What I want to know

is why Steve James’ song “Talco Girl” hits me with such a gut-punch whenever I hear it.  It doesn’t matter whether I’m listening to his version or Ana Egge’s cover; the simplicity and pathos of the song brings me to tears.  Musically it’s a slow guitar rag styled after Mississippi John Hurt, a simple four-bar I-IV-V-I progression; the lyrics provide a series of vignettes of a small-town girl, long since left home, going back to bury her father, sung to an undemanding vocal line poised against a fragile, incredibly beautiful melody running through the instrumental breaks.