About The Song
“Can’t You See” is a Southern rock song written by Toy Caldwell and recorded by The Marshall Tucker Band for their self-titled debut album, The Marshall Tucker Band, released in March 1973 by Capricorn Records. Issued as the album’s first single in 1973, it was re-released in 1977, peaking at No. 75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and gaining significant FM radio airplay. The album reached No. 29 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold in 1975. The B-side, “See You Later, I’m Gone,” did not chart.
Recorded in 1972 at Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon, Georgia, the track was produced by Paul Hornsby. It features Toy Caldwell on lead vocals and guitar, Doug Gray on backing vocals, Jerry Eubanks’ distinctive flute intro and outro, George McCorkle on rhythm guitar, Tommy Caldwell on bass, and Paul Riddle on drums. The song’s raw, emotive lyrics depict a man’s desperation to escape heartbreak, with imagery of freight trains and mountains, set to a blend of country, blues, and jazz-inflected rock. Caldwell wrote it inspired by a personal breakup, aiming for a universal tale of loneliness, as noted in a 2013 Herald-Tribune interview with Gray. The track’s loose, jammy structure, detailed in Rhino’s archives, showcases the band’s improvisational style.
The Marshall Tucker Band, formed in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in 1972, evolved from earlier lineups like The Toy Factory, named after Toy Caldwell, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient. “Can’t You See” was recorded shortly after the band finalized its lineup, with Caldwell’s finger-picking guitar style—developed after his brother lost his picks—defining its sound, per Reddit discussions. The song’s initial release coincided with the band’s grueling tour schedule, playing over 300 shows annually, including a 1973 Grand Opera House performance in Macon, captured on YouTube. Its 1977 re-release followed Waylon Jennings’ 1976 cover, which hit No. 4 on the Billboard Country chart, boosting the original’s profile.
Covers include Alabama’s 1988 live version, Matt Minglewood’s 1979 take, and Zac Brown Band with Kid Rock in 2010 (No. 60 Billboard Hot 100). The song appeared in films like Blow (2001), Swing Vote (2008), and I, Tonya (2017), and was sampled by Fun Lovin’ Criminals in 1996. The band performed it live consistently, with a notable 1974 Milwaukee version on Searchin’ for a Rainbow. Its flute-driven intro, praised by Cash Box for its “distinctive” sound, and singable chorus made it a Southern rock staple, per Genius. The track remains their most-streamed song on Spotify, with Gray often letting audiences sing the opening verse, as he told the Fayetteville Observer in 2018.
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Lyric
Gonna take a freight train
Down at the station, Lord
I don’t care where it goes
Gonna climb a mountain
The highest mountain
I’ll jump off, nobody gonna knowCan’t you see, can’t you see
What that woman, Lord, she been doin’ to me
Can’t you see, can’t you see
What that woman, she been doin’ to meI’m gonna find me
A hole in the wall
I’m gonna crawl inside and die
That lady, mean ol’ woman, Lord
Never told me goodbyeCan’t you see, can’t you see
What that woman, Lord, she been doin’ to me
Can’t you see, can’t you see
What that woman, she been doin’ to meGonna buy a ticket
Go as far as I can
Lord, I ain’t never comin’ back
Take me a southbound
All the way to Georgia now
Till the train run out of trackCan’t you see, can’t you see
What that woman, Lord, she been doin’ to me
Can’t you see, can’t you see
What that woman, she been doin’ to me