I first heard “Things in Life” sung by the Hurrican Ridgerunners, and was taken with this verse:

    I’d like to be a small part of life
    With some few things to achieve
    Just to know I’ve been a fruitless cause
    Would give my poor heart grief.

Later, I was lucky enough to meet the composer of this song, Don Stover, at the Tennessee Banjo Institute, and he sang it for me – I’ll never forget it. There’s a video below of Don playing it, and talking about the song’s message. But first, here’s a Tim O’Brien version with some absolutely sick dobro playing from Jerry Douglas:

– Peter McCracken