With a keen eye of observation and a wise man’s knowledge, Ray Wylie Hubbard composes and performs a dozen songs that couldn’t spring from anywhere else but out of his fertile rock and roll bluesy poet-in-the-blistering-heat southern noggin. ”I like to look at both enlightenment and endarkenment,” he declares. “I feel comfortable observing each.”
His 2010 album "A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment" demonstrates the kind of talent that every great songwriter yearns for. Throughout the album, his focus remains on the song-constructing and performing stories set to music that resonate in a way that is completely his own. Hubbard recruits an ensemble of accomplished musicians to make the album’s larger than life outlaw tunes echo from track to track. Among the musicians featured on the album are Kevin Russell (The Gourds), Gurf Morlix (Lucinda Williams, Robert Earl Keen), Bukka Allen (Ian Moore, Jack Ingram), Billy Cassis (Bob Schneider,Double Trouble, Soulhat), Ray Bonneville (B.B. King, JJ Cale, Muddy Waters), Seth James (Percy Sledge, Delbert McClinton), David Abeyta (Reckless Kelly) and The Trishas as well as his own son, Lucas Hubbard.
The writing and recording of A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment came on the heels of Hubbard’s first screenplay endeavor, which was funded and filmed with a cast of icons including Kris Kristofferson, Dwight Yoakam and Lizzy Caplan. A weekly radio show, constant touring, and producing kept him busy, but didn’t manage to steal the Texan singer-songwriters focus. The outcome of the album is a juxtaposition of songs like “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” a fundamental gospel piece, and “Drunken Poet’s Dream,” cowritten with Hayes Carll.
Lazarus
Ray Wylie Hubbard Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
High and lowdown just some Dharma bums
Gate mouth would tell you rehearsal's overrated
Baptists will tell you it's all predestinated
Between the devil and God, between the first breath and last
Somewhere under heaven with no future and a hell of a past
We in the mud and scum of things, moaning, crying, lying
At least we ain't Lazarus and had to think twice about dying
So here we are now, still preceding grace
We ain't easy to look at and keep a straight face
Inspired by Rimbaud ain't angelic
Influenced by the dead, just gets you psychedelic
So here we are now kinda like abandoned dogs
Wrapped up in Gunnysacks and singing cast iron songs
We're weird old America, we're grinning with sharp teeth
We're beautiful on the surface and rotten underneath
In Ray Wylie Hubbard's song "Lazarus," the lyrics describe the human condition as between the devil and God, between our first breath and last, in a place somewhere under heaven with no future but a hell of a past. The song's first stanza juxtaposes the perspective of "gate mouth" who believes rehearsal is overrated with that of the "Baptists" who believe everything is predestined. In the second stanza, Hubbard's lyrics suggest that even in the face of despair, we should count ourselves lucky that we're not Lazarus, who had to think twice about dying. The song's final stanza describes us as strange, abandoned dogs--both beautiful and rotten, singing cast iron songs and grinning with sharp teeth.
Hubbard's song serves as a meditation on the human experience--one that is both visceral and philosophical. The song's references to religion, art, history, and literature, all serve to create an image of what it means to be human--both wonderful and terrible simultaneously. Hubbard's message is one that is complex, subtle and ultimately, thought-provoking.
Line by Line Meaning
So here we are now, guitars and drums
We are currently at a musical performance with guitars and drums.
High and lowdown just some Dharma bums
We are a group of people who follow Buddhist teachings and are living in poverty.
Gatemouth would tell you rehearsal's overrated
A famous musician named Gate Mouth believes that practicing one's music is not necessary.
Baptists will tell you it's all predestinated
The Baptist religion believes that everything that happens in life is predetermined by God.
Between the devil and God, between the first breath and last
We are living in a world between good and evil, and life starts with a first breath and ends with a last.
Somewhere under heaven with no future and a hell of a past
Our current situation is bleak, with no hope for a bright future and a very difficult, traumatic past.
We in the mud and scum of things, moaning, crying, lying
We are currently living in a difficult and unpleasant reality, where we are emotional, dishonest, and stuck in the mire.
At least we ain't Lazarus and had to think twice about dying
Even though our lives are difficult, at least we have not died and been brought back to life like Lazarus, who had to contemplate death twice.
So here we are now, still preceding grace
We are still on the path to enlightenment and spiritual fulfillment.
We ain't easy to look at and keep a straight face
We are not physically appealing and may make others uncomfortable with our appearance and behavior.
Inspired by Rimbaud ain't angelic
We are influenced by a poet named Rimbaud and do not consider ourselves to be angelic or perfect.
Influenced by the dead, just gets you psychedelic
We are also influenced by those who have passed away, and this can have a psychedelic effect on us.
So here we are now kinda like abandoned dogs
We feel like we have been abandoned or mistreated, similar to dogs who have lost their owners.
Wrapped up in Gunnysacks and singing cast iron songs
We are covered in rough burlap sacks and singing strong, powerful songs.
We're weird old America, we're grinning with sharp teeth
We are a strange and unusual part of America, and may seem friendly but can also be dangerous.
We're beautiful on the surface and rotten underneath
We may look good from the outside, but internally we are bad, corrupt, and decaying.
Writer(s): Ray Wylie Hubbard Copyright: Snake Farm Publishing
Contributed by Adrian I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.