Patty Griffin’s Back at the Start: 61 and Still Putting out Folk with an Edge

Patty Griffin has always gone against folk’s grain…from putting out a demo as her debut record, to performing at the first Lilith Fair festival, to performing with Mavis Staples. Griffin has always kept true to herself with her folk music. Her deeply personal songs of pain, love and feminism had a unique mix of rock and blues with traditional folk structures. This fusion of different genres, along with her unparalleled song writing, made Griffin a folk icon who was celebrated both commercially and critically. I am a HUGE Patty fan and was sure to see her on one of her rare tours in Australia. She continues to put out music, so let’s see what Back at the Start is all about.

Musically, this track is similar to her work on American Kid in how she dives deep into folk’s roots. The track itself has this bluesy, southern swamp crunch that feels like you are at the birth of music. Complete with handclaps and steel guitar, you have a jam feel that is both very organic and deeply emotive. There is some electric guitar and bass fill, but the real stars are the acoustic guitar, steel and snare. This is the music you listen to when you’re on the run from the law.

Lyrically, Patty seems to be commenting on mortality and watching the world around you spinning out of control. She sings about how you can miss opportunities and at times you feel like you have been knocked down into submission. She sings about how she has missed out on life day after day until she can’t get up anymore. However, Griffen comes back to feeling life with your heart and making the best of it. The hook itself is about how it isn’t the end, but going back to the start. This cyclical view of life and death has a hopeful side to it as she sees the end of life as an opportunity to start again, as opposed to a final number.

Griffin follows a line of artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Joni Mitchell and Paul McCartney who have explored themes of mortality and what to do with your life as they recorded later in their lives. These are new themes for Patty, as she usually focuses on community, love and grief. This track is more optimistic about what later life holds. It also sees Patty still putting out meaningful folk that is both emotive and thoughtful.

Listen to Back at the Start