Track 8: Six Feet Down

Posted by Benson

Today were going to take a closer look at Track 8 on the Tuba Skinny CD: Six Feet Down.


Thus far we've examined the history of of some of the classic Jazz and Blues songs that Tuba Skinny performs, and take a look into the lives of the legendary artists who performed and recorded them almost a century ago.  There are plenty more fantastic classic New Orleans Jazz and Blues songs on the CD to talk about, but Six Feet Down is unique among them.

As you may have already gleaned from the back of the CD sleeve, Six Feet Down is an original song by Erica Lewis, lead vocalist for Tuba Skinny.  It is Erica's amazing voice that helps to keep the wonderful sounds of traditional New Orleans music pulsing with vitality.  When she sings, she seems to channel the spirit of the great blues singers like Billie Holiday, Sister Rosetta Tharp, and Rosetta Howard.  At the same time her performances are captivating because of her astounding presence, the passion that courses through her voice, and the unique personality that enlivens songs we've loved for years.

It is interesting to see Erica perform, because she always seems to be surprised by the reaction she gets from appreciative fans.  We are addicted to the power and passion of her voice and intrigued by the discontinuity between the way she pours her soul into her music and her modesty about her role in reinvigorating century old music for a new generation of captivated listeners.  And yet Erica contributes far more than her voice to this unique musical tradition.  In Six Feet Down Erica does not merely reinterpret and reinvigorate classic songs from a bygone era of American musical history, although this is itself no mean feat.  With her own music, Erica carries this tradition forward, encouraging it to flourish by recreating it.

Six Feet Down is a plucky song.  It strikes me as a song about how one should strive to enjoy life for its own sake rather than dwell in the inevitable troubles that abound in our day to day lives.  "We ain't got time for sitting around," Erica says, because one day soon you will be sittin' six feet down.  And no matter what is happening in your life, that the world will keep going, that the "sun still shines as we pass by," is as inexorable as your own mortality.  You can spend that time regretting your troubles or worrying about the world falling down, but what a waste that would be.  Leave your troubles behind you, she reminds us, and remember that the world will keep on spinning no matter what you do, and laugh until you're six feet down. 


Six Feet Down

If you ask me one thing I’ll tell you darlin’

We ain’t got time for sitting around

You be waiting on your lover ,

but he’s gone and found another

and it’s time to get on up and leave this town

You ask me how can I be laughing

When this world is falling down

I’ll be laughing till I’m dead my little darlin’

I’ll be laughing till I’m six feet down

When the sun still shines as we pass by

I’ll be laughing till I’m dead my little darlin’

I’ll be laughing till I’m six feet down