Music / Southern Nights

Have you ever felt a southern night?

Last train a running between the waters
With the power line
Last train's a running around the hill
Last train a leaving on the water
Power down
Last chance to get your last breath

- "Last Train"

Southern Nights is the fourth studio album by New Orleans singer-songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint.

Released in 1975, it became a notable record within traditional R&B music. With its trippy, laid back production and general concept surrounding life in Louisiana, it is considered a seminal record for both psychedelic soul and New Orleans R&B.

Tracklist

Side One

1. "Last Train" (3:01)
2. "Worldwide" (2:42)
3. "Back in Baby's Arms (4:49)
4. "Country John" (4:45)
5. "Basic Lady" (2:58)

Side Two

1. "Southern Nights" (3:36)
2. "You Will Not Lose" (3:42)
3. "What Do You Want The Girl To Do?" (3:40)
4. "When The Party's Over" (2:38)
5. "Cruel Way To Go Down" (3:52)

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What do you want the girl to trope?

• Alliterative Title: "Back in Baby's Arms"
• Big Rock Ending: The album ends with a jazzy variation of this on "Cruel Way To Go Down".
• Call-Back: The ending to "Cruel Way To Go Down" is essentially an instrumental version of "Worldwide".
• Concept Album: The album has a general theme of nostalgia and Toussaint's own lyrical portrayals of life in Louisiana linked together by instrumentals based around different tracks on the record which give it a feeling interconnectedness.
• Covered Up: "Southern Nights" is the most noted example, with it ending up a hit for Glen Campbell, whereas though his version is relatively unknown. However, most probably don't know that "Basic Lady" by Rita Coolidge or "What Do You Want The Girl To Do by Boz Scaggs (or Bonnie Raitt) were originally Toussaint compositions.
• Fake-Out Fade-Out: "Cruel Way To Go Down" seems to end with a bluesy fade out, only to return for a outro based around an instrumental version of "Worldwide".
• Funk: This record would have a sizable amount of influence from the genre. Particularly on "Last Train", "Worldwide" and "Basic Lady".
• Ode to Family / Location Song: "Southern Nights" was written by Toussaint to be a tribute to his relatives and the time they spent telling stories on their porch in the Louisiana backwoods.
• Psychedelia: It has been noted that the album has a sort of hazy and dreamlike sort of production to it, with the title track in particular having a rotary speaker effect placed on his voice with an instrumental backing that feels like an aural equivalent of swimming through swamp water.
• R&B: The album is generally considered to be a classic of the New Orleans variant of traditional R&B music.
• Record Producer: Toussaint shares production duties with Marshall Sehorn.
• Runaway Train: "Last Train".
• Self-Backing Vocalist: On various tracks because of his use of multi-tracking.
• Signature Song: "Southern Nights" became this for him.
• Title Track: "Southern Nights", obviously.

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