3 Solo Songs for People Who Say They Don’t Like Dave Matthews

There is something about Dave Matthews and his music that rubs certain people the wrong way. For some music fans, his songs are too happy or positive. Or they don’t deal with enough depressive or emotional subject matter. As if every song has to deal with the depths of the human soul to be valid.

But Matthews’ music, whether with his Virginia-born group the Dave Matthews Band or when playing solo, boasts a great deal of value. He’s accessible, fun and bright. His songs can be vivid or intimate (especially when played acoustic). If he’s backed by a band, they can be extended and stretch out into long jams. He’s versatile and fun.

So for those music listeners who quibble about his songs, we wanted to compile a list here below of three solo songs from Matthews that both stand the test of time and can sway even the most dubious of music consumer. Indeed, these are three solo songs for people who say they don’t like Dave Matthews.

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“Some Devil” from Some Devil (2003)

A song that deviates from Dave Matthews’ normal penchant for positivity, this melancholy, even mournful, title track from his sole solo studio album, which was released in the fall of 2003. It showcases Matthews playing electric guitar, which is also a general rarity for the South American-born artist who is known for his acoustic guitar playing. The song’s lyrics are about sadness or a sense that the devil’s got a hold of you. There are a lot of drinking metaphors and a sense that the singer’s heart has been broken, a lover has recently left him. A spare song, Matthews soars on it, singing,

One last kiss, one only, then I let you go
Hard for you, I’ve fallen, but you can’t break my fall
I’m broken, don’t break me, when I hit the ground
Some devil, some angel has got me to the bones

You said, always and forever
Now I believe you, baby
You said, always and forever is such a long and lonely time

“Gravedigger” from Some Devil (2003)

This track affirmed Matthews’ choice to go solo for an album in the early 2000s as “Gravedigger” earned the songwriter and performer a Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 2004. The dreary song is about, well, death. On it, Matthews tells quick stories about several people who have passed, from adults to children, their stories and how they left the Earth. It’s as if he’s walking through a graveyard. For those who say the artist doesn’t traverse sad ground, this is exhibit A (and “Some Devil” is exhibit B) that he surely does. On the popular, yet rainy track, Matthews sings,

Cyrus Jones 1810 to 1913
Made his great grandchildren believe
You could live to a hundred and three
A hundred and three is forever when you’re just a little kid
So Cyrus Jones lived forever

Gravedigger
When you dig my grave
Could you make it shallow
So that I can feel the rain
Gravedigger

“Stay or Leave” from Some Devil (2003)

A return to the bright, heartfelt, and loving songs that made Matthews famous, this song also comes from his 2003 solo album and it has since become a fan favorite thanks to the intricate acoustic guitar line and strumming pattern Matthews performs on the track. He sings about swimming in a river with a lover, making plans together for the future and more. The chorus highlights the feeling of not wanting the other to go, but the reality that they always might (and in fact often do). Such is the world. Such is love. On the track, he offers,

And the summer comes
In the river
Swims at midnight
Shiver cold
Touch the bottom
You and I
With muddy toes

Stay or leave
I want you not to go
But you should
It was good as good goes
Stay or leave
I want you not to go
But you did

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