It’s hard to pinpoint the moment that songs are born, the day casual hummers become singers or scribblers become songwriters. Rayland Baxter certainly can’t, and he wouldn’t want to. Though he grew up in Nashville to the sounds of his father’s pedal steel, he didn’t dream of being a rock star. He loved music, of course, but he liked other things, too: being outside, playing sports, working at the bait shop to make spare change. He’d always just let things settle into place naturally, following his gut from Tennessee to Colorado to Israel and back again, not knowing that when he returned home he’d have a handful of songs and the knowledge that, at the end of the day, he didn’t want to do anything else but make music. He leads a life without reigns, his work always echoing the ease in which it came to be.
“All of my music has come in a very natural way, by following the organic process of life and letting it just happen,” he says. “I jumped my fair share of ships, and the pieces came together slowly, not by study or design.” The result is a record inspired by a life lived, not one struggling to inspire life. “Down the mountains and the valleys like the breeze,” he sings on “the mtn song,” “we’re going where we want to go, doing anything we please.” He’s done just that, writing songs that are reflections of what he’s seen, felt and lived; the metaphors found in the hills, the slow strums born at home but blossomed across the sea.
Growing up, Baxter’s father Bucky (a multi-instrumentalist for Bob Dylan, Steve Earle and Ryan Adams, among others) made sure music was just a natural part of life, a soundtrack to childhood. “I grew up around pedal steel melodies,” Baxter says, “not knowing how later in life it would shape me and how I sing or place lyrics in a song.” He’d met Dylan and become friends with a young Justin Townes Earle—back then, they were just two kids who knew their dads were gone frequently. One day, while out on a motorcycle trip, Bucky bought his son a guitar: a used, blue electric one. He was in elementary school, no older than third grade. “I played it,” Baxter says. “But I also played Nintendo.”
Most of the time, he just liked being out in the field, grass under his feet. While he spent much of his teenage years playing sports, by 21 he’d picked up the guitar again. The sound of six strings ringing had always been comforting, only now its draw proved stronger: it was a surprise, perhaps most to Baxter himself, how naturally and harmoniously songs came. Instead of finishing college he moved to the small town of Creede, CO, playing open mics at a taco bar and busking for tips. It was a gig as a guitar tech for the band Moonshine Sessions that led him to Europe. After a relationship in Paris went sour (though would later inspire the song “oLivia) he took his father’s old friend up on an offer to spend some time at his home in Ashkelon, Israel.
“I was supposed to be there for two weeks,” he says. “I ended up staying for six months.” Life in Ashkelon, a coastal town close to Gaza, involved a cadre of sounds: bombs detonating in the cornfields, sirens going off so frequently that few took notice or cover. Baxter drowned the noise with his host’s enormous collection of records and documentaries: Townes Van Zandt, Dylan, Leonard Cohen. “I would spend my days and nights just studying all my favorite people and musicians, and that’s when it clicked.” One night he couldn’t sleep, so he went outside to a barn in the back of the house with his guitar. “When I came back in, I said to my friend, ‘I think I wrote a good one out there.’” The resulting song was his aching, pivotal folk tune “the woman for me,” which later became a road favorite and will appear on his debut, feathers & fishHooks.
Baxter has a saying he likes to use a lot: “when you find the right river to float down, just keep floating.” That he did, using his time in Israel to craft the material that would become his Miscalculation of Song EP. He began recording his full-length in January 2011, produced by Skylar Wilson (Justin Townes Earle, Caitlin Rose) and supported by his friends, including Eric Masse (producer/engineer), Jacquire King (mix) and instrumentals by his father, Bucky. The songs range from the solemn, steel guitar and harmonica anchored “marjoria”; to the locomotive, du-wop of “driveway meLody”; to the stark, Middle Eastern tinge of “wiLLow.” Each is thickly emotional, raw but supremely balanced, pulling reference not only from musical idols but from love had and lost, roads traveled and trials awaiting back at home. And, when you strip it all away, these are songs that could exist with just Baxter’s voice and guitar alone, timeless.
He’s spent much of his time on tour: with The Civil Wars, who personally invited him to open, as well as Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. Now Baxter lives in a small, crowded house with five people, four chickens, a dog and a fish named okra near the Nashville fairgrounds, an industrial part of town on the west side of the river. He sleeps in a covered porch with no air conditioning or heat—“like camping,” he says, enthusiastically at that. His hometown has played a vital role in shaping him musically. “There is an incredible group of young artists, songwriters, painters and filmmakers here, just a huge community of really rad people. It’s been vital to have a great creative group of people I can feed off of all the time.”
His songs are a calming force for anyone looking for change, for love, or wanting to walk in a different direction—because it was his own quest for all those things that motivated the music. “I had nothing to write about until I was 25. I had to live through a lot,” he says, “and I when I sing I don’t hold back. I’ll cry on stage if I came to it. It’s an emotional release for me, and there’s no makeup on it. It puts me at ease, and that’s what I hope it will do for those who listen.” Down the mountains and the valleys, like the breeze.
Casanova
Rayland Baxter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But I never wanna work for the money
So I bought a round of money from a woman
Can you believe I never met her
Can you believe she never met me too
But she calls me everyday, telling me to behave
And no, I never listened
Got a hole in my pocket, I'm running around
Spending all of her money on drugs and things
To keep my mind from runnin'
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
And I don't ever want to go back
Casanova, you know that I'm a casanova
Throw my pennies in the well
Waking up in jail
'Cause I never paid attention
Do you remember all the good times
Do you remember all the bad times too
She reminds me everyday, telling me to behave
And no I never listen
I got a real bad feeling I'ma lose my cool
Everywhere that I go, everything that I do
Stop me using the money on drugs and things
To keep my mind from runnin'
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
And I don't ever wanna go back
I'm back in the hole
I got nowhere to go
La la la la, la
Spinning around
In the cold dark hole deep down in the ground
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
And I don't ever
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
And I don't ever
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
Back to the hole that I came from
And I don't ever want to go back
The song "Casanova" by Rayland Baxter is about a man who has a troubled relationship with money. He admits that all he wants is money but doesn't want to work for it. He then narrates how he bought a lot of money from a woman that he's never met, and she tells him to behave but he never listens. He spends the money on drugs and things to distract himself from his problems. He acknowledges that he has a real bad feeling that he's going to lose his cool, and he's afraid he might end up in jail because he never paid attention.
In the chorus, he refers to himself as a "Casanova." This term often refers to a man who is a smooth talker, a womanizer, and a lover of the finer things in life. It's possible that he sees himself as a Casanova because of his obsession with money and his fear of being poor again. He mentions how he wants to avoid going back to the "hole" that he came from, indicating that he's struggled with financial instability in the past. However, towards the end of the song, he seems resigned to his fate, stating that he's back in the hole, spinning around, in the cold dark deep down in the ground.
Line by Line Meaning
Money, all I ever want is money
The singer desires money above everything else
But I never wanna work for the money
The singer is unwilling to do the work necessary to earn money
So I bought a round of money from a woman
The singer obtained a large sum of money from an unknown woman
Can you believe I never met her
The singer finds it surprising that he obtained money from a stranger
Can you believe she never met me too
The woman who gave the singer money is unaware of who he is
But she calls me everyday, telling me to behave
The woman who gave the singer money is trying to guide him and make him behave
And no, I never listened
The singer ignores the advice given by the woman who gave him money
Got a hole in my pocket, I'm running around
The singer is spending money recklessly and has nothing to show for it
Spending all of her money on drugs and things
The singer is using the money he obtained on drugs and other unnecessary items
To keep my mind from runnin'
The singer uses drugs to distract from his problems
Back to the hole that I came from
The singer is afraid of returning to a bad situation
And I don't ever want to go back
The singer is determined not to return to his previous situation
Casanova, you know that I'm a casanova
The singer is unfaithful and flirts with multiple people
Throw my pennies in the well
The singer believes that throwing coins in a well will bring him good luck
Waking up in jail
The singer has been arrested for his irresponsible behavior
'Cause I never paid attention
The singer's disregard for the consequences of his actions has led to trouble
Do you remember all the good times
The singer is reminiscing about past happy moments
Do you remember all the bad times too
The singer acknowledges that there were negative experiences as well
She reminds me everyday, telling me to behave
The woman who gave the singer money is still trying to guide him and make him act appropriately
And no I never listen
The singer continues to ignore the advice of the woman who gave him money
I got a real bad feeling I'ma lose my cool
The singer is nervous that he will lose control of himself and his situation
Everywhere that I go, everything that I do
The singer's irresponsible behavior follows him everywhere and affects all aspects of his life
Stop me using the money on drugs and things
The singer wants to stop using the money recklessly and act more responsibly
I'm back in the hole
The singer has returned to a negative situation
I got nowhere to go
The singer feels trapped and has no other options
Spinning around
The singer feels out of control and overwhelmed
In the cold dark hole deep down in the ground
The singer is in a place of darkness and despair, feeling trapped and alone
Lyrics © ME GUSTA MUSIC
Written by: Rayland Baxter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@zachpeabody
17th century america approves of this incredible music. This album will surely be the catalyst to a bright and colorful future.
@rockettcustoms6266
Don't count on it.
@eg93ca
@@rockettcustoms6266 still hasn’t aged well.
@vittwoman
RayLand is brilliant with an edgy voice that’s smooth as silk with an instant hook; he’ll forever have a huge audience. Watch our for him, he’ll become a household name!
Great job RayLand!!!!!!!
@Gonzoman77
King Of Stonks !!!
@martin61812
yes
@Fakan
Loved it!
@katrinamae5407
I was looking for a different song but decided to click this one thinking it was the one I was looking for... I think I discovered some gold...
@rainydays3468
Can't believe I found this musical nugget ;-)
@NukeOutbound
This song feels like it will get really popular. Least, it has the sound