Feeling pretty rough on your Monday morning because of a weekend of fun and debauchery? Well get ready, because this song is going to see you at your lowest point, and kick you around a little bit. The song starts with the lyrics that ring out throughout the song,

“You can’t get lower than the ground, but you can roll around for a long time.“

Is it possible for the sound of smoke to be provocative? With a rasp that tastes of coal mines and three packs a day, Kate has a timbre to her voice that is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. Now, just to clear the air here, I don’t know anything about Kate’s personal life, and she may have worked in a coal mine and smokes a carton a day. If this is true, I’m deeply apologetic. What is much more likely is that she had a cool rasp already, but honed her obvious gift and turned it into something spectacular.

With lyrics that seem to deal with everything from seasonal depression to addiction, Kate really takes some major swings here, and nails on all counts for me. When people talk about how they’ve “hit rock bottom,” there is usually a counterpoint saying, “Well, there’s nowhere to go but up,” when in reality, you can just get dragged across the bottom forever unless you make proactive choices. Make whatever choices are needed to improve your life.