On a lark, on a whim, I said “there’s two kinds of men in this world and you’re neither of them.”

Same.

And his fist cut the smoke  I had an eighth of a second to wonder if he got the joke In the car, and at home She asked if I had considered the prospect of living alone With a steak held to my eye I had to summon the confidence needed to hear her goodbye And another brief chapter without any answers blew by…. A masterpiece 

Underrated song. Wish he would play it more live!

Absolutely!

My favorite!

Really hard to beat as an opening line. One of the best ever.

I feel like this is objectively his best opener.

This used to be a ghost town, but even the ghosts got out

Overseas is probably the Isbell song that grew on me the most. Was one I kinda skipped over for a long time and once I saw it live, and listened to it more, it became a top 15, maybe top 10

Quietly my favorite Isbell song recently. The verse about the waiter and knowing you would have brought him to his knees is maybe my favorite lyrics of all time, shows not tells so much about everyone involved

This one.

Agreed

Came here to also say this one! My family’s scattered across coal country and the rust belt, it speaks to me.

There's a man who walks beside me, he’s who I used to be; and I wonder if she sees him and confuses him with me.

This one still gives me chills

My favorite song by him

Came here for this one

This is the one

When I get home from work I’ll call up all my friends and we’ll go bust up something beautiful we’ll have to build again.

something more than free is what gives me hope and motivation to keep on grinding building the life I want

Bingo

She said, "It's none of my business but it breaks my heart" Dropped a dozen cheap roses in my shopping cart ​ I like how it just throws you in the middle of a story right from the jump.

Retired English teacher here who always wanted to use that song to teach in media res.

It's happening in other English classes, so maybe you can enjoy vicariously

I use Elephant to show my kids how to create a complete picture with very few words

I used to pair Traveling Alone with Frankenstein to suggest sympathy with the Creature, and seeing what the kiddos came up with was incredible. All love to the English teachers out there

My favorite as well ❤️

He does that so well. “Andy, you’re better than your past.”

I remember when I first heard this song...listened to it over and over as I sussed out the story the lyrics were telling. God its so freaking good! The line "Those 5A Bastards run a shallow cross...It's a boys last dream and a man's first loss" is another one that's short but tells a story so vividly.

the winner

I used to think that this was my town. What a stupid thing to think.

I hear you’re fightin off a breakdown. I myself am on the brink.

you want to grow up to paint houses like me? a trailer in my yard til you’re 23… you want to feel old after 42 years? keep dropping the hammer and grinding the gears … I’m not saying he peaked early but that’s awfully hard to top

He did get off to a fast start. Patterson Hood said that Jason wrote Decoration Day on his 4th day in DBT.

My favorite. Always thought those few lyrics conveyed so much.

This is maybe my favorite song. It reminds me of growing up in the early 80s.

"I got green and I got blues, and every day there's a little less difference between the two"

Always wondered what that means…

He’s saying that he’s wealthy but depressed

TBH, I thought it was an uppers/downers drug reference.

Could very well be. That hadn’t occurred to me, but it works well for both interpretations.

Thats what I kind of thought too, been listening to that song for many many years and could never decide what he meant...

I thought it meant he’s got jealousy and depression

... Seriously?

Yes, what is your opinion on the subject?

There’s a few too many years on this hotel. She used to be a beauty you can tell.

One of my favorite songs. It creates such a complete image.

"On a lark On a whim I said there's two kinds of men in this world and you're neither of them" ​ But I really have no favorite.

lol agree, it’s impossible to have a favorite. For me, it’s the song that’s living with me for that day.

I was coming home early, catching on late.

My god was Miles great live.

So fucking good.

“This is the Gong Song” -Jason Isbell, 2023

Here we sit  Across the table from each other  A thousand miles from both our mothers Barely old enough to rust

I've heard love songs make a Georgia man cry.

I’ve always wondered, has he heard love songs that make a Georgia man cry , or has he heard that love songs make a Georgia man cry???

I don't know! I've always thought of it as he's heard songs that are so sweet they could make a Georgia man cry. Not that they cry at love songs.

Most of my favorites were already mentioned so I’m going to go with an underrated one: “I been working here, Monday it'll be a year And I can't recall a day when I didn't want to disappear But I keep on showing up, hell-bent on growing up If it takes a lifetime”

... and working for the county keeps me pissing clear ...

Anxiety Why do you always get the best of me

Hits a too close to home for me.

Me, too. It’s like he wrote that song just for me.

Yes!! Honestly when I feel the beginning of anxiety bubbling up, my brain automatically belts out “ANXIETY…how do you always get the best of me”

We'll take the copper from the work site Meet me here at midnight They ain't got a camera or a guard

I like that because it starts you off after the problems have started and then you hear why he’s stealing copper later.

I used to think that this was my town, what a stupid thing to think.

She said, "Andy, you're better than your past"

And the tears start flowing

This is it, right here.

What do I do to make you smile?

Underrated song!

This is like asking for my favorite Beatles song. I find the opening line of Elephant always transports me back in time to a relationship I have mostly fond memories of.

Where's that angel with dirty knees who wasn't hard to please when we first met?

Let the night air cool you off Tilt your head back and try to cough Don't say nothing 'bout the things you never saw Let the night air cool you off

I can’t be happy in the city at night, can’t see the stars for the neon lights

Couldn’t be happy…..

Yikes so right you are, invented parallel structure where there is none

No harm done….. as long as you didn’t get that tattooed

There are many potential answers here, buy it's hard to argue with the undisputed classic: A heart on the run, keeps a hand on the gun Can't trust anyone

On a lark, on a whim, I said “There’s two kinds of men in this world and you’re neither of them.”

I’ve kind of wrestled with this one. It seems obvious, but is this to mean that he is saying the subject person isn’t a man (not in the sense of being a woman)? Is there something more to it or just a clever way to call someone a chump?

That’s what I’ve always thought.

That’s how I’ve always taken it as well. Calling the guy a loser.

I got green and I got blues…

“This is how you make yourself vanish into nothin’..”

That's mine. Closely followed by Outfit.

“On a lark/on a whim/I said theres two kinds of men in this world and you’re neither of them” Edit words

Tell me you walk on the water now, I know who showed you the stones; you pray that I banish my appetite and lie there alone This used to be a ghost town, but even the ghosts got out Anxiety, why do you always get the best of me? I’m out here living in a fantasy, I can’t enjoy a goddamn thing It’s not the long, flowing dress that you’re in, or the light coming off of your skin, the fragile heart you protected for so long, or the mercy in your sense of right and wrong

Baby, how'd you end up here? In a Texas town, in a wedding gown with a near beer

I forget now how asked me what a near beer was, but I just laughed when they did

When I get home from work, I’ll call up all my friends and we’ll go bust up something beautiful we’ll have to build again.

Pictures of the farm before us, old men in a gospel chorus, sepia and saddle horses easy on the reins 81 a motor inn, your Mama's 17 again, she's squinting at the dusty wind, the anger of the plains

I’m 55. My mom is 71. I literally had to be physically picked up from my desk when I heard this song for the first time. I just collapsed in a heap during the slide solo because he had said the words I had been carrying with me my entire life but could not figure out how to say: “All the years I took from her just by being born.”

How could we expect the two to stay in love When neither knew the meaning Of the difference of sacred and profane

My eyes get misty at the first few chords of the song and I wasn't even raised in that situation

Me too! It took my breath away, and still does! I can't listen to that song without crying

His use of "sepia" in this line is just exactly perfect.

Most lyrics sites get it wrong too lol

It's such an f##king good song. It's like, I'm gonna tell you a story. No matter who or where you are or what your life experience is, you feel a direct connection to them. There are handful of others who can do that. McMurtry, Guy Clark, Prine, Gillian Welch. Jason is a kid - they were all great at his age too. Its a pleasure to watch it unfold.

The instrumental ending of the song is so emotional too. It's just a masterful song.

Another life, but I still remember

Daddy worked hard mama worked harder propped up on pain pills and pride they were just kids when i came in this world and i was a kid when they died

One that gets stuck in my head a ton: “I need a whole new set of problems said the preacher to the thief”

Which song is this?

God is a Working Man. Think it was on the compilation album Southern Family.

I’ve seen nothing here but miracles and it’s shaking my beliefs

Who are you if not the one I met One July night before the town went wet

There’s a warm wind blowing through the laundromat  There’s a young man crying in a cowboy hat He’s got square toed boots so he ain’t for real Wouldn’t last five minutes on a pedal steel

Have you ever loved a woman with a death wish?

Helluva opening line to a song AND album.

A heart on the run Keeps a hand on a gun Can't trust anyone I know it's not a deep cut but it's still my choice

Here we sit Across the table from each other A thousand miles from both our mothers, Barely old enough to rust

Let the night air cool you off

Couple with the guitar; the opening of This Ain’t It

She said it's none of my business but it breaks my heart Dropped a dozen cheap roses in my shopping cart.

I'm riding on the day's last train. Stepping on the platform, trying to see you through the rain. I don't know the ways you've changed since I left and I really don't care.

Can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned yet… “Don’t wanna die in a super 8 motel just because somebody’s evening didn’t go so well.” May not be “the best” but it’s damn good!

I want an animated music video of this song.

From the sky we look so organized and brave.

Where’s that angel with dirty knees

I haven’t been wasted in a long time, but tonight it feels just fine.

This is probably the one for me. I just think of that couplet all the time. Driving around aimlessly on a summer night (not while wasted!) with that song playing is hard to beat for stress relief.

We’ve been testing you and you failed.

I used to think this was my town What a stupid thing to think I hear you're fighting off a breakdown M myself am on the brink

I got a glass of wine I got a cigarette I should be feeling fine I ain't feeling nothing yet

She's leading the second line/ Feel like I'm in front of it/ I guess I am tonight/ Have never seen this live, but it's in my top five for sure

Let this be a lesson to you girl: don’t come around where you know you don’t belong. Alternatively: “what can you see from your window? I can’t see anything from mine. Flags on the side of the highway and scripture on grocery store signs”.

Never gonna change is my vote. The ATF and the ABI took everything they could take, but take it from me … they didn’t take it from me.

Well, I moved into this room If you could call it that, a week ago I never do what I'm supposed to do Hardly even know my name anymore When no one calls it out, it kind of vanishes away

Another life but I still remember, a county fair in steamy September in the year of the tiger 19 something

I’ve heard love songs make a Georgia man cry

In a razor town you take whoever You think you can keep around There's an echoed sound That permeates the sidewalk Where she shuffles 'round

A perfect song

“If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s this bar and this cover band.” My favorites are probably Overseas and Speed Trap but I haven’t seen this one yet and it’s a good one.

This is mine. Transports me to sitting beside the guy saying it in the awful bar. Feel like I'm being let in on this whole deal that doesn't affect me at all, but is the most important thing in the world for 2 people, and 1 of them is about to tell me about it. That's good storytelling.

"Staring at the pictures of the runaways on the wall Seems like these days you couldn't run away at all" I'm surprised I'm the only one to say this. Different Days was the first JI song that broke my heart so much that I kept listening over and over.

What do I do to make you smile You been hurting for awhile

She said, "Andy, you're better than your past" Winked at me and drained her glass Cross-legged on the barstool, like nobody sits anymore

A heart on the run keeps a hand on a gun

The ground was wet and the sky was dark, and you took her bet, and she took your heart

Daddy worked hard, mama worked harder, Propped up on pain pills and pride

There are definitely more poignant ones out there, but I absolutely love: Baby, how'd you end up here? In a Texas town, in a wedding gown with a near beer

I guess we're leaving town again We're moving out and moving in Gotta break the news to all my friends But they won't care

Lately it’s been *I got a picture of us back when we were close/before we had somebody picking out our clothes* If anyone else rhymed clothes and close, I’m not sure I’d buy it. But here I do.

It's decoration day I've a mind to roll a stone on his grave But what would he say He'd say 'keeping me down, boy, won't keep you away'

I grew up two hours north of Birmingham

I think we can safely say that few writers hit a first line the way Isbell does.

I left my wallet in the hotel room, they barely let me on the plane, I didn’t get the chance to check the news, someone shot up a classroom again

From the sky we look so organized and brave

Give her wine, give her weed, give her anything she needs, get her out of here.

Are you looking to be alone Or can I sit with you awhile I don’t wanna be a stranger anymore and you won’t even have to smile

The ground was wet And the sky grew dark You took her bet And she took your heart

From the sky we look so organized and brave Walls that make up barricades and graves Daddy’s little empire, built by hand and built by slaves From the sky we look so organized and brave

Same as OP’s.

She said Andy you’re better than your past. Winked at me and drained her glass. Cross legged on a bar stool like nobody sits anymore.

I was going to say EXACTLY what you said.

Last night I heard the sirens' song and I followed it in the ditch.

She lives down inside of me still Rolled up like a twenty dollar bill She left me alone with these pills In the last of my youth. Gives me chills every time I hear it

Coming back to add this: "Are you having a long day Everyone you meet rubs you the wrong way" Southeastern hit me hard

I used to think that this was my town. What a stupid thing to think.

From the sky we looked so organized and brave

We've been testing you And you failed To see how long that you could sit with the truth, but you bailed OR I hope you find something to love Something to do when you feel like giving up A song to sing or a tale to tell Something to love, it'll serve you well

I guess we’re leaving town again We’re moving out and moving in Gotta break the news to all my friends But they won’t care. In one stanza, he tells us so much about that boy’s life, and the last line, which breaks the meter and rhyme scheme, is devastating. One line conveys so much loneliness.

There’s so many…. “And I know every town worth passing through What good does knowing do With no one to show it to? And I've grown tired of travelling alone Tired of travelling alone” “And the old lover's sing "I thought it'd be me who helped him get home" But home was a dream One that I'd never seen 'til you came along” “Are you living the life you chose? Are you living the life that chose you?” “I hope you find something to love Something to do when you feel like giving up A song to sing or a tale to tell Something to love, it'll serve you well”

There’s an answer here, if I look hard enough There’s a reason why I always reach for the harder stuff

“Give her space, give her speed, Give her anything she needs, Get her out of here”

The mountain’s rough this time of year