Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* {{Metaphorgotten}}: "Cast Iron Skillet" uses seemingly reasonable folksy advice to make a point of not just accepting ingrown prejudice.
-->''Don't wash the cast iron skillet\\
Don't drink and drive, you'll spill it\\
Don't ask too many questions or you'll never get to sleep''
-->''Don't wash the cast iron skillet\\
Don't drink and drive, you'll spill it\\
Don't ask too many questions or you'll never get to sleep''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 23,25 (click to see context) from:
* KillersOfTheFlowerMoon
to:
* KillersOfTheFlowerMoon
Film/KillersOfTheFlowerMoon
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* PottyEmergency: Leave it to Jason Isbell to have this trope [[PlayedForDrama Played for Drama]] - in "King of Oklahoma" the source of the narrator's troubles is because he fell trying to relive himself on a ladder. This starts a [[HumiliationCongaLine chain of events]] that leads to addiction, losing his job from being too weak to work, a bitter divorce, and culminates in a heist of copper pipes that someone pulls off before he could get to the construction site, leaving the narrator with nothing but his truck to his name.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 80 (click to see context) from:
* MeaningfulFuneral: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TDp-hgVUIg "Dress Blues."]] If a war has ever taken someone you cared about, [[TearJerker brace yourself.]]
to:
* MeaningfulFuneral: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TDp-hgVUIg "Dress Blues."]] If a war has ever taken someone you cared about, [[TearJerker [[invoked]][[TearJerker brace yourself.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Adult Fear is no longer a trope
Deleted line(s) 27 (click to see context) :
* AdultFear: The narrator of "Save the World" treats sending his daughter to school for the first time as if he were sending her to war.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* AdultFear: The narrator of "Save the World" treats sending his daughter to school for the first time as if he were sending her to war.
Added DiffLines:
* RippedFromTheHeadlines: "Save the World" references a school shooting where "the cops just let them die"--most likely either the one in Parkland, Florida, or in Uvalde, Texas.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ArtistAndTheBand: Jason fronts his own band called Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 36 (click to see context) :
* AnyoneCanDie: "If We Were Vampires" is about a married couple who realize they cannot be together forever because one will die earlier.
Added DiffLines:
* WeAllDieSomeday: "If We Were Vampires" is about a married couple who realize they cannot be together forever because one will die before the other, leaving the survivor alone until their own death.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Shows up in a few songs--usually used subtly enough not to interfere with the flow of the music.
-->''It's the'' '''''ladies''''' ''I'' '''''love''''' ''and the'' '''''law''''' ''that I hate''\\
''But'' '''''Lord let''''' ''me die in the Iodine State''\\
-- "Palmetto Rose"
-->''It's the'' '''''ladies''''' ''I'' '''''love''''' ''and the'' '''''law''''' ''that I hate''\\
''But'' '''''Lord let''''' ''me die in the Iodine State''\\
-- "Palmetto Rose"
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
* DrowningMySorrows: He doesn't do this anymore, but the people in his songs sure do.
to:
* DrowningMySorrows: He doesn't do this anymore, but the people in his songs sure do. From "Alabama Pines":
-->''If we pass through on a Sunday''\\
''Better make a stop at Wayne's''\\
''It's the only open liquor store north''\\
''And I can't stand the pain''
-->''If we pass through on a Sunday''\\
''Better make a stop at Wayne's''\\
''It's the only open liquor store north''\\
''And I can't stand the pain''
Changed line(s) 82 (click to see context) from:
To sing a cover when we need a battle cry''
to:
To sing a cover when we need a battle cry''cry''\\
-- "Be Afraid"
-- "Be Afraid"
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ''[[CoverAlbum Georgia Blue]]'' (2021)
Added DiffLines:
* CoverAlbum: ''Georgia Blue'', also a charity album, consists entirely of covers of artists from Georgia, keeping to a promise Isbell made on Twitter if Georgia flipped to blue in the 2020 presidential election.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Discussed, and ultimately rejected, in "Elephant."
-->''There's one thing that's real clear to me''\\
''No one dies with dignity''\\
''We just try to ignore [[TheTopicOfCancer the elephant]] somehow''
-->''There's one thing that's real clear to me''\\
''No one dies with dignity''\\
''We just try to ignore [[TheTopicOfCancer the elephant]] somehow''
* INeedAFreakingDrink: "Flying Over Water":
-->''Take my hand, baby we're over land''\\
''I know flying over water makes you cry''\\
''Where's that liquor cart, maybe we shouldn't start''\\
''But I can't for the life of me see why''
-->''Take my hand, baby we're over land''\\
''I know flying over water makes you cry''\\
''Where's that liquor cart, maybe we shouldn't start''\\
''But I can't for the life of me see why''
Deleted line(s) 53,55 (click to see context) :
* ManlyTears: Referenced occasionally.
-->''Made it out to the truck without breaking down''\\
''Everybody knows you in a [[TitleDrop speed trap town]]''
-->''Made it out to the truck without breaking down''\\
''Everybody knows you in a [[TitleDrop speed trap town]]''
Added DiffLines:
* ManlyTears: Referenced occasionally.
-->''Made it out to the truck without breaking down''\\
''Everybody knows you in a [[TitleDrop speed trap town]]''
-->''Made it out to the truck without breaking down''\\
''Everybody knows you in a [[TitleDrop speed trap town]]''
Added DiffLines:
* MurderBallad: Definitely "Live Oak"; possibly "Yvette."
Added DiffLines:
* ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld: Referenced in "Songs That She Sang in the Shower."
-->''On a lark--on a whim''\\
''I said there's two kinds of men in this world''\\
''[[TheGadfly And you're neither of them]]''
-->''On a lark--on a whim''\\
''I said there's two kinds of men in this world''\\
''[[TheGadfly And you're neither of them]]''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* DareToBeBadass: "Be Afraid"
-->''...but do it anyway!''
-->''...but do it anyway!''
Added DiffLines:
* IntercourseWithYou: "Cover Me Up"
-->''So girl, leave your boots by the bed, we ain't leavin' this room\\
'Til someone needs medical help or the magnolias bloom''
-->''So girl, leave your boots by the bed, we ain't leavin' this room\\
'Til someone needs medical help or the magnolias bloom''
Added DiffLines:
* LoveWillLeadYouBack: "Overseas" is about the moment the narrator realises this ''won't'' happen.
-->''My love won't change\\
My love won't change\\
My love won't change a thing''
-->''My love won't change\\
My love won't change\\
My love won't change a thing''
Added DiffLines:
* ProtestSong: A number of them.
-->''And if your words add up to nothing, then you're making a choice\\
To sing a cover when we need a battle cry''
-->''And if your words add up to nothing, then you're making a choice\\
To sing a cover when we need a battle cry''
Added DiffLines:
* StockholmSyndrome: Played with in "Stockholm" - the narrator actively ''wants'' to be emotionally bound to the girl he's singing about, and likens their affair to a kidnapping.
* TheTopicOfCancer: "Elephant" is about a man trying to support a friend dying of cancer.
-->''When she was drunk she made cancer jokes\\
Made up her own doctor's notes\\
Surrounded by her family, I saw that she was dying alone\\
There's one thing that's real clear to me:\\
No one dies with dignity\\
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow''
* TheTopicOfCancer: "Elephant" is about a man trying to support a friend dying of cancer.
-->''When she was drunk she made cancer jokes\\
Made up her own doctor's notes\\
Surrounded by her family, I saw that she was dying alone\\
There's one thing that's real clear to me:\\
No one dies with dignity\\
We just try to ignore the elephant somehow''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: The cause of the bar fight in "Songs That She Sang in the Shower," which leads to the breakup that the rest of the song focuses on.
Added DiffLines:
* PayEvilUntoEvil: The narrator's intention in "Yvette."
-->''[[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior I might not be a man yet]]--but [[AbusiveParents that bastard]] will never be''\\
''So I'm cleaning my Weatherby''\\
''I sight in my scope, and I hope against hope''\\
''I hope against hope''
-->''[[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior I might not be a man yet]]--but [[AbusiveParents that bastard]] will never be''\\
''So I'm cleaning my Weatherby''\\
''I sight in my scope, and I hope against hope''\\
''I hope against hope''
Added DiffLines:
* UnreliableNarrator: "Yvette." [[ParentalIncest His interpretation]] of events might be accurate, but the listener only has his word to go on.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
* WeAreAsMayFlies: The theme of "If We Were Vampires":
to:
* WeAreAsMayFlies: WeAreAsMayflies: The theme of "If We Were Vampires":
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* WeAreAsMayFlies: The theme of "If We Were Vampires":
-->''It's knowing that this can't go on forever''\\
''Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone''\\
''Maybe we'll get forty years together''\\
''But one day I'll be gone''\\
''Or one day you'll be gone''
-->''It's knowing that this can't go on forever''\\
''Likely one of us will have to spend some days alone''\\
''Maybe we'll get forty years together''\\
''But one day I'll be gone''\\
''Or one day you'll be gone''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
No longer a trope.
Deleted line(s) 60 (click to see context) :
* YourCheatingHeart: He is a country songwriter, after all. "Speed Trap Town" is partly about the narrator coming to terms with his father's infidelity.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream: Either epitomized or deconstructed by "Something More Than Free," depending on how you interpret it.
-->''I don't think on why I'm here or where it hurts''\\
''[[SurvivalMantra I'm just lucky to have the work]]''\\
''Sunday morning I'm too tired to go to church''\\
''But I thank God for the work''
-->''I don't think on why I'm here or where it hurts''\\
''[[SurvivalMantra I'm just lucky to have the work]]''\\
''Sunday morning I'm too tired to go to church''\\
''But I thank God for the work''
Added DiffLines:
-->''It's war that I wage to get up every day''\\
''[[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream It's a fiberglass boat, it's azaleas in May]]''\\
''It's the women I love and the law that I hate''\\
''But Lord, let me die in the Iodine State''
''[[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream It's a fiberglass boat, it's azaleas in May]]''\\
''It's the women I love and the law that I hate''\\
''But Lord, let me die in the Iodine State''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 53 (click to see context) from:
''"Maybe we'll get forty years together\\
to:
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
Or one day you'll be gone..."''
to:
Or one day you'll be gone..."''''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 3,6 (click to see context) from:
''And everything you built that’s all for show goes up in flames''\\
''In 24 frames''
-->-- "'''24 Frames'''"
''In 24 frames''
-->-- "'''24 Frames'''"
to:
''In
In 24
-->--
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/isbell.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Isbell and the 400 Unit.]]
''And everything you built that’s all for show goes up in flames''\\
''In 24 frames''
-->-- "'''24 Frames'''"
[[caption-width-right:350:Isbell and the 400 Unit.]]
''And everything you built that’s all for show goes up in flames''\\
''In 24 frames''
-->-- "'''24 Frames'''"
* AnyoneCanDie: "If We Were Vampires" is about a married couple who realize they cannot be together forever because one will die earlier.
* PrecisionFStrike: "Elephant" drops a "fuck" and a "bitch", "Palmetto Rose" has one usage of "bullshit", which alone warranted ''Something More Than Free'' an explicit tag.
Changed line(s) 43 (click to see context) from:
* YourCheatingHeart: He is a country songwriter, after all. "Speed Trap Town" is partly about the narrator coming to terms with his father's infidelity.
to:
* YourCheatingHeart: He is a country songwriter, after all. "Speed Trap Town" is partly about the narrator coming to terms with his father's infidelity.infidelity.
----
''"Maybe we'll get forty years together\\
But one day I'll be gone\\
Or one day you'll be gone..."''
----
----
''"Maybe we'll get forty years together\\
But one day I'll be gone\\
Or one day you'll be gone..."''
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 39 (click to see context) :
* OvershadowedByControversy: If you're not an alt-country fan, you may still have heard of him, via the [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/30-50-feral-hogs "30 to 50 feral hogs"]] meme. (To save you a click: he wasn't the one making that argument.)
Deleted line(s) 41 (click to see context) :
* [[RomanceOnTheSet Romance on Stage]]: First with Shonna Tucker (bassist for the Drive-By Truckers), later with Amanda Shires.
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* WorkingClassHero: Frequently. Two good examples are the truck driver and palm-leaf artists in "Palmetto Rose," and the narrator of "Something More Than Free."
to:
* WorkingClassHero: Frequently. Two Some good examples are the truck driver and palm-leaf artists in "Palmetto Rose," and the narrator of "Something More Than Free."
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
A singer-songwriter from Lauderdale County, Alabama, active in AlternativeCountry and SouthernRock. A member of the Drive-By Truckers from 2001 to 2007, he has led his own band, The 400 Unit, since then.
--------
!!Discography (with The 400 Unit):
* ''Sirens of the Ditch'' (2007)
* ''Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit'' (2009)
* ''Here We Rest'' (2011)
* ''Southeastern'' (2013)
* ''Something More Than Free'' (2015)
* ''The Nashville Sound'' (2017)
* ''Reunions'' (2020)
-----
!!30 to 50 Feral Tropes:
* TheAlcoholic: Formerly. Amanda Shires[[note]]his bandmate, later wife, and co-founder of the Highwomen (see Music/MarenMorris)[[/note]], Music/RyanAdams, and manager Traci Thomas intervened in 2012 and got him turned around, and it seems to have stuck.
-->''But I made it through, because somebody knew''\\
''I was meant for someone''\\
-- "Cover Me Up"
* ArmorPiercingResponse: Amanda Shires supposedly gave him one while they were watching ''Film/TheTheoryOfEverything''. The story is that Jason turned to her and asked "If you had known when we met that I had only a few years to live, would you still have given me a chance?" She answered "When we met, you did have only a few years to live."
* DeepSouth: Grew up in it, and loves to write songs about it. These songs are usually pretty sympathetic to the area's residents, but pull no punches about its darker side.
** Specifically, "Decoration Day" and "Alabama Pines" make reference to life in Alabama, "Palmetto Rose" is about Charleston, South Carolina, and "Cover Me Up" and "White Man's World" are "set" in or near Nashville.
** "Dress Blues" is more vague, but the line about "sweet tea in Styrofoam cups" still places it firmly in the South. It was written specifically in memory of Matthew Conley, from the same Alabama county as Jason.
* DrowningMySorrows: He doesn't do this anymore, but the people in his songs sure do.
* FeudingFamilies: Isbell wrote the title track for the Drive-By Truckers' album ''Decoration Day'', which tells an ostensibly-true story about two Alabama families with a very ugly history.
-->''I never knew how it all got started''\\
''A problem with Hollin before we were born''\\
''And I don't know the name of the boy we tied down''\\
''And beat till he just couldn't walk anymore''\\
''But I know the caliber in Daddy's chest''\\
''I know what Hollin Hill drives''\\
''The state let him go but I guess it was best''\\
'''Cause nobody needs all us Lawsons alive''
* HomesicknessHymn: "Alabama Pines."
* InherentInTheSystem: "White Man's World."
* ManlyTears: Referenced occasionally.
-->''Made it out to the truck without breaking down''\\
''Everybody knows you in a [[TitleDrop speed trap town]]''
* MeaningfulFuneral: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TDp-hgVUIg "Dress Blues."]] If a war has ever taken someone you cared about, [[TearJerker brace yourself.]]
* OvershadowedByControversy: If you're not an alt-country fan, you may still have heard of him, via the [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/30-50-feral-hogs "30 to 50 feral hogs"]] meme. (To save you a click: he wasn't the one making that argument.)
* ParentsAsPeople: Isbell seems to like this trope. The narrator's dying father in "Speed Trap Town," for example, and the separated couple in "Dreamsicle."
* [[RomanceOnTheSet Romance on Stage]]: First with Shonna Tucker (bassist for the Drive-By Truckers), later with Amanda Shires.
* SinsOfOurFathers: Hinted at in "Palmetto Rose," and addressed openly in "White Man's World"--both times in a broad historical sense. Surprisingly averted in "Decoration Day."
* UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror: The soldier being honored in "Dress Blues" was a casualty of it.
* WorkingClassHero: Frequently. Two good examples are the truck driver and palm-leaf artists in "Palmetto Rose," and the narrator of "Something More Than Free."
* YourCheatingHeart: He is a country songwriter, after all. "Speed Trap Town" is partly about the narrator coming to terms with his father's infidelity.
--------
!!Discography (with The 400 Unit):
* ''Sirens of the Ditch'' (2007)
* ''Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit'' (2009)
* ''Here We Rest'' (2011)
* ''Southeastern'' (2013)
* ''Something More Than Free'' (2015)
* ''The Nashville Sound'' (2017)
* ''Reunions'' (2020)
-----
!!30 to 50 Feral Tropes:
* TheAlcoholic: Formerly. Amanda Shires[[note]]his bandmate, later wife, and co-founder of the Highwomen (see Music/MarenMorris)[[/note]], Music/RyanAdams, and manager Traci Thomas intervened in 2012 and got him turned around, and it seems to have stuck.
-->''But I made it through, because somebody knew''\\
''I was meant for someone''\\
-- "Cover Me Up"
* ArmorPiercingResponse: Amanda Shires supposedly gave him one while they were watching ''Film/TheTheoryOfEverything''. The story is that Jason turned to her and asked "If you had known when we met that I had only a few years to live, would you still have given me a chance?" She answered "When we met, you did have only a few years to live."
* DeepSouth: Grew up in it, and loves to write songs about it. These songs are usually pretty sympathetic to the area's residents, but pull no punches about its darker side.
** Specifically, "Decoration Day" and "Alabama Pines" make reference to life in Alabama, "Palmetto Rose" is about Charleston, South Carolina, and "Cover Me Up" and "White Man's World" are "set" in or near Nashville.
** "Dress Blues" is more vague, but the line about "sweet tea in Styrofoam cups" still places it firmly in the South. It was written specifically in memory of Matthew Conley, from the same Alabama county as Jason.
* DrowningMySorrows: He doesn't do this anymore, but the people in his songs sure do.
* FeudingFamilies: Isbell wrote the title track for the Drive-By Truckers' album ''Decoration Day'', which tells an ostensibly-true story about two Alabama families with a very ugly history.
-->''I never knew how it all got started''\\
''A problem with Hollin before we were born''\\
''And I don't know the name of the boy we tied down''\\
''And beat till he just couldn't walk anymore''\\
''But I know the caliber in Daddy's chest''\\
''I know what Hollin Hill drives''\\
''The state let him go but I guess it was best''\\
'''Cause nobody needs all us Lawsons alive''
* HomesicknessHymn: "Alabama Pines."
* InherentInTheSystem: "White Man's World."
* ManlyTears: Referenced occasionally.
-->''Made it out to the truck without breaking down''\\
''Everybody knows you in a [[TitleDrop speed trap town]]''
* MeaningfulFuneral: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TDp-hgVUIg "Dress Blues."]] If a war has ever taken someone you cared about, [[TearJerker brace yourself.]]
* OvershadowedByControversy: If you're not an alt-country fan, you may still have heard of him, via the [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/30-50-feral-hogs "30 to 50 feral hogs"]] meme. (To save you a click: he wasn't the one making that argument.)
* ParentsAsPeople: Isbell seems to like this trope. The narrator's dying father in "Speed Trap Town," for example, and the separated couple in "Dreamsicle."
* [[RomanceOnTheSet Romance on Stage]]: First with Shonna Tucker (bassist for the Drive-By Truckers), later with Amanda Shires.
* SinsOfOurFathers: Hinted at in "Palmetto Rose," and addressed openly in "White Man's World"--both times in a broad historical sense. Surprisingly averted in "Decoration Day."
* UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror: The soldier being honored in "Dress Blues" was a casualty of it.
* WorkingClassHero: Frequently. Two good examples are the truck driver and palm-leaf artists in "Palmetto Rose," and the narrator of "Something More Than Free."
* YourCheatingHeart: He is a country songwriter, after all. "Speed Trap Town" is partly about the narrator coming to terms with his father's infidelity.
