Ode to a Jilted Lover 03 - From Sad to Downright Tragic

Many jilted lover songs are about two people (as would be fitting for such tales): one is usually a sensitive, loving person with whom we empathize. The is other is usually, well, a jerk. They seem to be unfeeling, uncaring, and aloof. But some cross over into super-jerkdom as does today's example.

The song is Levi Stubbs' Tears by Billy Bragg. Now let me be upfront, I am actually not a huge fan of how this song sounds in its final form. The most I know of Billy Bragg is a three album project he did with Wilco where they created songs from lyrics penned by Woody Guthrie. The songs had never been set to music, and I think the albums are absolutely wonderful. But outside of that, I am not familiar with Billy Bragg's work. But I think this song has merit lyrically, and musically, it isn't just a train wreck or anything.

The song is about a woman who seems to be perpetually alone. She makes the best of her life and finds solace in music, which seems to be the only constant, bright spot she can find. Levi Stubbs was the lead vocalist of the Four Tops. The song mentions others involved in Motown's heyday, and apparently this is the type of music she finds comfort in.

She runs away from home at a very early age and marries almost right away. The guy she marries is terrible. He leaves her then resurfaces in her life later on only to do her physical harm. I tend to think that the actual story starts in verse two, and its conclusion is actually verse one. I tie the "accident" to whatever happens in verse four. She just called it an accident because she didn't want to turn him in for what he had done.

Here are the lyrics and the song, so you decide what the story is. A key line is And her husband was one of those blokes, the sort that only laughs at his own jokes; the sort a war takes away, and when there wasn't a war, he left anyway.


With the money from her accident
she bought herself a mobile home
so at least she could get some enjoyment
out of being alone
No one could say that she was left up on the shelf
It's you and me against the world kid she mumbled to herself

Chorus:
When the world falls apart some things stay in place
Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face

She ran away from home in her mother's best coat
She was married before she was even entitled to vote
And her husband was one of those blokes
The sort that only laughs at his own jokes
The sort that war takes away
and when there wasn't a war he left her anyway

Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
are here to make everything right that's wrong
Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too
are here to make it all okay with you

One dark night he came home from the sea
and put a hole in her body where no hole should be
It hurt her more to see him walking out the door
and though they stitched her back together they left her heart in pieces on the floor

When the world falls apart some things stay in place
she takes out the Four Tops tape and puts it back in its case
When the world falls apart some things stay in place
Levi Stubbs' tears...