Money in the Bank

The song is a warning to a woman who is drifting away. When they met, the singer was young and poor and knew what he was working for; now times have changed, and while he was “making money,” she was “making time.” He won’t stand in line, and if she leaves, he says, it’s like money in the bank: chalk it up, mark it down, and he’ll be gone. There are other girls who will love him for who he is and not for what he buys, and when the tables turn she will find out too late that his love was worth more than money in a bank.

The Lonesome River Band recorded the song again for Chronology, Vol. 3 (Rural Rhythm RUR 1103, 2012), cut at Mountain Fever Studio. Shelor was the only player left from the 1991 session; the rest of that lineup was Brandon Rickman on guitar, Randy Jones on mandolin, Barry Reed on bass and Mike Hartgrove on fiddle. The Hinson Girls included it on A Life That’s Good (2016), and Daniel Crabtree recorded it for The Storyteller in Me (Codel, 2019), with Donna Ulisse and Rick Stanley singing harmony.