I despise you 'cos you're filthy,
But I love you 'cos you're home.
The history of modern music is peppered with one-hit-wonders. The Nashville Teens with "Tobacco Road" are no exception to this ever-growing list which includes 4 Non Blondes and their tumultuous "What's Up?", Toni Basil of "Mickey" fame, Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back", and many, many others. Written by John D. Loudermilk back in 1960, Tobacco Road has been used, quite literally, as hundreds of remixes and re-releases, from the Teens to David Lee Roth to Bruce Springsteen to Jefferson Airplane, and released in many languages, including Spanish ("La Calle Del Tabaco"), Finnish ("Mies Yksin On"), Hungarian ("Dohány út"), and Czech ("Můj Rodnej Dům"), just to name a few.
The lyrics are one part biographical, and four parts fantastical. The first recording of this smash hit was done by Loudermilk himself, one of the reasons it is known as his signature song, released in 1960 on his self-named 45 LP, which arguably remains the finest recording of the song, as it was precisely how Loudermilk wanted it to sound. Strong and sober, it was originally a folk tune, a soulful treat to the ear. He later re-recorded it in 1962 in a more country way, more lilting and friendly. The Teens version, which was the first time the song reached hit status, was released in 1964, mixed into the pop standard of the time. In the past several years, it has enjoyed remixes that place it squarely in the blues category of music, first done by Lou Rawls in 1963.
Tobacco Road is, in fact, a real place. At the time, it was a sinful place to go, populated by roughnecks and tobacco farmers. Everyone with a sense of self-preservation avoided the place entirely, and even the police wouldn't go there at night, no matter the call. Tobacco Road is so-named because the hogsheads of tobacco were rolled down it on their way to the warehouse where they were further processed. The stench was often overpowering. Loudermilk was not born on Tobacco Road, did not work there, and, like any intelligent person in Durham, avoided it like the plague. On some occasions, however, working as a teenage courier, he would come to it on delivery. He delivered money orders to Tobacco Road, every Saturday night, and was witness to the reason the reputation was well-earned.
Some of the song is of biographical reference. For example, Loudermilk was "born in a dump," grew up in that "rusted shack," a dilapidated home, nestled between two ancient trees, sporting a white porch, a chimney, and four windows. He nearly did only own "what was hanging on [his] back." That is, unfortunately, the end of the truths exposed by his writing. The rest of the song acts as a setting for his childhood: scenery he saw, but never experienced.
This song resonates with the pangs of a childhood burdened by a home that is impossible to love, and even more impossible to forget. The sweet and bitter melancholy displayed in the 1990's Grunge rock finds roots in this song of misshapen memories. A home loathed, but loved because it's all that is known. My personal favorite recording is, in fact, the Nashville Teens recording, a song that is so haunting that all I have to do is read the lyrics, and the song floats through my mind. The sharp and eerie dissonance provided by the two Brits, Arthur Sharp and Ray Phillips are absolutely perfect for this piece. In the midst of bemoaning a life spent in poverty, a triumphant chord of hope is revealed:
Save some money, get rich I know
Bring it back to Tobacco Road
References...
http://members.chello.nl/~k.vanderhoeven/JDL2.html
http://www.nashvillesongwritersfoundation.com/fame/loudrmlk.html
http://www.geocities.com/odetobobbiegentry/lyric/ltobacco.htm -- The complete lyrics.