Save Me

By Bobby Neal Winters

I’ve been listening to music in my garage again. A song I’d heard before caught my attention in a new way.  It was the song “Save Me” by Jelly Roll, but the thing that caught my attention wasn’t that this was a song by Jelly Roll. It’s a duet. The other half belongs to Laney Wilson of “Wild Flowers, Wild Horses” fame.  The duet is an old art form which has a comfortable home in country music.

As practiced in country music, the duet explores the relationship between man and woman.  While I can’t say that it grows out of the tradition of the Song of Songs from the Old Testament which is written as a poetic dialog, it is definitely in harmony with that tradition.  The male and female voice each explores its own side of the same situation.

The relationship between women and men is a paradox. It is symmetric and asymmetric at the same time. There are two sides: male and female.  They are on one hand seeking the same thing; but on the other seeking something different. When their shared purpose is achieved fully, the human race continues one more round. However, once that new life is begun, there are asymmetrical consequences. The woman bears those consequences and the man must be convinced to share the burden.

Like the old joke about the bacon and egg breakfast: Both are necessary; the hen is involved but the pig is committed. 

A song which demonstrates this paradox of symmetric-asymmetry well is “Stay in the Truck” by Hardy, again with Laney Wilson.  It demonstrates it so well that you might miss that it’s a duet. This song explores dark, dark corners of the male/female relationship. In its harsh, earthy art, it opens questions that would be perhaps uncomfortable, perhaps unwise to talk about openly. 

But we need to ask them, at least to ourselves.

In the history of country music, there have been pairs of singers who were prolific in their production of duets. I used “pairs” instead of couples because I don’t think they were all romantically involved. Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty; Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers; Johnny Cash and June Carter; George Jones and Tammy Wynette. 

Even as I look through this list of names I see symmetric-asymmetry. One of each pair is almost always dominant: Loretta over Conway; Dolly over Kenny; Johnny over June. Of all of them, George and Tammy seem the most evenly matched.  

The duets they collectively produced run from the happy little throw away of “Louisiana Woman/Mississippi Man” by Loretta and Conway to the tragic “Golden Ring” by George and Tammy.

Having the advantage of this history to build on, it seems to me the duets of late have become more artful and nuanced in the exploration of the relationship.

“I remember everything” with Luke Bryan and Kacey Musgove is subtle. The language used is quite poetic, but the interpretation by the singers is masterful. This is a song that could be sung by one person. However, sharing the verses among the two brings new meaning as by application of their art each brings different nuances to the exact same lines.

Of all of the songs I’ve mentioned, “Save Me” brings a sacred perfection to the genre. Jelly Roll begins,

Somebody save me, me from myself

I've spent so long living in hell.

He’s not a knight in shining armor rushing to save her. He’s calling out himself for help, for salvation.

Laney’s verse begins,

What if the night sky was missin' the moon?

There were no shootin' stars to use wishin' on you

This seems different. In her interpretation, we hear her as a separate person, the more stable of the couple, but as the chorus comes we see she is broken herself. They are two people whose broken edges mesh with each other.

Like “I remember everything,” “Save Me” could be sung as a solo with a single voice.  The words would not need to be changed, but oh, so much would be lost.

Herein lies the perfect metaphor for marriage. I can’t explain what I mean by that. You either understand me or you don’t.

Bobby Winters, a native of Harden City, Oklahoma, blogs at redneckmath.blogspot.com and okieinexile.blogspot.com. He invites you to “like” the National Association of Lawn Mowers on Facebook. Search for him by name on YouTube.