Natalie Merchant Sings “Owensboro” [VIDEO]

It's no secret all of us contributors for WBKR are always looking for something to blog about. I search for stories with "Owensboro" either in the story or in the title. I've searched on YouTube several times and one video that always pops up is "Natalie Merchant-Owensboro" and I never knew what it was about, until now.

Natalie Merchant first came to international attention as the lead singer of the alternative folk group 10,000 Maniacs. They had some modest hits including "These Are The Days" and they scored their biggest hit in 1993 with a live cover Bruce Springsteen's and Patti Smith's "Because the Night". Merchant went on to have a successful solo career. The track "Owensboro" is on her 2003 album The House Carpenter's Daughter. The album is made up entirely of covers of traditional folk music. "Owensboro" was written by longtime Bill Monroe fiddler Kenny Baker and a fellow contemporary Blaine Sprouse.

Here's Merchant's version:

Now, here is an instrumental version from Baker and Sprouse:

So was this song supposed to be sad or happy? Which one do you like?