SONGWRITERS SERIES

Lucinda Williams' songs can be gloriously complex or deceptively simple. These five, listed in order of preference, illustrate the range and depth of her work.

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Lucinda Williams' songs can be gloriously complex or deceptively simple, but the best share a character and revelation that stick with you. These five, listed in order of preference, illustrate the range and depth of her work.

(Audio samples feature commentary by Robert Hilburn)

1. 2001. The sparse ballad not only captures loneliness and depression, but the economy of language underscores how your emotions can sap your strength and hope.

2. 1992. In this tear-stained, mid-tempo country narrative about the suicide of a friend, Williams lists some of the tender moments in life that the friend will never again experience: The breath from your own lips/ The touch of fingertips/ A sweet and tender kiss/ The sound of a midnight train/ Wearing someone's ring/ Someone calling your name.

3. 2003. A desolate, country-rock morning-after song — all the more harrowing because it wasn't just the morning after a casual encounter, but a weekend filled with such passion and promise that you don't know if you'll ever trust your heart again.

4. 1998. Williams' poetic eye is at work in every line of this folk-country shuffle about missing someone whose hold is so strong she equates it to a tattoo: Pierce the skin and the blood runs through/ Oh my baby.

5. 2001. Like "Blue," this is another marvelous example of economy — a minimalist ballad whose opening line captures the moment, oh-so-late at night when loneliness asserts itself the most forcefully: Heavy blankets cover lonely girls.