The Friday song (on a Sunday): ‘The Ballad of Love and Hate’ by The Avett Brothers

When Rick Rubin produced the track I and Love and You for The Avett Brothers, he was completing the transformation of a small band of acoustic folk players into a spotlight act of Americana. They could finally leave behind pain, heartbreak, love and loss, embrace the clapping hands, fun and harmonies of Ain’t No Man – and no longer feel tethered solely to their recorded and emotional past.

However, in that past lay a beautiful story, embodied in an unadorned three-chord waltz, written and sung by Seth Avett, and played on acoustic guitar. It’s today’s song, The Ballad of Love and Hate. On it, the abstract concepts of “love” and “hate” are personified in a romantic narrative, infusing each with personality and reactions. 

Love has been on vacation and is returning, full of tenderness and care and bringing the “good things we know”. Hate is angry and contrary, the opposite of love, killing “a jar of the strongest stuff you can drink” and getting “home lucky to still be alive”. The song explores their distance, their difference and ultimately their closeness and reconciliation through the recognition and acceptance of the faults of the other. 

It may seem a bit twee when read like this, but when you hear it, it’s captivating. The story holds you in its simplicity and narrative arc. It’s not a song for cynics or thrashers, nor for those for whom lyrics carry no appeal, but if you have some softness somewhere and like a good tune, this gentle song and more, its story, should hold you in silence for five minutes. 

Listen to The Avett Brothers’ The Ballad of Love and Hate on Spotify here and on Apple Music here.

I started a music WhatsApp group in 2023. I send one song a week on a Friday, with links to both Apple and Spotify, and an accompanying narrative/capsule piece. If you want to engage about a song, get a playlist or just get in touch, email me on markgrosin@gmail.com.

For more of Mark’s memorable track selections, go here.

_{Top image collage: Currency.}