from In My Own Time (1971)

Selection made by David Tibet [Current 93]:

It is difficult to say what my favourite sad song is: there are so many I love. But at the moment it is “Katie Cruel” by Karen Dalton, which appears on her second (and unfortunately final) album, “In My Own Time”. Her voice is cracked by heartbreak, and the story is told so briefly and hauntingly. Spare and sparse and cut to the bone, with a banjo heartbeat and violins crying like the ghosts of eagles. Sadness was never so cruel as in this perfect slice of sadness.

When I first came to town
They called me the roving jewel
Now they’ve changed their tune
Call me Katie Cruel

Through the woods I am going
Through the boggy mire
Straight way down the road
Till I come to my heart’s desire

If I was where I would be
Then I’d be where I am not
Here I am where I must be
Where I would be I cannot

When I first came to town
They brought me drinks a-plenty
Now they’ve changed their tune
Hand me the bottles empty

If I was where I would be,
Then I’d be where I am not
Here I am where I must be
Where I would be I cannot

Posted at 7:22pm.