Song Lyric Sunday: Pick Up Your Crazy Heart

Today’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, as set out by Jim in his post Movies Need Music, is to play a song which was written for a movie, another great suggestion from Nancy. I’m playing you two from a movie I bought on DVD when it came out, and loved it. The movie is Crazy Heart, which starred Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Colin Farrell, and Robert Duvall, among others. It won an Oscar for Jeff as Best Actor, Maggie was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, though she didn’t win, and the theme song  – The Weary Kind – won the Oscar for Best Original Song. This is it, sung by Ryan Bingham, one of its co-writers, who also had a small role in the movie:

The lyrics are a great fit for the storyline:

Your heart’s on the loose
You rolled them sevens with nothing to lose
And this ain’t no place for the weary kind

 

You called all your shots
Shooting eight-ball at the corner truck stop
Somehow this don’t feel like home anymore

 

And this ain’t no place for the weary kind
This ain’t no place to lose your mind
This ain’t no place to fall behind
Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try

 

Your body aches
Playing your guitar, sweating out the hate
The days and the nights all feel the same

 

Whiskey has been a thorn in your side
It doesn’t forget
The highway that calls for your heart inside

 

And this ain’t no place for the weary kind
This ain’t no place to lose your mind
This ain’t no place to fall behind
Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try

 

Your lover’s warm kiss
It’s too damn far from your fingertips
You are the man that ruined her world

 

Your heart’s on the loose
You rolled them sevens with nothing to lose
This ain’t no place for the weary kind

 

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Ryan Bingham / T Bone Burnett

The Weary Kind lyrics © Henry Burnett Music, Lost Bound Publishing, Bmg Bumblebee

 

The movie was based on a novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb. Its story was inspired by country singer Hank Thompson and follows an alcoholic country singer and songwriter (Jeff) who tries to turn his life around after beginning a relationship with a young journalist (Maggie). Although Ryan Bingham sang the theme tune Jeff, Colin and Robert also sang in the film. Crazy Heart opened in the US on December 16, 2009, and from its $7m budget, it amassed domestic earnings of $39.5m plus $7.9m internationally, for a worldwide total of $47.4m. If you’re interested and haven’t seen it, Wikipedia gives a plot synopsis, but I won’t share it as it is full of spoilers. If you really must see it, you can find it here. As I said, I loved the movie, which is beautifully acted by all concerned, and the music is great too.

 

Ryan Bingham is a US singer-songwriter who to date has released six studio albums and one live one. The Weary Kind was a bonus track on some issues of his third album, Junky Star, which came out in August 2010 and reached #19 on the US Albums chart, and #2 on their Country Albums listing. He was new to me when I saw the film, but I like his voice and he writes a good tune. Just for the record (ahem), as well as the Oscar The Weary Kind won him and T Bone Burnett gongs from the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, The Golden Globes, The Grammys, the Satellite Awards and the World Soundtrack Awards. Not a bad return!

 

I promised you a second song. Fallin’ & Flyin’ was written by Stephen Bruton and Gary Nicholson, and this is how it appeared in the movie:

 

 

That song comes at an important time in the plot, and it is such a joyous event after what has passed before. And a guy from Dublin does a very good job of sounding just like a real American country star!

 

That’s all for today, and I hope you enjoyed them. Happy Chocolate Day 😊