This may be one of the more inconsequential posts I’ve made on this blog so far, but today, I want to share a short story about how songs you know inside and out still find ways to surprise you. Last night, while idly scrolling through the Drive-By Truckers’ unusually user-friendly and insightful website, I noticed this strange blurb attacked to ex-Trucker Jason Isbell’s description of “Danko/Manuel”, a gorgeous song from 2004’s The Dirty South: “The horn parts came to me in a dream.”“Wait a second,” I said to myself. “’Danko/Manuel’ doesn’t have horns!”
Well, long story short, I was wrong. Somehow, during the dozens and dozens of times I’ve listened to one of my favorite songs, I never noticed that, hiding deep within the chorus, there was a small and tasteful horn line blaring away. And damn if it doesn’t suit the song perfectly. I understand that this sounds very simple and obvious, but I’ve spent the day thinking this over. I find myself fascinated by the idea that there could be (and probably are) musical details hiding in all my favorite songs that I’ve never noted, for whatever reason. Think of the possibilities…
Lost in all this is the fact that Isbell said those horns came to him in a dream. Which is just awesome.
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