Almanac Music: Angels, Devils and Flawed Humanity – Part 3: Ten Songs About Flawed Humanity
The Expulsion of Adam and Eve (after Adriaen van der Werff) , oil on canvas, National Trust (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). [Wikimedia Commons.]
Almanac Music: Angels, Devils and Flawed Humanity – Part 3: Ten Songs About Flawed Humanity
In my previous Almanac articles in this trilogy of pieces, the focus was upon songs about angels, then devils. Now, it’s the turn of flawed humanity. There is a kind of heaven, hell and earth structure in terms of the overall trilogy. The following songs, then, are those in some way addressing our status as imperfect humans. Almanac readers are encouraged to add to the list below.
‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’, written by Hank Williams, performed by Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys (1953)
This classic country song, one of the last recorded by Williams, was inspired by the infidelity of his first wife, who he’d described as a ‘cheatin’ heart’. Basically, the sentiment of the song is that one can never escape the consequences of this kind of behaviour. The first verse is indicative:
‘Your cheatin’ heart will make you weep
You’ll cry and cry and try to sleep
But sleep won’t come the whole night through
Your cheatin’ heart will tell on you …’
Interestingly, the idea of the centrality of the heart in this song – with regard to guilt – reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ (1843). In this story, a murderer’s guilt causes him to imagine his victim’s heart still beating under the floorboards where the dead man has been buried, and this causes the killer to confess the crime.
‘It Ain’t Me Babe’, written and performed by Bob Dylan (1964)
This country-folk song is very much about human imperfection, the singer declaring to his partner that he will never be her ideal person, being the possessor of various flaws; in consequence, he tells her to leave. Here is another classic song, which, like ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ has been recorded by many. Johnny Cash and June Carter do a particularly good, more up-tempo version of ‘It Ain’t me Babe’ on Cash’s 1965 album, Orange Blossom Special.
‘Jackson’, written by Billy Edd Wheeler and Jerry Leiber, performed by Johnny Cash and June Carter (1967)
Another often-recorded classic in the country genre, ‘Jackson’, about the desire to behave badly (if not actually doing so), made its biggest splash in the sixties with versions by Johnny Cash and June Carter (1967), and a less comic, more edgy one by Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood (1967).
‘My Way’, written by Jacques Revaux, Gilles Thibaut, Claude François and Paul Anka, performed by Frank Sinatra (1969)
Fundamentally, this Sinatra classic is Paul Anka’s lyrics put to a French song ‘Comme d’habitude’. ‘My Way’ is very much a song of experience, of surviving the trials life puts one through, of behaving with determination if not always perfection. In Sinatra’s powerful rendition, the song builds to a fabulous climax: ‘The record shows I tool the blows / And did it my way …’
‘My Mistake’, written by Tim Finn and Eddie Rayner, performed by Split Enz (1977)
Basically ‘My Mistake’ is a song in which the singer sees if he ‘could fall in love again’. As its name suggests, it is about human folly; with regard to love, for example, it can’t be forced – it will happen in its own time. This prog rock song was the first single from New Zealand band Split Enz’s third studio album, Dizrythmia. Its musical features are a heavily rhythmic piano by Eddie Rayner, as well as a witty, succinct trumpet solo by Robert Gillies about half-way through.
‘Ebony and Ivory’, written by Paul McCartney and performed by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney (1982)
This multiple Grammy-winning international hit is about such issues as racial harmony and, in spite of being flawed humans, getting along with others:
‘We all know that people are the same wherever you go
There is good and bad in ev’ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together alive …’
‘Brilliant Disguise’, written and performed by Bruce Springsteen (1987)
This is a finely crafted rock song about, among other things, deception, where in the final verse the relative positions of the two main characters are a direct inversion of the first verse. The song first appeared on Springsteen’s 1987 album Tunnel of Love. Musically, it does not feature the big sound of the E Street Band, but is more restrained and pared down in feel.
‘Hand in My Pocket’, written by Alanis Morissette and Glen Ballard, performed by Alanis Morissette (1995)
This song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette, from her third album Jagged Little Pill (1995), basically conveys the message that the world and the people in it are full of strangeness, contradiction and are certainly not perfect – but ultimately all is well. It does this through a string of often unusual dichotomies. For example, it commences:
[Verse 1]
‘I’m broke, but I’m happy
I’m poor, but I’m kind
I’m short, but I’m healthy, yeah
I’m high, but I’m grounded
I’m sane, but I’m overwhelmed
I’m lost, but I’m hopeful, baby
[Chorus 1]
And what it all comes down to
Is that everything’s gonna be fine, fine, fine
‘Cause I’ve got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is givin’ a high five …’
‘Imperfect is the New Perfect’, written and performed by Caitlin Crosby (2009)
The title of this pop-rock song by Caitlin Crosby indicates the message that being ‘real’ is much better than trying hard to be perfect. Reality, then, is prioritised over the perceived ‘ideal’. One of the song’s central issues is female body image. ‘Be yourself’ is another way to put what the song is getting at. ‘Imperfect is the New Perfect’ comes from Crosby’s 2009 album, Flawz.
‘Depreston’, written and performed by Courtney Barnett (2015)
In broad terms, the song depicts – among other things – imperfect humanity, and the sheer ennui as well as the depressing nature of life in the soulless outer suburbs of a large city. A kind of gloom pervades ‘Depreston’: the occasional indicators in the lyrics of ‘the human’ (e.g. the man being arrested, the handrail in the shower, the young man in a photo in a van in Vietnam) do not cause this mood to lift. The drifty guitar-based music of the song (which possesses a tinge of psychedelia), as well as Barnett’s low-key vocal delivery, are also a significant part of the depressing, almost aimless feel. ‘Depreston’ is from Barnett’s debut studio album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (2015).
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Over to you now, Almanac readers. Please put your ‘songs about flawed humanity’ in the comments section, plus any other thoughts you wish to share on the topic.
[Note: Wikipedia has been a good general reference for this piece, particularly in relation to checking dates and other details.]
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About
Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
Cracking list KD! I’ve been listening to a lot of Hank Williams of late and ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ has to go down as one of the all time great songs.
Can I suggest a couple of songs I think fit your theme – both are ‘put down’ songs.
‘Positively 4th Street’ by Bob, and ‘The Road Goes On And On’ by Robert Earl Keen.
Thanks Col.
I totally agree with with you about ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’.
Love your other choices, too – the ‘flawed humanity’ theme possesses a broad umbrella, so to speak.
I’m struggling to, ahem, nail the brief, but here goes anyway KD
Riot Act – Elvis Costello
Brilliant Mistake – The Costello Show
Kris Kristofferson – Sunday Morning Comin’ Down
Graham Parker – You Can’t Be Too Strong
Many thanks for these songs, Swish – interesting, quality material.
On the money, as always.
If I had to single out one of your songs for particular comment, Swish, I’d select Kristofferson’s evocative and poetic ‘Sunday Morning Comin’ Down’ – jeez, so many of us have been there before – and sometimes not even on a Sunday!
Excellent KD, flawed humanity, the wheelhouse of most genres of popular music and here are a few suggestions:
West Nashville Grand Ballroom Gown, Jimmy Buffett
Somewhere North of Nashville, Bruce
Lonesome Whistle, Hank
South Nashville Blues, Steve Earle
Harlem River Blues, Justin Townes Earle
Dublin Blues, Guy Clark
Drunken Angel, Lucinda
God in Chicago, Craig Finn
Black and Blue, Louis Armstrong
Trust Jesus, Slobberbone
Thanks Rick. Fabulous stuff!
There’s so much great music in the world isn’t there?
Just to select one from your current ‘flawed humanity’ song list, I’ll pluck out ‘Black and Blue’ as performed and recorded by the great Louis. It was an unusually serious song for him to choose, though the background of this Waller-Brooks-Razaf song as part of a musical revue, originally called Hot Chocolates, is somewhat complicated. Armstrong, as you may know, first recorded it in 1929.
Thanks again Kevin
Tom Ames’ Prayer: Steve Earle (one of three contemporary songs that mention the Texas town Nacogdoches!)
The Ballad of Hollis Brown: Bob Dylan
Desolation Row: Bob Dylan (flawed humanity abounds)
Pondering whether or not Little Town Flirt; Del Shannon is the pop equivalent of Your Cheatin’ Heart
Black and Blue sends shivers down my spine.
Here’s some more:
The Grand Tour, Good Year for the Roses and The King is Gone from George Jones
Excitable Boy, Carmelita and Mr Bad Example, from Warren Zevon
Mug’s Game, Free Kicks and Lonely Barroom Crawler, from Dave Warner.
Many thanks, Peter C, for your contributions. I love the Steve Earle and Dylan stuff (I feel tempted to say ‘of course’ here). And yes, I think you’re on the money when you write that ‘Little Town Flirt’ is the pop equivalent of ‘Your Cheatin’ Heart’ – that’s a very apt, perceptive way to put the matter.
Thanks again, Rick. Some fine listening, yet again, and certainly on the money in a thematic sense.
I’ll single out the Zevon-composed ‘Carmelita’ this time for special mention – I think it’s one of the best songs of the entire pop/rock era (nineteen-fifties onwards). I love Linda Ronstadt’s version of the song as much as Zevon’s, too.
The opening two lines of ‘Carmelita’ get me every single time: ‘I hear mariachi static on my radio / And the tubes they glow in the dark …’ Somehow, these lines always sound inspired, unexpected and richly poetic.
Lover boy (Supertramp)
It’s my life (The Animals)
Heartbreaker (Electric Light Orchestra Part II)
Twist of the knife (Electric Light Orchestra Part II)
Goin’ out on me (Jeff Lynne’s ELO)
You’ve been telling lies (Kelly Groucutt)
Live your life be free (Belinda Carlisle)
Sad boy (McGuinn Clark and Hillman)
Fugitive kind (Mondo Rock)
The girl you think you see (Carly Simon)
One song that arguably fits all three categories (angels, devils, and flawed humanity) is Nobody’s Perfect (by Mike and the Mechanics).
Fantastic lists here Kev. Can add only little.
Dumb things- PK
Why’d ya do it – Marianne Faithfull
There is a Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
One Way Street – Mark Lanegan
The Changeling – Chris Wilson
Song from Under the Floorboards – Magazine
“I am angry, I am ill, and I’m as ugly as sin.” A wonderful opening line to a song :)
Hi Liam. Thanks for your contributions – excellent additions, ones which show well the range of material that can fit under the ‘flawed humanity’ umbrella.
You’re so right about the Mike and the Mechanics song fitting all three categories, too. A fair number of songs would be like this.
Thanks IW. Yep, the overall list for this ‘flawed humanity’ category is shaping up extremely well. As usual, I reckon your additions are fine ones – an eclectic bunch of good songs.
I agree with you about the opening line of ‘A Song From Under the Floorboards’, too – its original, unexpected quality is an important part of what makes it so good. In that way, the reason for its quality is comparable to ‘Carmelita’.
Another gem: Pancho and Lefty, and I’ll go with Merle and Willie’s version.
Kevin,
an anabranch here. But Carmelita’s lyrics are so wonderfully melancholy.
“I’m sit-in here playin solitaire withy pearl-handled deck” Pistol in hand contemplating suicide.
But worse, “Well, I pawned my Smith Corona, and I went to meet my man”.
His dream of being a writer has just been cashed in. The typewriter I always imagine was given to him by his hard-scrabble folks for one teenage birthday or another to spur on their gifted boy has just been pawned. It’s the end. The kid who was going to be Scott Fitzgerald is now not. Cracks me up.
There’s a Jesse Winchester lyric I love that expresses life’s paradox – “Do It”
“If the wheel is fixed
I would still take a chance
If we’re treading on thin ice
Then we might as well dance
So I play the fool
But I can’t sit still
Help me get this rock
To the top of this hill”
Thanks, Rick. Great song and beautifully tender version by Willie and Merle.
HI Anson. Thank you for your interpretation of ‘Carmelita’ – a song of great poetic beauty, to be sure.
Wrongly, some versions of ‘Carmelita’ change the line about pawning the Smith Corona to ‘I pawned my Smith and Wesson’ – Ronstadt’s does, for example. I think the reason was that more punters would then get the reference.
Thanks PB. I like the Winchester quote. It’s good little addition to the discussion thread.
Kevin and Rick. I’ll vote for the Townes Van Zandt version of Pancho and Lefty, with or without the mariachi trumpets. A song about flawed humans written by the original flawed human but wonderful wordsmith. And Townes always keeps us guessing.
Thanks for mentioning the Townes Van Zandt version of the song, Peter. It’s a beauty – and he wrote it, after all.
I’ll offer just about every song on Lou Reed’s 1989 ‘New York’ album.
Here’s a verse that, I think, captures flawed human very vividly….and for ‘Americans’ you can probably insert most non-indigenous nationalities:
Americans don’t care too much for beauty
They’ll shit in a river, dump battery acid in a stream
They’ll watch dead rats wash up on the beach
And complain if they can’t swim
Hi Karl. Your contribution was a stimulating one – the verse from ‘Last Great American Whale’ is certainly powerful and apt.
Your mention of Lou Reed’s New York album reminded of another song on it, ‘Dirty Blvd.’ which I like it a lot.
*last line, immediately above, should read, of course: ‘like a lot’.*
I have been away from the almanac for a while so I have only got onto your threads Kevin today. However I can’t help noticing that one of the greatest examples of the genre is missing. Bob’s classic Memphis Blues Again.
As you and Rick have already noted Warren Zevon was mostly about flawed humanity but I would like to single out Desperados Under the Eaves and Accidently Like a Martyr.
Leonard Cohen’s Dress Rehearsal Rag is also a great song about flawed (and suicidal) humanity.
Thanks, David, for your thoughtful input here. (‘Dress Rehearsal Rag’ – what a great title!)
This ‘flawed humanity’ piece has certainly provoked some particularly interesting song choices and comments.