Ain’t This a Countdown: I Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This

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Some bad news for Linda: the next five days are country. For everyone else, these are five extremely different country songs. And, given that this month’s theme is “ain’t,” you probably knew that there’s be some southerners on the list. So let’s get going in the country segment with a rocking country song. I Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This - Rodney Crowell This is a song that a lot of people might know, thanks to Waylon Jennings’ version. I much prefer songwriter/singer extraordinaire Rodney Crowell’s original, given that it was the version I first heard. No offense, Waylon. As Rodney was a member of Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band, her rocking influence spread to Crowell’s music. Not a bad thing. When this guy does country, he stands with the best of ‘em. And when he rocks (see “Let Freedom Ring” on Street Language or his cover of John Hiatt’s “She Loves the Jerk” on the same album) he puts a strong oomph into the song. So here he puts that oomph in the tale of a guy who lives on the edge (“I look for trouble and I found, it son, straight down the barrel of a lawman’s gun”), and the results are fabulous. Since Emmylou, Waylon, and more recently Chris Stapleton have covered this, it’s a well-known Crowell song. And I always go back to his version. I Ain’t Livin’ Long Like This Written by Rodney Crowell Recorded by Rodney Crowell From Ain’t Living Long Like This, 1978 Y’all know the story about the jailhouse rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUYMcSxggpk