Freakwater, Good for Nothing

Freakwater are principally Catherine Ann Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean. Their 1999 album End Time is pretty much flawless, and its lead-off track 'Good for Nothing' is, I believe, one of the finest songs ever written (at any rate, it's a favorite of mine). They rule, and this song in particular deserves to be very widely heard and known, but until now it hasn't been available anywhere on youtube. I hereby fill that gap:

I've been good, and I've been good for nothing
I had it bad for something seems like a long time ago
And the dirt beneath my nails is not from some field of flowers
Sown by the April showers and what they may or may not bring
I always get lucky in the spring
I have been good for nothing

Loose lips are bound to sink ships
And many times I've watched my own self drown
Clinging fast to my lucidity
Like a life raft that's always sinking down

One big drink and then another
Pull my head down far beneath the waves
Where I'm living like a mermaid decked in stolen jewels
From the drowning men I've saved

I've been good, and I've been good for nothing
I had it bad for something seems like a long time ago
And the dirt beneath my nails is not from some field of flowers
Sown by the April showers and what they may or may not bring
I always get lucky in the spring
I have been good for nothing

Black crows break and scatter wide
The buckshot blast soaring out of sight
Clouds of heat and dust that rise up from the ground
On a slow and gasping flight

I'm bound to think about my brother
When August sucks the colors from the air
And Kudzu vines make tangled monsters
Of the trees where we first learned to play fair

Forgive and forget are words that never slid across my tongue
Revenge like a fleeting Christmas morning I knew when I was young
Put the toys back in their boxes
Let me tear the ribbons off them just once more
Inside my little box of bones a ray of light shines
Where I'm slowly keeping score

I've been good, and I've been good for nothing
I had it bad for something seems like a long time ago
And the dirt beneath my nails is not
From some field of flowers
Sung by the April showers and what they may or may not bring
I always get lucky in the spring
I have been good for nothing
I have been good for nothing

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Alt-country
• Americana
• bluegrass
• Freakwater
• Bloodshot
• acoustic
• folk
• rock

[paullybizzle]

i live in louisville and see cathy irwin around town...saw her play by herself at zanzabar in august. was fucking awesome...ive seen freakwater a few times but would kill again to see them. my favorite band to ever play

[swanstep]

@paullybizzle Thanks for the comment. Louisville sounds like it has a sweet, mini-Austin/Nashville music scene, so it fiigures that Irwin might be there. Lucky you getting to check out her latest projects.

[prepostero]

Freakwater are awesome and under appreciated. Some amazing songwriting and real country from a woman's perspective. I would kill so see them live once more...

[swanstep]

@prepostero Thanks for your comment. It does seem completely nuts that hardly anyone knows about Freakwater. Their best songs are worthy of becoming standards, so I wouldn't mind betting that sooner or later someone like Taylor Swift or Jenny Lewis will take one of their songs to #1 and *then* they'll start to be discovered by a much broader group of people.

[69TheJudge]

i had seen them live in strasbourg/france with calexico and amor belhom duo, must have been in 2000 - i will NEVER forget that show, it was awesome, all of the bands. never heard of freakwater before, but was blown away by them. 'end time' is one of my lifetime favourites since then. incredible band - thank you for posting!

[schmindigo]

I agree w/ you about Good for Nothing; I never get tired of listening to it, & believe me I have listened to it *a lot*! Freakwater rules!