My Top 20 Robbie Fulks Songs: Barely Human (#14)

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Wow, what a stormy evening! Everything's pretty good here, nothing like those poor people in West Virginia are enduring, just heavy rain and lightning. Now that everything's working again here's the next song in my list of favorite Robbie Fulks songs. #14: Barely Human Holy cow. Yeah, drinking is an integral part of country music. There's happy drinking songs, sad drinking songs, and preachy drinking songs. But you've never heard alcoholism addressed with the intensity of this song. Here Fulks sings of a man who's a real Jekyll and Hyde person, thanks to booze. Completely oblivious to the pain he is inflicting on his wife while drunk ("What kind of creature has hurt my wife so? Who kicked down the front door? I must have been gone"), he's also enslaved to being a drunk ("she's fed up, she's leaving, and this time for real, but the thirst in my body is all I can feel"). On top of that, the way he delivers this song just ratchets up the power. He goes from a quiet voice to nearly crying "I'm barely human as I fall to my grave" at the conclusion of the song. This shows what a good vocalist Robbie is, because his voice is exceptional in this song. This pained cry of an alcoholic is incredibly intense, and it's one of my favorites. Barely Human Written by Robbie Fulks From Country Love Songs, 1996 From Robbie's 20-year-old appearance on Austin City Limits: