Wakin' Up

Album: Good Souls Better Angels (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Before Lucinda Williams married her manager Tom Overby in 2009, she was involved in an abusive relationship. This song shines a light on the domestic violence the singer suffered from her boyfriend.

    Pulled the kitchen chair out from under me
    He pulled my hair and then he kicks me
    Next thing I swear, he wants to kiss on me


    "I'd been in emotionally abusive relationships before," Williams told The Independent. "But that one became physical. I never thought I would find myself there. It crept up on me and it surprised me."
  • Drunk on whiskey, Willams' lover would fly into violent rages that he forgot the next day. Then he started sneaking down to the basement, mixing heroin with cocaine.

    Doin' speedballs on the basement
    'Til all my mind, I can erase it
    That demon I hears, he had to chase it
    I says he's clean, he's tryna brace it


    Williams half raps and half snarls her lyrics about the physical and psychological abuse she suffered at the hands of her drug-addicted boyfriend. "It just got worse and worse until one night, he actually said: 'You need to get out.' He snapped-to long enough to realize what he was doing," Williams recalled to The Guardian. "So I totally understand the whole battered-woman syndrome; it's not black and white."
  • Even after she'd written the song, Williams wasn't sure she should record it. "You hear all the people ask, why do you stay with the guy? You think that only happens to lower-class people, but there's no stereotype for that sort of thing," she told Uncut magazine. "I wrote that song because I had to get it out of my system, and Tom and the guys in the band were very supportive."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Andrew Farriss of INXS

Andrew Farriss of INXSSongwriter Interviews

Andrew Farriss on writing with Michael Hutchence, the stories behind "Mystify" and other INXS hits, and his country-flavored debut solo album.

Jethro Tull

Jethro TullFact or Fiction

Stage urinals, flute devices, and the real Aqualung in this Fact or Fiction.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: Tarantino EditionMusic Quiz

Whether he's splitting ears or burning Nazis, Quentin Tarantino uses memorable music in his films. See if you can match the song to the scene.

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)

Mike Rutherford (Genesis, Mike + The Mechanics)Songwriter Interviews

Mike Rutherford talks about the "Silent Running" storyline and "Land Of Confusion" in the age of Trump.

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.

Soul Train Stories with Stephen McMillian

Soul Train Stories with Stephen McMillianSong Writing

A Soul Train dancer takes us through a day on the show, and explains what you had to do to get camera time.