Member-only story
Apr 27, 2021
Songs for Insomniacs 30: The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, “Death Came Creeping in My Room”
Most people think of bluegrass and White gospel music as the sunny side of Country Western. But as this track shows, gospel and bluegrass can be bitterly pessimistic. From what I can tell, the song was originally a traditional blues tune, but the darkness seems to come primarily from fiddler Curly Ray Cline’s reworking of the lyrics, portraying the protagonist as ready for Death because he’s already lost everyone he loves. His only recourse is to surrender, and there’s no note of hope for redemption in an afterlife.
