This is the third in a short series of posts on āThe Unfortunate Rake.ā Read the previous posts here and here. āSo brave, young, and handsomeā āWhen I got back to Wichita, I met one Zach Potter, a man with … Continue reading →
This post on āGamblerās Bluesā/āSt. James Infirmaryā is the second installment on variants of the āUnfortunate Rakeā ballads. The first installment was on an older, British āRakeā ballad, called āPills of White Mercury,ā in which the narrator comes across a … Continue reading →
Murder ballads helpĀ us chart the frontiersĀ of our empathy. They provideĀ the chanceĀ to connect emotionally with victims and villains; sometimes with sympathy, sometimes with revulsion. Through them, we inhabit the perspectives ofĀ the dead and dying, witnesses and bystanders, and oftenĀ the poorĀ souls who, … Continue reading →
