The Cox Family’s recording of this tune is sort of a big deal. After all, it ended up on the DVD documenting the “Down From the Mountain” tour by the “O, Brother, Where Art Thou” musicians. I like The Cox Family’s version, but Keith Whitley. And Ralph Stanley.

The little girl in the Cox version is serene — sad, but ready to go. The little girl in the Stanley/Whitley version can’t help but think of all she’s going to miss, and of how terribly her loved ones will miss her.

She is at the center of a tragedy she has seen played out more than once, and she can’t quite bring herself to try and comfort them. They’ll let themselves be comforted later, she knows, but in this moment, there is only grief.

Here are Ralph Stanley, Keith Whitley, and the rest of The Clinch Mountain Boys with, “I Am Weary, Let Me Rest”.