If country music is all about storytelling, nobody does it better than Jason Isbell. He's one of our best working artists today, unafraid to bear himself on record, the good and the ugly. It's this fearlessness that paints Isbell's meticulousness with his details. Tragedies aren't always soared as wails of grief, they're normalities of sad everyday living. Still, he avoids the navel gazey and self righteousness by painting these stories with true empathy and understanding. Artists could truly afford to learn from Jason as they navigate country music.
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Naturally, it only makes sense to try and conjure up a list that properly spells out what makes Isbell such a magical artist. Just a spoiler alert, there's a lot of somber tearjerkers on here. That's not to say there's not an abundance of great barn burners in his catalog. "Hope The High Road" in particular was a serious contender to sneak in at the end of this list. But as someone who is frequently enamored by his writing, the magic is in his quieter efforts. Jason Isbell always thrives in cutting through the noise and simmering in the tension and heartache.
The Four Best Jason Isbell Songs to Date
"Only Children"
Reunions is such a ghostly album from Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit. When battling my own tormenting grief, his ability to paint with overcast grays proved to be deeply comforting. "Only Children" is the crown jewel on the record, where the innocence of youth withers away as he unfurls a past friendship. When he mentions the hydrocodone in their backpack, you can sense how sad and inevitable it all feels. "Maybe these words will hold the beast back," Jason mutters.
The nostalgia of sorts only bears to make the loss go down that much easier. Nothing can truly take that pain back. But there is profound strength in continuing in their place. True friends wouldn't want you to wait in place because they're gone. Still, there's that nagging feeling that you're left behind for a better utopia. "'Heaven's wasted on the dead' is what your mother said," Jason recalls in the song's bridge. It's profound as ever, a tortured wail for help, hoping there's something after all of this where we could all reunite.
"Elephant"
At his best, Jason Isbell tackles titanic-sized topics with tact and grace. "Elephant" sees him tell the tale of a friend with cancer. It's devastating and it takes over entire livelihoods. But life doesn't stop, even upon diagnosis. You simply try to carry on and fight through it. Hopefully, you can overcome it. That's why Isbell and everyone in that person's life "tries to ignore the elephant somehow" when they're with her. It cannot dominate their life, they want to be seen as normal despite such a crippling illness.
Jason takes the song in progressively darker places, knowing the cancer is getting worse. She feels increasingly isolated, despite being around people she loves. The woman had already made up her mind about what was coming. But it didn't stop the weight from being overbearing. By the end of the record, Isbell is left contemplating what it means to die. Ultimately, he comes to the starkest conclusion. "There's one thing that's real clear to me: no one dies with dignity. We just try to ignore the elephant somehow."
"Anxiety"
This is the closest song that comes to a barn burner but it's not without reason. The 400 Unit tactfully knows how to swell and rush the structure of the song to depict how overwhelming anxiety can be. Jason Isbell depicts his struggles with anxiety as an abusive relationship. It keeps him awake worrying about death. It rushes at him when he's around too many people, even those he loves. As good as his life might be, anxiety endlessly tortures Isbell, prohibiting him to see the light and beauty around him. The scorch of the guitars match the frantic, wide-open eyes of someone who just needs life to slow down. Jason can occasionally risk being too direct in his music for my tastes. However, here, he tastefully understands the weight of anxiety for everyone to relate.
"If We Were Vampires"
Somehow, one of Jason Isbell's sweetest songs is also the one that leaves me the most broken. "If We Were Vampires" focuses on what it means to love someone and the immortality of these mythical creatures. The act of marriage always says ''Til death do us part' in the ceremonies. What if we had forever to love one another? It's a fantasy of sorts and Jason only indulges but so much. By the chorus and the end of his second verse, he sings with his now ex-wife Amanda Shires about how they might get 40 years together. But unfortunately, one person will be left mourning as a widow.
Ultimately, the comfort Isbell finds is that our mortality allows us to not take love for granted. "Maybe time running out is a gift. I'll work hard 'til the end of my shift and give you every second I can find. And hope it isn't me who's left behind," Jason sings. To this day, I feel conflicted by the song's starkness. On one end, I want to indulge in the fantasy he crafts for only a few moments lyrically. On the other end, I hear his argument. If we lived forever, we would certainly take advantage of this gift called life. It's the temporary that causes are love to burn like a fire. It makes the terrifying concept of death just a little easier to swallow. That's what makes Jason Isbell so great. His songwriting forces you to look in the mirror a little bit and find acceptance, if not answers.
