Two Stories: a Christian Bible and a Jewish Magazine that Make for Bad Religion

Only Children – Jason Isbell

 

Walking around at night

Fighting my appetite

Every kid in cut-offs could be you

 

Remember when we used to meet

At the bottom of Mobile Street

Do what the broken people do

 

Are you still taking notes?

The Holy Ghost could get inside you

You do whatever you put your mind to

Will you read me what you wrote?

When we were locked outside the building

Over-encouraged only children

 

Cold coffee on the fire escape

We bet it all on a demo tape

When we still had something left to steal

 

Remember when we took too much

To get a little of the human touch

Hand to mouth and reel to reel

 

And are you still taking notes?

Hydrocodone in your backpack

Maybe these words will hold the beast back

Will you read me what you wrote?

The one I said you stole from Dylan

Over-encouraged only children

 

"Heaven's wasted on the dead"

That's what your mama said

And the hearse was idling in the parking lot

She said you thought the world of me

And you were glad to see

They finally let me be an astronaut

 

Are you still taking notes?

Do you have anyone to talk to?

Castle walls that you can walk through?

Do the dead believe in ghosts?

Or are you lost in some old building

With over-encouraged only children?

The task of analyzing Jason Isbell's songs is confounded by the fact that it is hard to place his work on a continuum with other songwriters.  Before we can analyze any poet's work, I believe it helps to know something about his writing in general.  It is well-known that Isbell credits John Prine as his most influential songwriting model.  But Jason Isbell is a very different songwriter than John Prine.  Like Prine, and unlike songwriters like Guy Clark and Steve Earle, Isbell will include words, phrases, ideas, and people that seem either out of place in the narrative or their significance is opaque.

We are often left to find out for ourselves just what he means.  With Prine, who is known for raucous humor as well as serious substance, a nonsense word here and there, or an anachronistic phrase from some old wives' tale, is likely to often appear.  With Isbell, it is more likely that his more obscure references are somehow more serious, and contain more gravitas.  Not to trivialize John Prine in any way, but in an Isbell song, I expect each word to have meaning in the song, not just within itself.  I do not necessarily expect this with Prine.  I do not leave room for any nonsense at all in Isbell's lyrics.  I believe that this reflects the songwriter's personality.  I would suspect that Isbell is a classic introvert who looks within himself for mental satisfaction and is confused by the outside world whereas I see Prine as an extrovert who looks to his audience and the world at large for answers and satisfaction.  I think if Isbell makes an artistic error that embarrasses him, he takes it to heart.  With Prine, I think he would just laugh it off.

The recording opens with an acoustic guitar, highly processed, with drums played with brushes in a "choo-choo train" rhythm, reminiscent of Paul Winter.  The chords and melody seem hollow sounding and haunt the brain before the lyrics begin.

The introduction is a sing-song alternation between the root G major and the relative E minor.  The interval is vaguely reminiscent of a European emergency siren or a children's playground chant.  Both of these sound images relate to the story as it unfolds.

Let us start with the title: "Only Children."  At first, I believe I assumed that the title referred to people who were "only" children, that is, not grown up.  After I listened to the song, I realized that "only children" is really a part of a larger phrase in the song, "over-encouraged only children."

This phrase evokes some form of elitism, not necessarily economic or social, but somehow descriptive of the speaker and the person being spoken to.  It might be an internal elitism shared by "over-encouraged only children."

Clearly, the narrative is second-person and the person being spoken to is specific, a person presumably well-known to the speaker.

It appears to be a reminiscence of things and times past, with knowledge shared between the speaker and the person spoken to.

In the beginning, he is "Walking around at night, Fighting my appetite."  OK, it is dark, the speaker is walking around and has a conscious thought that he must ameliorate his instincts or "fight his appetite."

We do not know at this point what kinds of appetites he might be addressing:  food, drugs, fun, undefined pleasure, sex?

The next line is confounding:

"Any kid in cutoffs could be you."

Note that even though "cutoffs" are primarily associated with young girls, he says "any kid in cutoffs" not "any girl."  If he had, coupled with "appetite," the mind could go to a grown man remembering sexual feelings he recalls from his youth.  But he says "kid" not "girl."  We have no further clue.  We do not know the gender of "you."

Remember when we used to meet

At the bottom of Mobile Street

Do what the broken people do

We are definitely dealing with a reminiscence, it seems. "We used to meet at the bottom of Mobile Street."  We do not know how long ago this memory was made or just exactly what it is that "the broken people do."  We get the sense that it is a childhood reminiscence, but that notion is likely due to the title.  We can safely speculate that he might be talking to a childhood friend or possibly a young romantic attachment.  I am making the friend a girl in my analysis but that is not necessary.  The romantic factor remains a question.

The first chorus (it changes with each occurrence):

Are you still taking notes?

The Holy Ghost could get inside you

You do whatever you put your mind to

Will you read me what you wrote?

When we were locked outside the building

Over-encouraged only children

He asks if she is still taking notes, introducing that she might have been an aspiring writer of some kind.  "The Holy Ghost could get inside you."  He sees a religious side to her, which here, does not relate to anything prior, but might be seen in later lines.  "You do whatever you put your mind to."  He believes in her.  She has shown this quality in the past.  "Will you read me what you wrote?"  He is interested in her work and they are possible collaborators.  "When we were locked outside the building, over-encouraged only children."  This eludes to a past shared experience which was significant.  The final phrase, "over-encouraged only children" is of course reflective of the title.  The fact that he titles the song like he does seems to indicate that this fact is important.  Perhaps their shared experience as "over-encouraged only children" has given the speaker and his friend a special bond, probably not shared with others.

Cold coffee on the fire escape

We bet it all on a demo tape

When we still had something left to steal

 

Remember when we took too much

To get a little of the human touch

Hand to mouth and reel to reel

"Cold coffee on the fire escape" is another allusion to a building.  This evokes older friends now, possibly sharing a flat.  "We bet it all on a demo tape When we still had something left to steal."  Likely they have collaborated on a song here.  "When we still had something left to steal"  This phrase does not evoke anything at this time.  The concept will recur, however.

"Remember when we took too much To get a little of the human touch"  These friends, in spite of their friendship, are lonely.  Perhaps this is related to, their status as "over-encouraged only children."  What "we took too much" refers to is not clear at this point.  "Hand to mouth and reel to reel."  I think we're back on the fire escape, talking about that demo tape.

Let me insert here that Isbell often leaves us wondering where his experience has inspired his work and where he is writing pure fiction.  There might be a little Jason in the speaker, but the speaker is not the songwriter.  This can be seen in many of Isbell's songs.  A good example is "Live Oak."

And are you still taking notes?

Hydrocodone in your backpack

Maybe these words will hold the beast back

Will you read me what you wrote?

The one I said you stole from Dylan

Over-encouraged only children

Here we arrive back at the next chorus.  The first shock is felt.  "Hydrocodone in your backpack Maybe these words will hold the beast back"  There is no doubt we are talking about addiction, a subject Isbell discusses openly from his own experience.  "The one I said you stole from Dylan"  Here we are back to talking about the idea of "stealing" lyrics (or other song parts).

At this point, shock number two hits the listener between the eyes:

"Heaven's wasted on the dead"

That's what your mama said

And the hearse was idling in the parking lot

She said you thought the world of me

And you were glad to see

They finally let me be an astronaut

His friend is dead.  We have just found that out.  This is not a conversation between childhood friends; this is a eulogy.  "She said you thought the world of me And you were glad to see They finally let me be an astronaut"  The speaker is clearly in deep mourning.  He relates a private joke between himself and his dead friend.  

We arrive at the final chorus, changed again:

Are you still taking notes?

Do you have anyone to talk to?

Castle walls that you can walk through?

Do the dead believe in ghosts?

Or are you lost in some old building

With over-encouraged only children?

"Are you still taking notes? Do you have anyone to talk to? Castle walls that you can walk through?"

Have you kept paying attention to things where you are now?  You no longer have me; do you have a friend there? "Castle walls that you can walk through?" Another allusion to a building.

"Do the dead believe in ghosts?  Or are you lost in some old building?"  I believe here that the songwriter is drawing on his experience with dreams.  Some people have a recurring dream that they are lost in buildings.  "Locked outside some old building," "castle walls that you can walk through," "Or are you lost in some old building With over-encouraged only children?  Are you still the same?  Have you changed?  Has death cured you of your status or are you still like me?

There is more than one direction to go here.  I am drawn to see the speaker as an artist (a songwriter) whose dreams have not been fully realized.  He has recurring dreams of being lost in buildings or locked out.  These dreams go together according to psychologists.  The speaker is depressed, possibly as a result of addiction.  He deeply misses his friend, possibly more than he realizes.  She was a bigger part of his inspiration than either of them knew.  He is seeking direction and feels lost.  This feeling is exacerbated by his grief.  He feels somehow incomplete from his loss.  We never find out how his grief is resolved.

It is never explicit how the concept of "over-encouraged only children" makes its way into the song's title.  I understand the concept, but beyond the idea of shared experience in this narrative, I think I might be missing something.

Jason Isbell's lyrics can be taken at face value, but I believe that is a mistake.  Isbell is a deep thinker who also feels deeply.  He has the gifts of subtle use of language and a wide array of influences and nuance.  His songs tell painful stories that can be understood on more than one simple level.