Hurtin', Leavin' and Longin' (19)—Two Doors Down

Click here to read the introduction to the Round and Square series "Hurtin', Leavin', and Longin'..."

[a] Memory RF

Dwight Yoakam spends a lot of time in bars—watching and listening. He sips his orange juice and watches a world of heartache unfold around him.

Then he writes it down.

You might see where I am going with this. Dwight Yoakam is an ethnographer of human misery, and nowhere—I mean nowhere—does it get better than in the lyrics to "Two Doors Down." Take a listen. Pay attention. This is despondency sprinkled with irony and (seemingly) a little bit of humor...before any temporary smile is wiped off our faces when the door slams shut...two doors down. Read the lyrics and listen to the music. Its time to be studious; the song is long and chock-full of insight into the human condition. And bars.

Two Doors Down  3:55

For advice on how best to "engage" the lyrics, click here.

You may have noticed that this song is organized a little bit differently than most of the others we have "read" in the past five months. There is no chorus as such, but rather an interweaving "two doors" theme that serves to crush the hopes of any listener thinking that the glass might, just might, be half-full. No it's all empty.

       Two Doors Down
           Dwight Yoakam
          (Dwight Yoakam)

[b] Stool RF

Two doors down there's a jukebox
That plays all night long
Real sad songs
All about me and you

Two doors down there's a barmaid
That serves 'em real strong
Here lately
That's how I make it through

Two doors down there's a heartache
That once was my friend
And two doors down there's a memory
That won't ever end

Two doors down there's a barstool
That knows me by name
And we sit here together
And wait for you

Two doors down there's a bottle
Where I take out my shame
And hold it up
For the whole world to view

Two doors down there's a pay phone
But no calls come in
Two doors down there's a memory
That won't ever end

From the hotel to the barroom
Is just a stumble and a fall
And sometimes when it gets bad
I've been known to crawl

Freedom from sorrow
Is just two doors away
I'll escape for a short time
But I know I can't stay

Two doors down is where they'll find me
When you're finally through
Taking what's left of my life

Two doors down is where they'll leave me
When payment comes due
For the hours I've spent there each night

Two doors down I'll be forgotten
But until then
Two doors down there's a memory
That won't ever end

[c] East Slope RF

So how do we move from drinking and grieving to the East Asian poetic tradition? Well, that is not a very big jump. They're just drinking other stuff and grieving about slightly different situations. This is as close to a one-to-one correspondence of themes as we are likely to get all year in Hurtin', Leavin', and Longin'. Exchange the whiskey for heated plum wine and the barstool for an elegant Ming chair, and we'll be on our way.

We'll bob and weave with Dwight Yoakam's themes this week. I have selected my favorite poet writing in my favorite genre—Su Shi (蘇軾) writing in the lyric (詞) style. The poet, also popularly named as "East Slope Su" (蘇東坡) is one of the most versatile and consistently interesting writers in Chinese history. Here, we have a few snippets of lines that connect with and veer away from the song that started our reflections today.

To the tune, "Immortal by the River"

Returning at Night to Lin'gao
Su Shi (1038-1101)

I drank tonight at East Slope, sobered up, and drank again.
It must have been midnight before I got home.
The houseboy was snoring like thunder,
My pounding on the gate was all in vain,
I leaned on my staff and listened to the river.

I always regret this body is not mine to control,
When shall I put aside the ambitions of life?
The night is late, the wind calm, the water rippled.
Let me drift off in a tiny boat,
Give my remaining years to rivers and lakes.[1]

[1] Ronald C. Egan, Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994), 315-316.

Bibliography
Egan, Ronald E. Word, Image, and Deed in the Life of Su Shi. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994.

NEXT 
Sunday, September 18th 

Jolene
We will return to the "please don't take him/her away from me" theme next time with Dolly Parton's "Jolene." We slide from sadness to misery—like a steel guitar—every Sunday on Hurtin', Leavin, and Longin'.