This City

Album: I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive (2011)
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Songfacts®:

  • Fans of the alternative country artist Steve Earle were treated to a preview of I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, when this song got played on HBO's New Orleans based show Treme several months before the album's release. Earle, who plays a recurring street musician, composed the song especially for the drama series.
  • Earle recorded the song with producer T-Bone Burnett in New Orleans. The horns were arranged and conducted by the influential New Orleans R&B musician Allen Toussaint.
  • The song features backing vocals by the actor Tim Robbins. Surprised to find the Shawshank Redemption actor popping up on a Steve Earle album? Robbins does have a musical pedigree - his father Gil was a member of the folk music group The Highwaymen and Robbins himself has recorded his own material.
  • "This City" was nominated for a 2010 Emmy in the Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics category and a 2010 Grammy in the Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media category.

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