Richard Buckner is an American singer songwriter born in California, reside… Read Full Bio ↴Richard Buckner is an American singer songwriter born in California, resident in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for a number of years, and currently living in Brooklyn, NY. A critically-acclaimed artist most often associated with the Alternative Country movement, Buckner has in recent albums eschewed his initial acoustic approach and displayed an increasing interest in more abstract music styles.

Buckner began his career with the acoustic "Bloomed" (1994), a lyrically dense suite of songs recorded in Lubbock, Texas and heavily influenced by that state's tradition of whisky-soaked poet/troubadors, probably best embodied by Townes Van Zandt. In 1996, he released the major label "Devotion & Doubt," with members of Giant Sand backing him, displaying a more adventurous, almost avante garde approach to songwriting and arranging.

Since then, he has returned to recording for smaller labels, to continued critical acclaim and cult status. His 2000 album The Hill - his first for Chicago-based indie label Overcoat Recordings - features poems from Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology (1915), which Buckner set to music. The album plays as a single track, nearly thirty-five minutes long. He returned in 2002, first with the "teaser" EP Impasse-ette, then a full-length entitled Impasse one month later. In early 2003, his self-released, self-titled album was reissued by Overcoat, and was his final release for the label. In 2004, an edited version of Richard Buckner's song Ariel Ramirez, from the album Since (1998) was featured in one of the television ads for Volkswagen's Touareg.

He is currently aligned with North Carolina-based indie label Merge Records, who have released four of his albums so far: 2004's Dents and Shells, 2006's Meadow, 2011's Our Blood, and 2013's Surrounded, as well as the 7-inch single Willow (b/w Lost). He also recorded an album with Jon Langford (most notably of The Mekons) called Sir Dark Invader vs. The Fanglord (2005) for Buried Treasure Records.

Desire
Richard Buckner Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I got a drive-away car in Georgia
And baby boy, there's two lines in the road:
One to leave you lonely
And the other to leave me alone
To get down to the easy flow
You've got to cut through the thick brew

Honey, I've shamed your angel name

The drunkest and deepest cut I've made
Oh, my petal in the puddle,
I'm talking about the time I've been long gone
I shot my insides out with grief and Mr. Kessler

All tanked up
And dressed down in desire

And I hope you understand
I'm not your man anymore

Overall Meaning

The song "Desire" by Richard Buckner, tells the story of a man who is trying to break free from a toxic relationship. He has a drive-away car in Georgia, and he realizes that there are two lines on the road, one that will lead him away from his partner, and another line that will leave him alone. He knows that to move forward, he must cut through the "thick brew," or the emotional baggage he carries.

He apologizes to his partner for shaming her "angel name," or for his past behavior that caused harm. He admits that he was deeply hurt and turned to alcohol to cope, even going so far as to reference the fictional Mr. Kessler, a character from the book "The Flounder" by Gunter Grass, who drank himself to death. The man recognizes that he was all "tanked up" or consumed by his desire, but he wants his partner to understand that he can no longer be her man.

Overall, the lyrics of "Desire" suggest a sense of regret and self-awareness. The man realizes that his actions have hurt those around him, including his partner. He understands that it's time to move on and find a healthier way of living, but feels that he needs to apologize and make amends before doing so.

Line by Line Meaning

I got a drive-away car in Georgia
I have a car that I can just leave behind in Georgia

And baby boy, there's two lines in the road:
Hey, listen up, there are two paths to take here

One to leave you lonely
One that will leave you alone and isolated

And the other to leave me alone
And another that will leave me alone and isolated

To get down to the easy flow
If we want things to go smoothly and easily,

You've got to cut through the thick brew
We need to work through the difficult stuff first

Honey, I've shamed your angel name
Sweetheart, I've done something that would make you look bad

The drunkest and deepest cut I've made
The worst mistake I've ever made

Oh, my petal in the puddle,
My sweet one who feels lost and helpless

I'm talking about the time I've been long gone
I'm referring to the time when we were apart for a long period

I shot my insides out with grief and Mr. Kessler
I suffered a lot and I don't want to feel that way anymore