The Dirty South

Do you ever put on an album sort of randomly and without thinking and it ends up being more perfectly suited to your mood and your life on the whole for those 45 minutes than anything you could have possibly actively sought out? It is a phenomenon, and it happened to me yesterday morning. I got home around 7:30 from work, kissed my husband goodbye, and as he walked out the door, the rain came POURING down. In sheets. Cats and dogs. All that. It was brilliant. I opened all the windows, soothed my scared doggies, and put on the Drive-by Truckers "The Dirty South." It is an album for the South, by the South, and to the South. It is about the mythology of the South and the sober realities of everyday life down here. It is beautiful, and it's the first time I've actually listened to the album while physically in the South. I was hopeful for another stormy morning today so I could relive that experience, but it's probably better as a one-time deal.