Stagger Lee

See also The Recurring Stagger Lee Blues, Pt. 1

Three For Silver is a tatterdemalion ensemble of rotating musicians led by Lucas Warford, “the acid baby of Tom Waits and Les Claypool,” as NW legend Baby Gramps called him.

Three for Silver, a band known for their distinctive blend of acoustic and folk influences, released "The Recurring Stagger Lee Blues, Pt. 1" on their 2019 album Blue Ruin. They released "That That Whiskey Song (Stagger Lee #2)" on their 2024 album Modern Man.

This track offers an awesome perspective on the traditional "Stagger Lee" narrative, portraying Stagger Lee and Billy as self-aware characters destined to perpetually reenact their fatal encounter across various songs.

I was familiar with the old Charlie Lee version, the Nick Cave version,
and that 50's blues rock version that many people have done

Of course, it was a song that MANY people had covered / written their own versions
and I knew the broad strokes of the stories origin and timeline

What collided in my head to produce my version
was the notion of Stagger and Billy as two people who are now immortal due to this song
they live on forever through this murder
in a sense they are trapped to forever reenact this senseless violence
but they also get to keep on living in our imaginations, in so many ways and places and times

this situation brought to mind other famous fictional pairs
trapped in similar eternal existential quandaries
Vladimir and Estragon from Waiting for Godot
the eponymous Rosencrantz & Guildenstern
Sam & Hailey from Only Revolutions

I think Stagger & Billy represent another timeless pair equally appropriate to be included in that list

my version attempts to make explicit this idea
the dream / nightmare of their fate
the eternal return as they are endlessly trotted out by us in these songs
their dependence on each other

with that idea in mind
i have actually continued to write different versions
i'm now up to Stagger #4
Stagger #2 was recently released on our newest album
#3 and #4 currently only exist as demos

and I intend to write more!
as you can see they are getting farther away from reworkings of the original tune

-- Lucas
threeforsilver.com