The start of the 21st century brought audiences a movie with one of the most thought-out and poignant soundtracks of all time.
Released in 2000O BrotherWhere Art Thou? features a slew of early American musicfrom traditional Christian hymns to African-American spirituals and blues music. As the Depression-era story of Ulysses Everett McGill plays out in the movietake a listen to the O BrotherWhere Art Thou? soundtrack below.
Po Lazarus – James Carter
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }In the 1950s and 1960smusical archivist Alan Lomax headed up a series of projects archiving various blues and folk artists’ music. Thanks to his workyou can now listen to many early African-American artists on the Library of Congress’ site who might have otherwise drifted off into obscurity. One of these recordings is James Carter’s chain-gang-inspired song ‘Po Lazarus.’ It was used in a scene featuring a hard labor prison group working on a road.
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The Big Rock Candy Mountain – Harry McClintock
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }This was supposedly the first song Harry McClintock ever wrote. Though it is speculated he originally penned it in 1895it didn’t become a well-known tune until the 1930s. The song’s overall story focuses on a bum who’s accidentally “discovered paradise on earth.” The original version features some pretty suggestive lyricsespecially for the early 1900s. Fellow folksy artists like Lisa Loebe have covered a radio station version with more radio-friendly lyrics.
Related: list of mountain songs.
You Are My Sunshine – Norman Blake
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }This classic tune technically wasn’t yet written when the movie is set to take place! The movie centers around America’s Great Depression (which took place in the 1930s)however ‘You Are My Sunshine’ was first recorded in 1940. It is featured in a poignant scene of the movie when a group of people sing it together while trying to forget all their troubles that have come along due to the depression.
Related: best sunshine songs.
Down to the River to Pray – Alison Krauss
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }Alison Krauss lends her softangelic vocals to the historical Christian spiritual hymn ‘Down to the River to Pray’ for a baptism scene in the movie. The oldest version of this acapella song was recorded in 1867 and is attributed as an “African American spiritual.” Over the decadesthe song has taken on many versionswith countless artists like blues/folk legend Lead Belly covering the song.
Related: best Alison Krauss songslist of river songs.
I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow – Soggy Bottom Boys and Dan Tyminski
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }The Soggy Bottom Boys are a fictional band made up just for the movie. Nashville singers like Dan Tyminski provided the singing voices for the actors such as George Clooney. Though the movie’s version of ‘I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow’ is the most popularit was originally written in the early 1900s by Richard Burnetta blind folk singer.
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Hard Time Killing Floor Blues – Chris Thomas King
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }There is nothing quite like listening to the original version of ‘Hard Time Killing Floor Blues’ by blues artist Skip James. His haunting voice and rolling guitar picking is an experience like no other for fans of early delta blues. Chris Thomas King covers this gritty song for the film. Speculation of the song’s meaning points to African-Americans who left the south to find a better life in Chicago during the depressiononly to find tougher conditions.
Related: songs about a fresh start.
Keep on the Sunny Side – The Whites
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }This soundtrack is full of early American musicincluding the 1899 tune‘Keep on the Sunny Side.’ Ada Blenkhorn originally wrote it as a Christian hymn for her nephew. He used a wheelchair and always wanted to be pushed on “the sunny side of the street.” Artists throughout the years have transformed the song through their covers. The Whites’ version was featured in the movie in 2000.
I’ll Fly Away – Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }‘I’ll Fly Away’ was written in 1929the same year the stock market crashed in Americaand the Great Depression began. Despite bleak economic circumstances during the time it was writtenthe Christian hymn is full of optimism. Allison Krauss and Gillian Welch paired up for this song for the movie.
Related: gospel songs.
Didn’t Leave Nobody but the Baby – Alison KraussEmmylou Harrisand Gillian Welch
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }This song has been around for so long no one knows its exact attribution. Those who have worked on tracking its origin have found its beginnings in African American and Irish cultures. Sung as a lullabyits languid melody pairs with a dark tale from a father’s perspective whose wife has run off. Left with no other optionshe sings the song to calm his baby as he prepares to poison it.
Related: songs about babies.
In the Highways – The Peasall Sisters
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }The Peasall Sisters recorded Maybelle Carter’s tune ‘In the Highways’ specifically for this soundtrack. At the time of the movie’s release in 2000the young group of three siblings was busy touring and releasing music. Though they are no longer togethera big part of their legacy lives on in the movie. Maybelle Carter was part of the famous Carter Family bandincluding June Carterbefore she met Johnny Cash.
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I Am Weary (Let Me Rest) – The Cox Family
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }Americana musician Pete Roberts originally wrote ‘I Am Weary (Let Me Rest)’ in the early 1930s. He was an instrumental figure in the early days of the Bluegrass movement. He often played with the group The Country Gentlemen. The Cox Family recorded their own version of this classic song for the O BrotherWhere Art Thou? film.
O Death – Ralph Stanley
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }Ralph Stanley’s version of this vintage Appalachian- traditional won him a Grammy. Originallysoundtrack producer T-Bone Burnett wanted a simple banjo instrumental song for the film. But Stanley convinced him otherwise when he recorded an acapella version in the studio. The song is often associated with Baptist preacher Lloyd Chandler from the early 1920s.
Related: songs about someone dying.
In the Jailhouse Now – Soggy Bottom Boys ft. Tim Blake Nelson
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }The Soggy Bottom Boys is a fictional band the Cohen Brothers made up specifically for the film. Tim Blake Nelson is an actor who played one of the charactersDelmar O’ Donnellin the movie. For ‘In the Jailhouse Now,’ he sits in with The Soggy Bottom Boys. Country artist Jimmie Rodgers originally recorded the song in 1928.
Indian War Whoop – John Hartford
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }This late 1920s song is featured as a fiddle-focused instrumental with occasional harmonies. Before John Hartford recorded his own version for the 2000 movieFloyd Ming and his bandthe Pep Steppersreleased the original version in 1928.
Lonesome Valley – The Fairfield Four
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }The Fairfield Four is a popular gospel group that stepped into the studio in 2000 to provide vocals and harmonies for the 20th-century Christian song ‘Lonesome Valley’ that’s featured in this Coen brothers flick. With traditionalist rootsthe song is considered to be sacred and is still used to this day in churches for ceremonial purposes. The Fairfield Four provides a deeply spiritualhaunting version of the Depression-era film.
Angel Band – The Stanley Brothers and The Clinch Mountain Boys
<> .yt_play_icon { padding-bottom: 56%; margin-bottom: 15px; position: relative; } .yt_play_icon iframe { padding-bottom: 5px; position: absolute; }‘Angel Band’ dates all the way back to 1860. Its lyrics are written in a poem by Jefferson Hascall. The first composer officially associated with the song is William Bradbury. The gospel hymn has taken on many forms over the years as quite a few artists have covered the timeless tune. The Stanley Brothers provided the most well-known version so far in the movie.
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