Allison Moorer – “The Broken Girl”
Posted on | January 26, 2010 | 1 Comment
1. Allison Moorer and Steve Earle seem to be a good fit, with Earle’s recent record Washington Square Serenade showed him getting damn near mushy on songs like “Days Are Never Long Enough” and “Sparkle and Shine”. The newfound happiness of the relationship has allowed Moorer, on the other hand, to approach difficult material with unrestrained emotion, even on subjects that strike close to home. “The Broken Girl”, the lead single from her new record Crows, shows her highlighting women who have been victimized for many different reasons.
2. Moorer skips over a whole lot of backstory and jumps right into the character, who has replaced “all the happy” in her head, and whose “every step feels like a mistake.” The implications of what happened are many, from abuse to ignorance, but she shows the confusion of the character by noting that even the omniscient narrator doesn’t know how she got “so blue”, broken into “too many pieces”. Moorer gives a voice to the large amount of women that suffer from verbal and physical abuse but never speak out. The central character gives no reason for not speaking out, but is sure she’ll “never say a word”. In light of Moorer (and sister Shelby Lynne)’s family tragedy, this gains a whole new meaning as well, highlighting victims of tragedy who find themselves unable to speak out.
3. Producer R.S. Field (Shelby Lynne, Hayes Carll) gives the song a jangly, relatively lighthearted touch, with an arrangement that wouldn’t be far off from a Jayhawks song. This treatment makes the tough subject matter go down easier, and stands as a metaphor for Moorer’s increased ability to unflinchingly write on difficult subjects. Whether that is a result of age, experience, or her marriage (and child) with Earle, fans of Allison Moorer are the ones reaping the rewards.
Allison Moorer – The Broken Girl
Corb Lund – “A Game In Town Like This”
Posted on | November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment
1. When I covered Corb Lund earlier this year, I mentioned that his music might be better described as rural rather than country. His latest single “A Game In Town Like This”, from his new record Losin’ Lately Gambler takes a different approach to that homemade genre, exploring the intricacies of small town life. Like Adam Carroll, Lund has a way with creating characters of incredible depth, often by describing their situation rather than their person. His subtle plot details the song’s breezy rhythm contribute to its immediate appeal.
2. Lund finds himself deep in a game of “crazy pot size” against Asian dealers who, “with all that tax free money/ have deeper pockets than I do”. Though unable to keep up with the action, Lund finds himself naively amused to be playing at all. Later, finding himself in traffic, he reminisces to when his lover would wake upon his early morning return, asking how he came out. Noting that he would “sometimes just say nothing”, he then alludes that he is “livin’ with what [he's] done, leaving the door open for interpretation as to whether that extends beyond his poker losses. He explains, as his “up-all-nighted eyes” mistake a diamond for a heart, and he goes belly up for the last time.
3. He reveals that he left town after that game, but stopped back through to “donate a couple thousand”, noting that he now “knows the cost”. His lovable loser tale fits well with his friend and frequent touring partner Hayes Carll (who he recommended in his 5 Records With interview), who learned the art of the simpleton character from John Prine. Lund’s keeps it simple with the music, and his frank Canadian drawl make this song as easy to like as the character he conjures.
Corb Lund – A Game In Town Like This
Hayes Carll – “Waiting On The Stars To Fall”
Posted on | October 28, 2009 | 1 Comment
1. Hayes Carll’s voice contains an ache that gives even makes his happier songs a bit of a silver lining. Playing the same role of lovable loser that Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker filled decades before him, Carll fits together a rocking roadhouse band with delicately crafted songs that have placed him at the head of his class in the next generation of Texas songwriters. Though “Waiting On The Stars To Fall” was a b-side on the vinyl version of his last record Trouble In Mind, Lost Highway recently released it on a free compilation entitled T For Texas, T From Tennessee, bringing together the best of their artists from the Lone Star State.
2. “Waiting On The Stars To Fall” was produced by Brad Jones, known more for his Nashville pop productions (Josh Rouse, Garrison Starr) than his country engineering work. Jones stretches Carll’s sound a bit on this track, giving him a shimmering bed of keyboards for his voice and gently plucked guitar. Though a baritone guitar and drums enter later, they are subtle enough that they don’t overshadow Carll’s creaking voice, undoubtedly the star of the song.
3. This song finds Hayes wondering what happened to the old version of himself after his lover leaves to “live wild and free”. He finds himself on the other side of forever, not enjoying it within a relationship, but suffering from it, remarking that it is “a long ol’ time”. In the chorus, he repeats that he “want[s] to let go, but [he] can’t.” Carll doesn’t say he doesn’t know how to move on, since knowing how and being able to do something are two entirely different things. He reveals more self-awareness by noting that he used to be “running with the bulls and chasing down stars” instead of “waiting on the stars to fall”. Since she left, though he used to live “like New York City”, he “hardly makes a sound”. Like Tom Waits, Hayes invites the listener to sit down on the curb with him and share in his incredulity at who he used to be and how far he has fallen.
4. “Waiting On The Stars To Fall” is an unfiltered slice of reality, delivered in Carll’s usual steadfast way. Like the outstanding “Take Me Away” from his second record Little Rock, this song lopes along at a slow, shuffling pace that accentuates every drawl in his voice to maximum effect. I think the most promising thing about Hayes Carll is that he gets better with each release. This song isn’t a new one to many, but roars with potential and increases the desire for more from Hayes.
Hayes Carll – Waiting On The Stars To Fall
read more posts »