Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #21 - "Pulaski," Drive-By Truckers

I used to see the Drive-By Truckers pop up on a regular basis in the Pazz & Jop poll, but it wasn't until 2010 - thanks to Jean, a colleague and friend - that I bought my first DBT album.  Almost a decade later, they're way up there in my list of pantheon artists, and two of their albums in the 2010s were among the decade's very best.

One of the great delights in following the band over the past decade has been the blossoming of Mike Cooley as a full-fledged equal to Patterson Hood.  Cooley's always been in the band, and has always written great songs, but up through 2014's "English Oceans," the ratio of Hood to Cooley songs was probably in the 3-1 range.  But on their last two albums, which one could easily argue are their very best, it's been much closer to 50-50.

This is a story song, and the story it tells is a tragedy.  It's worth your while to give the lyrics a good listen.



And here, a live performance of the song:



Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #21 - "Pulaski," Drive-By Truckers