My Top 20 Robbie Fulks Songs: The Buck Starts Here (#5)

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Finally in the daily list of countdowns in music is my look at my 20 favorite songs by alt-country singer/songwriter/guitarist Robbie Fulks. Basically unknown by the masses, the people who do know his music adore it. Here's a good reason why I do. #5: The Buck Starts Here Earlier I pointed out how Fulks can turn a phrase with a title (such as song #17, "All You Can Cheat"). Here he takes the old Harry Truman quote, "the buck stops here," and turns it into a fabulous song about heartbreak, misery, lost love, and finding solace in an old country song. Following a break-up with his love the narrator goes to the bedroom "and pulled out that 45 that lay for years behind our chest of drawers." No, it's not a gun. It's a copy of "Crying Time" by Buck Owens. "He's singing my sorrow," the narrator proclaims, adding, "let the sad songs roll on through a house filled with tears." He then references another Buck Owens song, right down to the grammatical goof: "where the good times has gone, the Buck starts here." (The song referenced there is "Where Does the Good Times Go.") Absolutely masterful, the additional joy of this heartbreak song is Fulks really shows off what an excellent singer he is in this song. Live he will hold the last note for anywhere from ten to thirty seconds. It's definitely crying time again. The Buck Starts Here Written by Robbie Fulks From Country Love Songs, 1996 A recent live version, recorded for a radio program: