Songs That John Hurst Sings in the Shower: Jason Isbell “Southeastern”

Jason Isbell is not a name many people know. However, he is one of the greatest singers and songwriters of all time. He tells just raw, powerful stories like on “Elephant,” a song written about his close friendship with a girl who is dying of cancer. It’s honestly one of the saddest songs I’ve ever heard. “Elephant” is the best song on the album and also one of my favorite songs ever. The song is just talking about how they try to ignore the “Elephant” somehow. The Elephant of course refers to the saying “the Elephant in the room,” and the elephant in this case is that she is dying. 

Another song that has the same tone and feel is “Yvette.” The song “Yvette” is a very deep song about a girl who lives next to him and is in his class. She is abused by her father. During the song he subtly talks about how he is planning on killing him. This is my second favorite song on the album. My third favorite song on the album, and one many people know, is “Cover Me Up.” This is a very well known song, but it’s well known for being sung by someone else. The song was covered by Morgan Wallen, and it was actually his breakout song. The song was written about his wife and how inseparable they are from each other. I truly believe that Jason’s original version is better, even if it is the lesser known version. My fourth favorite song on the album is “Live Oak.” In this song he talks about how there is a man beside him who is who he used to be. He wrote “Live Oak” about his fear of being sober and how it will change him. My fifth favorite song is “Songs That She Sang in The Shower.” This was one of the first songs I ever heard of the album, and it’s still one of my favorites. The song is based around him and his girlfriend breaking up and him still being able to hear the songs she sang in the shower. “Traveling Alone” is again a great song, but the first five I listed are better. The song is about him being tired of traveling alone. He talks about how all the things he knows and does don’t matter when he has no one to show it to. In my opinion the rest of the songs on the album are all about the same, apart from one “Stockholm,” “New South Wales,” “Relatively Easy,” and “Stockholm” are the rest of the songs on the album that I enjoy listening to and have on my playlist. They are all very good songs, but I just haven’t listened to them as much as the others. 

There is one more song on the album: “Super 8.” The song is very disappointing. It’s just not a rather good song, and it really doesn’t fit on this album. It’s just not the same vibe as every other song; they are all slow, kind of quiet, and sad. While there is a great story in the song—and the lyrics do fit on the album—the tempo and feeling of the song don’t fit. I think this album is a good 9/10, but it would be a 9.5 without “Super 8”. There are several 10/10 songs on the album with the rest being about 8-9/10. This is one of the best albums ever in my opinion. The writing on this album is beautiful. Jason Isbell is criminally underrated; he is one of the best writers ever, and this is his best album.