The weblog of Matthew Walker: MatthewWalker.net.nz, Otautahi, Aotearoa / Christchurch, New Zealand  
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  • Thursday, 11 November 2004

    • One Soul Now

      Music StarStarStar
      By Cowboy Junkies

      When did the rule about only having 10 tracks per album come in? Sure, quality's better than quantity, but a little quantity's nice too. I'm not relating to this album. The lyrics are odd and cryptic. Michael Timmins has an established track record for writing lyrics that capture the pivotal moments in people's lives: despair, failing relationships, friendship, rapture, hope, loss of hope, death. And yet, on this album it's none too clear what many of the songs are about at all.  

      Some of my favourite Junkies songs are actually covers: "Sweet Jane" for example, or "To Live is To Fly." That's ironic as I love Timmins' lyrics. I guess the original work is a lot more variable and experimental than the covers, which are invariably thoughtfully selected, and classic songs: they're often songs that Michael could have written.

      An album of covers called 'Neath Your Covers Part I is bundled with the disc, and this is a treasure. "Thunder Road" is a fascinating ballad with the typical Springsteen theme of redemption through escape ("Well the night's busting open / These two lanes will take us anywhere"). The lyrics roll along until about halfway where they lose their momentum and collapse into disjointed phrases. Must be hard to sing — certainly hard to sing along to. Neil Young's "Helpless" is a song of simple and pure beauty. I love this image: "Big birds flying across the skies / Throwing shadows on our eyes" — it's amazing what you can do with such little words. Jesse Colin Young's "Darkness, Darkness" is a masterful song about suicide: "Darkness, darkness, be my blanket, / Cover me with the endless night." I don't know how someone can write a song like this. I would feel guilty, unleashing it upon the world. It's still a great song though.

      Posted by Matthew at 8:24:52 AM | Permanent link | Comments (0) | Email Matthew | Music | Back to top

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