[LEOs biweekly Sonic Breakdown column deconstructs a single song from a Louisville musician or band.]
For those unfamiliar with Jordan Humbert and his band The Winger Brothers brand of good-time, country-fied music, We Never Sang At All can be quite deceptive. More known for their covers of 90s country hits and jocular originals of a similar vein, We Never Sang At All is a sparse dose of somber reflection, a subtle musical vehicle for contemplative lyrics and a lonesome croon. Its our only song thats not about trucks or drinking, Humbert said. Theres nothing tongue-in-cheek in the song. Most of our songs, theres no metaphor. Every other Winger Brothers song is like Im driving down the road in my pickup truck, my baby called me up, she wants to go on a ride.
The songs indie Hank Williams Jr. meets Alan Jacksons Midnight In Montgomery vibe does saddle up nicely within their set. Though it might come as a bit of a shock in the context of the rest of their music: When we play it live people, all of a sudden, are like this doesnt sound like a joke.
Humbert was persistent that I was looking too hard at the song, parsing it for a deeper meaning that isnt there. The reason I wrote the song is because I needed to write a song to go to Nashville and do a recording, he said. But I disagreed. The song resonates too deeply, beats with too much heart. Eventually he begrudgingly gave a meaning for the song. I think its about being in a relationship, he said. That if its not working now, its never going to work. This plain sentiment is hauntingly underscored by the songs refrain: It cant be forever / If its not right now.
According to Humbert, We Never Sang At All is one of unique happenstance: My buddy Chad won this contest to go to Third Man Records [Nashville] on Record Store Day. He got to go record this song because Jack White just purchased the original lathe that they cut Elvis first record with, so Chad asked me if I wanted to go record. So I needed to write a song pretty quickly, knowing that we were gonna record it around one microphone. Having a short time frame to write something has long been a goldmine for many talented musicians.
I think I was trying to make it sound like one of those cool, folky, lo-fi songs; kind of like Bill Callahan or Simon Joyner or something, Humbert said.
This article appears in December 13, 2017.