana musicians that has included such notables as Eliza Gilkyson, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Tom Russell and Slaid Cleaves. The two–disc live album Ribbon of Highway Endless Skyway is a collection of the tour’s live performances that features some of Jimmy’s interpretations of Woody Guthrie classics.

Encouraged by his friend, fellow Austin artist Eliza Gilkyson, LaFave signed with indie label Red House records, and in 2005 released Blue Nightfall. This stunningly soulful album was LaFave’s first in 4 years and won him much critical attention. LaFave’s album Cimarron Manifesto finds LaFave taking a more country road, with sweet and mournful songs about life and loss and special guest appearances by Carrie Rodriguez, Ruthie Foster and Kacy Crowley. Following the release of this album, LaFave toured across North America.

Car Outside
Jimmy LaFave Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You know I'll never understand it, babe
Wanderlust in my soul
And though I want to be with you
Hey, I don't really know
Cause I'm looking out your window, girl
And I'm drifting with the wind
Moving on is my middle name
Hey, here I go again

There's a car outside
And there's a road
There's a time to stay
And a time to rock and roll
You've been a real good friend
But I'm on my way
If I don't see you real soon
I'll see you down the road someday
I hear the highway calling me
Time and time again
Clearer than the master's voice
Just like a next of kin
I tried to settle down one time
It was in my younger days
But I fell into a ramblin song
And it carried me away
Well there's a car outside
Don't you know
There's a time to stay
And a time to rock and roll
You've been a real good friend
But I'm on my way
If I don't see you real soon
I'll see you down the road someday
There's a car outside
Don't you know
There's a time to stay
A time to rock and roll
You've been a real good friend
I'm on my way

If I don't see you real soon
I'll see you down the lost highway

Overall Meaning

In “Car Outside,” Jimmy LaFave sings about his insatiable wanderlust, and how it inevitably leads to his departure from a relationship. He acknowledges that although he wants to be with his partner, he can’t deny the call of the open road, mirroring the age-old theme of the conflict between love and freedom. As he looks out the window, he feels the urge to leave once more, anxious to see what lies ahead. He’s heard the highway calling him time and time again, and he knows that his life will always be one of constant movement. He reminiscences about trying to settle down when he was younger, but he couldn’t escape his restlessness, and he left, propelled by his music and his longing to see new places.

The lyrics are rich with metaphors, and the melody has a sense of both melancholy and hopefulness. The repetition of the lines “There’s a car outside” and “There’s a time to stay and a time to rock and roll” emphasizes the duality between stability and adventure, adding a sense of urgency to the song. LaFave's raspy and soulful voice adds depth to the lyrics, conveying a sense of longing and determination. Through “Car Outside,” LaFave captures the essence of the eternal conflict between staying and leaving that plagues us all at some point in our lives.

Line by Line Meaning

You know I'll never understand it, babe
I don't expect you to comprehend my need for adventure

Wanderlust in my soul
I have an insatiable desire to explore and travel

And though I want to be with you
Despite my feelings for you

Hey, I don't really know
I'm unsure what to do

Cause I'm looking out your window, girl
I'm gazing outside your window

And I'm drifting with the wind
I'm allowing the breeze to take me where it will

Moving on is my middle name
It's in my nature to always be on the move

Hey, here I go again
I'm off on another adventure

There's a car outside
I have transport to take me away

And there's a road
I have a path to follow

There's a time to stay
There are moments to stick around