Duane Allman

Album: Goodnight Tender (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about Duane Allman, the founder and guitarist of The Allman Brothers Band who died in 1971 when his motorcycle hit a truck. Amy Ray grew up in Georgia where the band was founded, and she became a huge Allman Brothers fan. She had been listening to them for years before learning that Duane was dead. That sense of loss inspired this song, which was included on her fifth solo album Goodnight Tender.
  • In our interview with Amy Ray, the Indigo Girl said this song is "a metaphor for all the things that you feel like you lost or you'll never be the same without."

    When she was working on the song, she had conversations with a friend who had problems with addiction. This made Amy realize that a sense of loss can take many forms, and the pain felt from finding out someone is dead can be quite similar to the pain of drug or alcohol withdrawal.
  • The blues singer Susan Tedeschi contributed vocals to this track.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Charlie Daniels

Charlie DanielsSongwriter Interviews

Charlie discusses the songs that made him a Southern Rock icon, and settles the Devil vs. Johnny argument once and for all.

Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum

Dave Pirner of Soul AsylumSongwriter Interviews

Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Kevin Godley

Kevin GodleySongwriter Interviews

Kevin Godley talks about directing classic videos for The Police, U2 and Duran Duran, and discusses song and videos he made with 10cc and Godley & Creme.