The song talks about a brother who jokes, reads poetry, is good
looking, and later drinks himsel to death or commits suicide. She sees
him standing by a screen dorr, and later lying in the backseat with an
emnoty bottle.

Hi maggie777,

I believe you are thinking of "Little Angel, Little Brother" by
Lucinda Williams, recorded on her album "Sweet Old World," released in
1992.

You can see the lyrics here:

http://getsome.org/guitar/olga/main/w/williams_lucinda/little_angle_little_brother.crd

The lyrics mention "wisecracks," "passion for Shakespeare," and
"rugged good looks."  Other parts that match your question are "I see
you leaning your lanky frame/Just inside the door/A figure behind the
kitchen screen" and "I see you sleeping in the car/Curled up on the
back seat/Parked outside of a bar/An empty bottle at your feet." 
There is no explicit mention of suicide or death other than the use of
the word "angel."  There are two other songs about suicide on the same
album, though.


Additional Link

Lucinda Williams's website
http://www.lucindawilliams.com/index.html


Search Strategy

As it happens, I just listened to the song today, so I recognized it
from your description.


--efn

That's the song! Many thanks!