Smooth as butter.
Nine years later, this song sounds just as good as the day it came out. Colter Wall dropped his debut EP, Imaginary Appalachia, in 2015, which landed on the country music scene like an atomic bomb amid the dreadful era of Bro-Country that had been infecting the mainstream. With his deep baritone voice and traditional country music sound, Wall tells intimate stories about the Canadian plains that raised him. While the EP is filled with many fan favorites from Wall’s discography, like “Sleeping On The Blacktop” and “The Devil Wears A Suit And Tie,” it also features one of the most captivating songs in country music, “Caroline.”
Back in 2020, we Tweeted:
“If Colter Wall’s ‘Caroline’ doesn’t shake you to the core, check your f***ing pulse.”
If Colter Wall's "Caroline" doesn't shake you to the core, check your fucking pulse.
— Whiskey Riff (@WhiskeyRiff) August 12, 2020
We at Whiskey Riff stand by that statement even more after Wall shared a stunning live performance of the heartbreaking song.
“Back around 2015 or so, God, I guess nearly 10 years just about. Anyways, this was off my first EP, and it’s my favorite song off that thing.”
Wall says to a packed crowd as he stands center stage with only his acoustic guitar. Colter Wall begins to strum the melancholy chords on his acoustic before stepping up to the microphone, delivering the song’s first lines that cover you like a warm blanket. His deep and thick vocals carry the perfect amount of twang, and as he sings the heartbreakingly beautiful lyrics, one feels as though they are sitting around a campfire listening to a wise old man tell them a story.
The lyrics detail the story of an older man who has lost his lover. While he mourns that he can no longer share moments on earth with her, he remains hopeful that the two will meet again on the other side one day and rekindle their flame. It is devastating yet optimistic in the same breath and makes the listener think about the beauty of life and what comes after it through the narrator’s perspective.
“Caroline, oh CarolineI’ll be home just at any old timeThe grave and the garden won’t be satisfiedUntil your name’s next to mine…”
After Wall delivers the first chorus, the audience hollers, and you know that a few people are wiping tears away from their eyes at this point in the performance.
Nearly a decade later, Colter Wall’s voice sounds just as good as it did when he first released the studio cut of this song. While he might have added some notes of wisdom to his tone, his brand of creating honest-to-God traditional country music still rings true. The timelessness of this song is a testament to that statement.
There is a reason that “Caroline” is a fan favorite of the native Canadian. It’s simple, beautiful, sad, hopeful, and makes you so happy when you hear it live.
Colter Wall blew this one out of the water.
While you’re here, take a trip down memory lane and check out this performance of the song from The Melody Inn in Indianapolis, Indiana, back in 2016.
It shows how much Wall has grown as an artist and how much his sound has captivated listeners in the near decade since the tune’s release
