“Laid Low” by Nick Carl | Song Story

 

   

Nick Carl admits that each time he writes a song, it’s usually by accident. Each time, he arbitrarily throws lyrics to melodies to see which ones stick. He doesn’t believe songs usually hold that much meaning. They’re just songs, the Omaha songwriter says. They are nothing more than just a collection of words over music. They can’t do your taxes, he says, and they certainly can’t save the whales.

“No one cares about [songs], nor should they” he says.

But every once in a while, there is that song that helps you through a tough time. A song that seems like it was created just for you in situations that otherwise seem insurmountable. For Carl, “Laid Low” is that song.

“Laid Low” is a diary of Carl's ride on an "emotional rollercoaster" stemming from a recent love scorned and his difficulties in trying to kick his addiction to loving her. She seemed to love him too. But there was another potential suitor. It was a classic tale — two knights competing for the hand of a fair lady.

Carl says he liked his chances and thought he could hold his emotions in check — that was until the "other guy" became involved. That experience, Carl says, is what influenced him to write "Laid Low."

"I was all cry-cry boo-boo when that other guy came to town for a visit," he says. "I grabbed a bottle of Maker’s Mark and got pissed off. I was upset. Then [the songwriting] was easy."

Although the song was recorded and released three years ago, Carl decided to properly re-record the song and add more instrumentation to bolster the song. This version of “Laid Low” features Mark Goodwin on bass and drums, Colin Charles Duckworth on steel guitar and Greg Carl on the vocal harmonies. And even as the three years have passed, Carl says the song’s emotional hooks are still deep inside him — that’s why he chose to re-record the song.

“I still am pissed off at the world and what it’s done to me,” he says.

With slow, measured acoustic guitars and drums over swooping, melancholy steel guitar, “Laid Low” projects a somber story backed by equally moody instrumentals.

The lyrics take the listener through a lyrical history of some of Carl's highest and lowest points with the woman. In one of the song's most telling lyrics, Carl encompasses his deepest feelings on the relationship as he woefully sings, "Burn baby, burn, you bite so hard."

"She was a hot white light," he says. "She was what it’s like to smoke crack, and I was the user who needed her. She made me so high coming from a place so low."

Although the song's lyrics and instrumentation seem to represent a sense of bitterness from Carl, he says the song is actually the contrary — a tune about his warm feelings toward the woman.

"It's a love song, sure," he says. "My heart was open to her and that’s love to me. You miss someone because they allow you to do something for yourself. I missed the way she made me feel about me."

Not many songs hold any particular value to Carl, but this song is one of those few that rings true to him. The song is therapeutic, and he says he hopes others can relate to “Laid Low” like he can.

“You're lucky if you can give one person even a moment of pleasure from something you made,” he says. “But when you do, that's what’s special.”

Listen to “Laid Low” by Nick Carl below:

Sean Holohan is Hear Nebraska's editorial intern. Reach him at sean@hearnebraska.org.