ShadowThe 5 O’clock Shadow: Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Today’s shadow demonstrates that a great song can work in vastly different arrangements.

It was first released as a single the month after the songwriter committed suicide at age 23 on the eve of his band’s first U.S. tour. The lyrics reflect the songwriter’s marriage problems and his battles with epilepsy.

The shadow version appears on the second collaboration CD of a folksinger, even though she mostly sings songs by contemporary songwriters these days, and a folk-rock band, probably tagged with that label due to the presence of accordion, fiddle, and cello in the lineup, although they can rock when they want to.