Let me apologize in advance– this entry is going to be rather long and fairly convoluted.

Today I was chatting with a friend about a miniseries HBO showed earlier this year. The Wire was a fictionalized account of a group of Baltimore city cops trying to take down a gang of drug dealers in one of the housing projects in that fair (ahem) city. The show was apparently not terribly popular, perhaps because it was a little too “real life”, in that both the cops and the crooks were far too human. It also didn’t have any actors who were particularly photogenic or well known; the best you could say was “hey, I’ve seen that guy before in something!”

In any case, I did like the show, not the least of the reasons being that it had an absolutely great soundtrack that featured some extremely obscure musicians. (Example: the show’s title music– played at the beginning of each episode– was a Tom Waits tune called Way Down in the Hole. Not the composer’s recording, but a much better version recorded by Five Blind Boys from Alabama, a Gospel/Blues group that I’ve been a fan of for years.)

My friend, knowing my musical and video tastes, asked if I knew details of the song that closed the last episode. By happy coincidence, I did: it’s Step by Step, sung by another quite obscure artist named Jesse Winchester, and recorded some twenty five years ago on his album Let the Rough Side Drag. (Alas, it’s now out of print, though I suspect that used copies are available from the usual sources.)

As you might imagine, spurting out that bit of trivia got me the usual amazed look, and a quick trip to my MP3 collection found the tune itself. I quote my friend: “how in the Hell do you know this stuff? Do you have any idea how long I spent Googling to try and figure that out?!?”

My Google-fu is strong, so as an exercise, we spent a few minutes trying to find this nugget of information. Okay, we spent more than a few minutes. Okay, we spent longer than that.

I did finally find a link to Mr. Winchester’s web page, by searching for an unusual phrase that I know occurs in the lyrics. But given only the terms “HBO” “The Wire” “final episode” and “music”, that sucker simply isn’t findable. (Ironically, I eventually did find another blogger, one Nancy Nall, who claims that “a few moments online” gave her this bit of information.)

In any case, I did eventually succeed, though not given the original parameters. However, I know that Google spiders this weblog. So it is entirely possible that you, dear reader, have come here from Google, attempting to duplicate my search for something way beyond obscure. If so, welcome.

Oh, and you might as well forget finding a copy of the song in question on any of the P2P networks. While I have found a few Jesse Winchester songs, I have not been able to find that particular one. And songs called “Step by Step” have, unfortunately, been recorded by such illustrious artists as Whitney Houston, New Kids on the Block, Annie Lennox, Al Jarreau, and Alan Parsons. Not to mention lesser-known artists like Eddie Rabbitt, Method Man, Chisato Moritaka (I didn’t even know she spoke English,) Rich Mullins, and The Chosen. As previously mentioned, the album it came from is long out of print, though it might be available from eBay or Amazon. (If you’re within the city of San Diego, they have a copy somewhere in the city library system.)

If you are really, really desperate, feel free to write me and perhaps I can arrange to be online one of these days at the same time you are. Perhaps a better approach might be to write to Mr. Winchester via his web site and ask if he might have a copy available for sale.

With a very annoying bit of web magic, Jesse Winchester’s site won’t let me link directly to the lyrics of the song, and I’ve not been able to find them on any of the usual lyric sites. So I’ve quoted some of them here, to make them show up in a search. (Eat, you Google spider! Eat this!)

Step by step,
All the happy saints go marching in.
And if a saint step out of line [*]
He’ll have to start again.
‘Cause Jacob’s golden ladder
Gets slippery at the top.
And many a happy-go-lucky saint
Has made that long, long drop.

If I’m late, don’t wait.
Go on without me.
I may tarry awhile.
I need to know
Before I go
How come the devil smiles.

[Repeat chorus]

Free from care,
Free from fear, [*]
The saints are trooping in.
The children play all around the throne,
Innocent of sin.
A trillion voices sing the name
The mortals may not know.
And Heaven’s walls too high to hear [*]
The trouble down below.

[Repeat chorus]

(Note: Mr. Winchester’s web site incorrectly quotes the asterisked lines above differently. What I’ve transcribed is what he actually sings on my recording.)

Words and music by Jesse Winchester, Step by Step, recorded on Let The Rough Side Drag, copyright 1976 by Bearsville Records, also used on HBO’s “The Wire” 2002 season finale, uncredited.