Rolling Stone - Jan02 : Rocking My Life Away: Townes Van Zandt
I interviewed Nelson recently, and he described "Marie" as perhaps the saddest song he'd ever heard ah I've heard rpj say that, maybe saying that Willie Nelson said it It's about a homeless couple facing the onset of cold weather and the prospect of no work and no money. The woman is pregnant. Few songwriters have the stomach to take on such grim themes, and many of those who do blink at the last minute and run for the cover of sentimentality or social commentary. Here, on the other hand, is Van Zandt's ending: "Marie, she didn't wake up this morning/She didn't even try/She just rolled over, and went to heaven/My little boy safe inside/I laid them in the sun where somebody could find them/And caught a Chesapeake on the fly/Marie will know that I'm heading south/So to meet me bye and bye."

His songs are as unsettling as they come. They say, if you're serious about American music, eventually you're going to have to enter this darkness.