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.

Lil Wallet Picture
Richard Buckner Lyrics

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Underspent
And too young too
I stumbled onto a picture of you
You wild bitter tale
All cherry oak and tears
As the branches looked in
The summer is done
And we are too, dear

Pull back the drape
And let the silent light in
Soon I'll be on that highway

And damn this stretch of 99
That takes so many lives
One of them was mine
Hand me that lil wallet picture
1985
One more time

The lights of the street
Where I'd walk to you at night
Were so blindly lit
Yeah, there were four little flames
His, mine, and yours,
And the torch in the attic
I woke up late
And kissed you awake
And as you packed up your load,
There was one last look
And then the uhaul broke free
Now the ditches are flooded over the backroads

And damn this stretch of 99 that takes so many lives
One of them was mine

Hand me that lil wallet picture
1985
One more time
Underspent

And too young too
I stumbled onto a picture of you

Overall Meaning

The song "Lil Wallet Picture" by Richard Buckner tells the story of a lost love and a tragic end to a relationship. The lyrics create a vivid picture of a past relationship from Buckner's perspective. The song's opening lines suggest that the singer is young and inexperienced, stumbling onto a picture of the person they once loved. The picture is described as a "wild bitter tale/ All cherry oak and tears," which implies that the relationship was tumultuous and fraught with sadness. The metaphor of the branches looking in emphasizes the sense of intrusion, as if the singer is an outsider looking in on a private moment.

The song's chorus takes on a somber tone, with the singer lamenting the stretch of Highway 99 that takes so many lives. The line "One of them was mine" is particularly poignant, suggesting that the singer may have died on this very stretch of road. The repetition of the line "Hand me that lil wallet picture/1985/ One more time" further emphasizes the sense of loss and longing. The final lines of the song, "Underspent/ And too young too/ I stumbled onto a picture of you" suggest that the singer is haunted by memories of this past relationship and unable to let go.

Overall, "Lil Wallet Picture" is a poignant and emotionally charged song that explores themes of loss, regret, and longing. The use of metaphor and vivid imagery creates a sense of nostalgia and longing, while the repetition of certain lines emphasizes the singer's sense of loss and grief.

Line by Line Meaning

Underspent
I didn't have much money

And too young too
I was also too young

I stumbled onto a picture of you
I found a photo of you by chance

You wild bitter tale
You are full of stories, both wild and bitter

All cherry oak and tears
You are beautiful but with sadness in your heart

As the branches looked in
The trees outside were looking in through the window

The summer is done
The season has come to an end

And we are too, dear
Our relationship has ended too

Pull back the drape
Open the curtains

And let the silent light in
Let the sunlight in quietly

Soon I'll be on that highway
I will be leaving soon