9 Songs You Should Know By Jason Molina

Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. singer Jason Molina has passed away, but his music lives on. Here's some songs you should know by this prolific folk musician.

Jason Molina died at the age of 39 on Saturday, March 16th.

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If you're unfamilar with Molina, here's NPR's Stephen Thompson on his work:

Still, Molina's songs wove that self-pitying sadness — songs of a man cowering under a sky he cursed, or peering into horizons that seemed empty — into expressions of bracing, strangely soothing beauty. His open, aching voice could convey overwhelming emotion with the slightest inflection; if you loved his music, you'd swear you could feel a word or phrase or hook in your blood.

Jason Molina began performing songs under the name Songs: Ohia in 1996

"Just Be Simple"
Key Lyrics: "But I'm not looking for an easy way out / This whole life it's been about / Try and try and try / And try and try and try / To be simple again."

"I've Been Riding With A Ghost"
Key Lyrics: "See I ain't getting better / I am only getting behind / I am standing on a crossroad trying to make up my mind / I'm trying to remember how it got so late / Why every night pain comes from a different place."

"Untitled (It Won't Be Easy)"
Key Lyrics: Somewhere else must be / The alarm and struggle in me / I see in your face / A certain likeness / To someone yesterday you told me about / That it won't be easy."

Since 2003, he's made a lot of music under the name Magnolia Electric Co.

"Nashville Moon"
Key Lyrics: "I’ve been on that road and it was darkness end to end / And I just headed for the dark again / How far am I from living my whole life / Only in the dark"

"O! Grace"
Key Lyrics: "Oh Grace, if you stop believing / That don't mean that it just goes away / It's a long way between horizons / And it gets farther every day."

"Leave The City"
Key Lyrics: "It broke my heart to leave the city / I mean it broke what wasn't / Broken in there already / But all my great reasons / For leavin' now i can't think of any."

He also released a lot of great material under his own name.

"Heart My Heart"
Key Lyrics: "Ghost in the canyon / If I can open my eyes / This feather and my life will / Fly, fly."

"Harvest Law"
Key Lyrics: "Paul’s pictures to the harvesters / My will to the world between / My will, I have gone along / The twelve fires were gathering."

"It's Easier Now"
Key Lyrics: "And I just say I got better / It's easier now / That I just say I got better / It's easier when I just admit / Death comes now / And the next minute."