Owen Temple – “Memphis”
Posted on | October 19, 2009 | No Comments
1. It might be an understatement to say that “Memphis is not what it used to be”, as Owen Temple repeatedly does in “Memphis”, from his recent release Dollars and Dimes. In fact, most of America is not what it used to be. Dollars and Dimes is not a nostalgic record, rather, it delves into the small stories that inhabit the forgotten areas between our big cities, and in doing so, finds the stories that make America what it is: land of freedom, land of hope, land of failure, land of dreams, and on and on and on.
2. Opening with a flurry of producer Gabe Rhodes’ chiming guitars, Temple encapsulates the experience of leaving Arkansas and heading across that glorious bridge over the Mississippi in search of a better opportunity. His female protagonist leaves after her “mom’s boyfriend and a tornado tore up her home”. She “left behind her old clothes”, and dumps pictures along the highway, symbolically shedding her identity and seeking to reinvent herself. Unfortunately, few jobs are available and she is forced to use her body, which she had “learned how to use”, at a seedy club in order to make ends meet. There is a commentary here on the moral degradation of the city, but the same words ring true: “Memphis is not what it used to be.” Regardless of the nature of her work, his lead character makes “three thousand a week” before the government shuts it down in a drug raid, and things get tight again. After she makes plans to move to Houston, Temple reveals his interaction with her — asking “what else in town” he should see, before she shuts him down with the same caveat heard so many other times: “Memphis is not what it used to be”.
3. I don’t think that Owen Temple is picking on Memphis, but rather making a statement about the fading glory of middle America. Over Hunt Sales’ thudding drums (which also graced Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life and David Bowie’s Tin Machine), he tells the story of someone in search of the American dream who finds something entirely different. This might be something that more people can relate to in these times rather than “reality” television or the misleading jargon of politics. Temple finds an America that is personal — one not defined by state lines as much as the people that inhabit them. Things might not be that different in Memphis than they were in Arkansas, or than they will be in Houston if there isn’t personal change. That is a refreshing thought for our country, and I would be glad to hear more songs like this.
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