New Grass Revival was a progressive bluegrass band from 1971 to 1989. The f… Read Full Bio ↴New Grass Revival was a progressive bluegrass band from 1971 to 1989. The founding members were Sam Bush (mandolin, fiddle, guitar), Courtney Johnson (banjo, guitar), Ebo Walker (Harry L. Shelor Jr.) (b. October 19, 1941) (upright bass) and Curtis Burch (guitar, Dobro), all from Louisville and western Kentucky, except Burch who was from Brunswick, Georgia. They met as members of the Bluegrass Alliance, and when Lonnie Peerce left the group with ownership of the name, they reformed as the New Grass Revival (Bush has credited Walker with coining the term, "new grass"). After the release of their first album, released untitled, and as "New Grass Revival", "The Arrival of the New Grass Revival", and "Today's Bluegrass", Walker left the band. Butch Robins briefly joined the band, but being a talented banjoist he balked at playing bass, and was replaced in 1974 by John Cowan, a bass player with a background in soul music, who also shared lead vocals with Bush.

In 1981, following a two-year tour with Leon Russell, Johnson and Burch left the group. Bush and Cowan decided to continue performing, and added New Yorker Béla Fleck and Californian Pat Flynn, a session guitarist, to the group. This lineup was stable for the remainder of the band's existence. Their last concert was December 31, 1989, opening for the Grateful Dead at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. The breakup has been attributed to Fleck's desire for a solo jazz career. Bush, Fleck and Cowan have all had successful solo careers since that time.

After Courtney Johnson died of lung cancer in 1996, Bush, Fleck, Cowan, and Burch reunited for one concert (September 24, 1996) at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee to benefit his widow.

In 1997, when Garth Brooks was invited to perform on The Late Show with Conan O'Brien to perform "Do What You Gotta Do", a song written by Pat Flynn, he asked Flynn, Bush, Cowan, and Fleck to join him in performing it. Since that performance, Flynn has worked with both Cowan and Fleck, but not Bush. Likewise, Bush has also worked with Cowan and Fleck on numerous occasions. It is unlikely that a reunion will take place. Bush and Cowan have also played with Burch.

In April 2007, Bush, Fleck, Cowan, and Flynn stepped forward together into the spotlight during the Merlefest 20th Anniversary Jam and played the Townes Van Zandt song "White Freight Liner." The single song reunion was the first time the four of them had played together in a decade.

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I'M Down
New Grass Revival Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You tell lies thinking I can't see
You can't cry 'cause you're laughing at me
I'm down, I'm down, I''m down
How can you laugh when you know I'm down
How can you laugh when you know I'm down

Man buys ring, woman throws it away
Same old thing happen every day

I'm down, I'm down, I''m down
How can you laugh when you know I'm down
How can you laugh when you know I'm down

We're all alone and there's nobody else
She'll still moan "Keep your hands to yourself"
I'm down, I'm down, I''m down
How can you laugh when you know I'm down
How can you laugh when you know I'm down, woo

A baby you know I'm down
I guess I'm down
I'm down on the ground
I'm down
Ah, baby I'm upside down

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I'm down

Overall Meaning

The New Grass Revival's song "I'm Down" is a powerful commentary on the nature of relationships and how one party can mock or turn a blind eye to the feelings of the other. The song starts by highlighting the deception and lies that one party in a relationship indulges in, thinking the other cannot see through them. The deceived cannot cry, since those lies cause them to laugh. The repetition of the phrase "I'm down" emphasizes the victim's sense of helplessness and frustration in such an unequal relationship where their feelings are disregarded.

The next verse describes a typical scene where a man buys a ring for a woman to express his love, but the woman throws it away as if it means nothing, causing the man to feel crushed and rejected. The pattern of one party's insensitive behavior and the other's hurtedness that leads to the phrase "I'm down" repeats itself once more in the last verse as well. This time the two are alone, and one party wants to keep their hands to themselves while the other desperately seeks intimacy. The repetition of the phrase "I'm down" in each verse demonstrates how hurt, helpless, and abandoned one can feel in a relationship where they are at the mercy of the other.

Line by Line Meaning

You tell lies thinking I can't see
You deceive me thinking I am ignorant

You can't cry 'cause you're laughing at me
You cannot shed tears since you are mocking me

I'm down, I'm down, I''m down
I am feeling low and miserable

How can you laugh when you know I'm down
Why do you enjoy my misery and pain?

Man buys ring, woman throws it away
A man purchases a ring, but a woman throws it away

Same old thing happens every day
This cycle repeats itself every day

We're all alone and there's nobody else
We are the only people here

She'll still moan 'Keep your hands to yourself'
She will express disapproval if you touch her

How can you laugh when you know I'm down, woo
Why are you laughing despite knowing I am upset?

A baby you know I'm down
You can see that I am feeling low

I guess I'm down
I suppose I am feeling depressed

I'm down on the ground
I am down and feeling helpless

Ah, baby I'm upside down
I feel disoriented and confused

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
A general expression of feeling

I'm down
I am in a low state

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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