Lucinda Williams and Her Wild “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”

Whatever country music was before, it was something knowingly different afterward. Often, over time, replication boosts opinions about the importance of these works instead of wearing them away. This continues until the making of the albums and the legacy they leave to take on an almost a legendary status. “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” by Lucinda Williams is one of these works. Though its influence is sorted within the Americana sphere instead of country music proper, its subject perhaps created Americana as a hearty and inspired outlet to neutralize country music’s commercial focus.

“Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”, The Making

“Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” is yes, a road song. And, they say, a road song, is a country song. In its echoes, the rowdy elements of alternative country centered around a shared purpose. One thing is sure, the song as released on June 30th, 1998 was badass, and so was Lucinda Williams for making it. Apparently, the making of the record was downright twisting for all involved. Lucinda Williams started making the album in Austin, Texas with renowned musician and producer, Gurf Morlix in 1995. When the record was almost complete, Lucinda chiefly scrapped everything she had and started over, and worked with Steve Earle. Another producer, Roy Bittan, was the one who saw most of the final recordings until the end.

Lucinda’s nature and persistence on getting everything flawlessly is the reason this album took the better part of three years to conclude. Adding the fact that it sounds like it was recorded in a week. The song itself, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”, gives a chaotic, tacky, moveable touch, and Lucinda’s open words and real character. It narrates that the song feels like the definitive understanding of the wild mind of the broken-hearted.

Song Story, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”

In the song “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”, Lucinda is a woman whom you imagine losing her car keys every day for forty years straight until someone decides she probably should not be driving anyway. Lucinda Williams is the true lyricist epitome contained in a wild, rock and roll world. The grimness of it all makes the rod the bones. Eventually, you will love Lucinda’s unbalanced and expressive delivery. It is exactly what made her so appealing.