Songfacts®:

• Abandon Jalopy is the solo project of Brad Smith, who is also the bass player for Blind Melon. The first Abandon Jalopy album was Mercy, which was released in 2001 and dealt with coming to terms with the 1995 death of Blind Melon lead singer Shannon Hoon. Death & Joy was the next Abandon Jalopy release. "The songs became more concise," Smith says. "They became more about family and love, and the end of our times - where does that leave us and how does that stimulate us as a population, as humans? How do we deal with that?"
  
  Performing on the album are Rogers Stevens and Christopher Thorn of Blind Melon, and also Shannon's Hoon's daughter Nico, who contributes backing vocals. (Here's our full interview with Brad Smith.)
• This song is about Brad Smith's life in Mississippi, where he was raised by a single mother. "Life is a place between death and joy," he sings, recalling a difficult, but rewarding childhood.