“Send It On Down”
Lee Ann Womack
Written by Chris Knight and David Leone
The centerpiece of the excellent The Way I’m Livin’, Lee Ann Womack’s “Send It On Down” is an understated but brilliantly drawn character sketch that is a testament both to Chris Knight’s masterful songwriting and to Womack’s interpretive skill. It’s perhaps the finest single of Womack’s career.
The song’s hook may be a simple plea for divine intervention, but things aren’t so straightforward for Womack’s narrator. She needs help to break away from the town where she feels trapped, but, from the opening lines (“Dad used to own the hardware store/But now it and him ain’t around no more/Don’t know the whole story, but I’ve overheard some/I know he’s who I got my drinkin’ from”), it’s clear that she has a whole lot of history that she knows she probably can’t outrun.
The empathy in Womack’s delivery gives the song a faint glimmer of hope: There’s no judgment in her tone as she sings of drinking alone in the bleachers at the football field on a Sunday morning. But there’s a powerful and deliberate ambiguity when she sings of longing to be “gone when Fall rolls around” and, moreover, when she implores, “If you’ve got something, won’t you send it on down/While I’m still able to be found.” She hasn’t committed fully to the idea of drinking herself to death, but she sure sounds like she’s leaning in that direction.
Grade: A
Great song from a great album from an artist that I’ve always wanted to like, but haven’t really connected with until this album.
Love this song, the entire album is very good with a number of great songwriters, but this is one of the best “pure” Country songs to come out in 2014. Obviously it won’t have much impact at Country radio, but more attention being brought to a brilliant writer like Chris Knight is a damn good thing.
Yes! I’m so happy that LAW’s new single is being highlighted here. This song took my breath away the first time I heard it last fall, and I’m still stunned every time I listen to it. The production is gorgeous, the storytelling vivid, and the singer’s interpretative delivery is spot-on. Simply put, this is the loveliest song I’ve heard it quite some time. Bravo!
Very good song, one of the highlights of her most recent album
Just found the album on vinyl at a record store in Long Island. Beautiful song and it sounds great no matter what format you play it on!