Appalachian Song - Dan Cunningham

Track 2

OUT OF MY MIND

"OUT OF MY MIND" is a very cool, dark, murder ballad. 

Artful. Your voice is very compelling"

-John Francis  (2006 ASCAP Sammy Cahn Lyricist of the Year)

 Recognition for this song:

-Regional finalist 2010  New Song/Mountain Stage contest 

-Story Song finalist 2010  Independent Music Awards 

-Semi-Finalist  Acoustic Roundtable 2011 Worldwide Search 

-Semi-Finalist 2011  SONG OF THE YEAR contest 

-2012 East Coast Songwriters  Honorable Mention Americana/Folk

-2017 Just Plain Folks Music Awards  Finalist Americana 

OUT OF MY MIND is a tragic tale from the Appalachian coal-fields

While the  story is fictional, the background is drawn from the history of coal mining in West Virginia around 1920. When the miners attempted to unionize, the mining company would hire companies like the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency to provide security. Among other duties, these "hired guns" would evict miners (and their families) from company housing when they no longer worked for the company. All of the possessions of the miner's family might be literally stacked in the street. A miner might lose his job for involvement union organizing, and of course, a dead man was no longer an employee. In this song, the narrator tries to stop his mother's eviction and the confrontation ends in violent confrontation. 

(--from the song--)

“The Baldwin-Felts came calling

The week my daddy died

Put my momma on the street

I tried my best to help her but I killed a man instead”

CONCERNING TRAINS (and this song) - In the narrow valleys of the coal fields, there may be a road, a creek or river, and a railroad track, with scant room for much else on that narrow ribbon of "flat" land between the mountains. The sound of the train winding through the valley is part of the environment. It is the background music for every activity in those small communities. Of course, we end the song with some coal train imagery.

 ..."snake of coal cars..." trains in the narrow  mountain valleys twist and curl, compared to the flat, straight rail lines of the midwest.

 (--from the song--)

“I set out on the rails tonight

I have to get away

the wheels, they click, the lonely whistle blows

A snake of coal cars follows me, black as my wicked deed”

For more information on the West Virginia coal wars and the Baldwin Felts Detective Agency:

THUNDER IN THE MOUNTAINS by Lon Savage (book)

MATEWAN, directed by John Sales (movie)

here are the lyrics:

(verse 1) We all kneeled at the graveyard

When they laid my pa to rest

I held my mother's hand

Now I'm hiding, cold and hungry, not a penny to my name

(chorus)  I can't get it, get it out of mind

No place of rest, that I can find

I can't go home, it's not there anymore 

(verse 2) The Baldwin-Felts came calling

The week my daddy died

Put my momma on the street

I tried my best to help her but I killed a man instead

chorus

(verse 3) My momma lives with relatives

Her health is failing now

Ain't much, at all that I can do

In the darkness I sneak back and we keep the curtains closed

chorus

(bridge) Darkness in the daytime

I swear my mining days are done

I call the savior's name

For now a new night has begun

Deliver me

(verse 4) I set out on the rails tonight

I have to get away

the wheels, they click, the lonely whistle blows

A snake of coal cars follows me, black as my wicked deed

c 2010  pickndawg music

words and music by Dan Cunningham

Dan Cunningham: guitars, vocal, and percussion (the train-like sound is a metal trashcan played with brushes)

recording info :

guitars: Yamaha LJX6C - Larrivee SD50

Mics: Rode NT-1 (rebuilt) -  RodeNTK

preamp: Art Digital MPA Gold

recorded in the BOOM CLOSET, Morgantown WV 

mixed at Moviesound Studios in Parkersburg WV by David Traugh