My Top Ten
Favorite CDs of 2023
These are
my favorite CDs
released in 2022. My tastes lean
towards Americana, roots, alt-country, and folk. In the case of close
calls, I am likely to err on the side of the lesser-known performers
who need more exposure.
Born
and raised in
the Boston area, Dowd moved to Chicago around 1990 and gained a
well-deserved
reputation as “the hardest working drummer in Chicago”.
He is
a working
musician who is actually making has been making a living from his
drumming gigs
with an extremely wide range of musicians, from Eddie Vedder to Mavis
Staples
to Robbie Fulks to Neko Case among many, many
others.
He
also plays
several other instruments and is quite a good guitar player. He
followed a
desire to write his own songs and has put out Eps and one previous CD, Home
Now which includes several of my favorite songs of all time
and is reviewed
favorably elsewhere in this website.
“Safe and Sound”
You get up to fall down
Then you do it again
When you hit the ground
It sure seems far
when you know that
you’re gonna
drown
Drain another bottle
Open up the throttle
And leave us in the
rearview
where we’ll be safe
and sound
“It
took me 10
years to get this thing out,” Dowd has said. “I watched my new album Father's
Day inching its way up the Americana charts, which is
terribly exciting for
a guy who once made coffee using a filter cut from old boxer shorts.”
“Tulsa”
All in all, a pretty
good day
So why am I feeling
low down
There’s a big white
moon and soft
white sheets
But you’re in another
town
Yeah, we could make
this hotel bed
sing
Wear it down to its
final spring
Yeah, Tulsa’s great
but not as
great
Without you
Tulsa’s great. There’s
no debate,
But it’s in another
state
Tulsa’s great until
takes me away
from you
“I
don’t know why
I’m doing this. It feels like I’m just throwing another record on the
pile of
the 15 thousand that came out that day. But I guess I do it because
it’s all I
know how to do.”
“Just Another Broken
Heart”
If you think what
you’re going
through
Was custom made just
for you
Get in line, it’s
another broken
heart
When you see me on the
street just
fake a smile
Just take that busted
heart and
throw it on the pile
This
is obviously
a record of universal themes, love and loss and heartache and family.
‘Father’s Day”
I learned a lot from
my kids
They grew me up real
quick
Yeah, they did
And if an auctioneer
tried to see
those years
I would not be outbid
No, I would not be
outbid
“Any
genre, the
best of those genres, the best writers are the people who can tell a
story of
some kind,” Dowd said, explaining a little about his approach to
songwriting.
“Look Back and Laugh”
It seems like forever
ago
The eyes of an angel
aglow
Oh, just how little we
know
Gotta look back and
laugh
Yeah, we took it in
stride
Split our souls open
wide
Now, with nothing to
hide
We can look back and
laugh
I was some kind of jerk
I never knew that love
took
work
Must have drove you
berserk
Made you look back and
laugh
"I started “Not Enough
Gin” in 2016,
but I finished it in 2022 after a couple of the school shootings. The
earlier
section just fit with the new stuff I wrote.”
“Not Enough Gin”
There’s not enough gin
To drown the memory of
all that’s
been
And there aint near
enough brown
To ready ourselves for
what’s
coming down
But pass the bottle
anyway
Just hold on
This can’t be what you
meant by
change
Just more flowers to
arrange
With no time left to
borrow
Will be here tomorrow
Dowd
is a man with a
strong sense of community interaction. He twice (five years apart)
drummed with
16 different bands for 13+ straight hours to raise money for local food
banks.
Then he live streamed solo for 6+ hours during the pandemic for the
Southern
Poverty Center. Readers of this website will have no trouble
understanding why
he is not only one of my favorite songwriters, but also an inspiration.
Weathervanes by Jason Isbell and
the 400 Unit
“There is something about
boundaries on this record,” Isbell says. “As you mature, you still
attempt to
keep the ability to love somebody fully and completely while you’re
growing
into an adult and learning how to love yourself.”
“If You Insist”
Are you looking for
something easy?
Do you need to feel alive?
Do you crave a love that tears through your life
Like a Category 5?
My mama spent every day alone
In a house with noise and names
She got so tired of putting out fires
She just laid down in the flames
“For me, I will start
with a
character. And I'll try to find the right detail so we get sort of an
overview
of that character, and then I'll just follow him around - you know? -
and see
what he does.”
“It's sort of like
you're doing
three jobs at once. You're trying to tell the story, and you're trying
to paint
this picture that people can visualize. But you're also trying to make
something that's really singable, something that works as a song. And
it's a
fun challenge.”
“Death Wish”
Did you ever love a
woman with a
death wish?
Something in her eyes, like flippin' off a light switch
Everybody dies, but you gotta find a reason to carry on
Oh, and did you ever catch her climbing on the rooftop?
Higher than a kite, dead of winter in a tank top
I don't wanna fight with you, baby, but I won't leave you alone
“That process of
working in the
movie Killers of the Flower Moon really found its
way into the studio
when I went back to record — just the way Scorcese was able to hear
other
people's opinions and collaborate while still keeping his vision.”
“It definitely helped
when I got
into the studio,” Isbell says. “I had this reinvigorated sense of
collaboration. You can have an idea and you can execute it and not
compromise
-- and still listen to the other people in the room.”
“King of Oklahoma”
Doctor took a quick
look and I got
out the checkbook
And left with a pocket full of pills
Now my back's still hurtin' and I'm too weak for workin'
And I can't keep up with all the bills
She used to wake me up with coffee every morning
And I'd hear her homemade house shoes slide across the floor
She used to make me feel like the king of Oklahoma
But nothing makes me feel like much of nothing anymore
“We worked with Dave
Cobb on the
last four records, I think. When I got sober 11 years ago, I thought it
would
be a good idea to turn over some control of that part of my work so I
could
just do my job - you know, write the songs, bring them in and say, tell
me what
to do. And Dave was great. This time as I was writing the songs, I
thought to
myself, I think I can do this without screwing it up. You know, I think
I can
actually go in the studio and not take my ego in there with me so much.
“Strawberry Woman”
And I remember you at
that place in
Post
You were thick-cut bacon on Texas toast
Prairie dogs popping up to see
That strawberry woman sitting next to me
Strawberry woman sitting next to me
Monday morning, wake up slow
It was Friday night two hours ago
I'd sell the farm to see you smile
Well, it might just happen if we wait a while
“I kind of look at it
like there’s
a big huge field full of rocks,and everything you need is under one of
those
rocks. It might be under the first rock you pick up, but you might have
to pick
up a million of them.”
“This Ain’t It”
Baby, how'd you end up here?
In a Texas town, in a
wedding gown with a near beer
Baby, how'd you go so
wrong?
And you don't belong
but I bet they all think you're sincere
I've known you since
your eyes were blue
And I'd die before I'd
lie to you
And this ain't it, baby
This ain't it, baby
In 2018, the Turnpike
Troubadours
announced they were going on a hiatus that could only end at “a time we
feel
that everyone is of strong mind, body and spirit.”
“I took a clean
break,” Evan Felker
told American Songwriter. “The only thing I was ever interested in was
songwriting and being a songwriter. Even if I was misguided, that’s the
only
thing I cared anything about from the time I was about 21 or 22 until
we hung
it up for a while. I had missed out on many facets of life that were
just as
important, if not far more important, than creating anything. “So, I
focused on
those… and I built a lot of fences. I built some really long stretches
of
barbed wire fence in Texas in the middle of August.”
“Mean Old Sun”
Headlong for the wall
now honey
Still coming up like a rose
Dead still in the garden
Waiting for the reveille
And the dawn is yet to dry the dew from off my Sunday clothes
That mean old sun better rise up soon if its ever gonna set on me
Hear the song she sang in darkness
Tearful, fair, and free and fine
You're the one she softly whispers
My canary in the mine
During that time,
Felker found
sobriety, remarried his ex-wife, and eventually, came back together
with his
bandmates as they decided if they wanted to continue as a band.
They decided to try it
again. And I
am so glad they did. For my money, TT plays together better than any
other band
I’ve heard. When I listen to the Troubadours, I feel like I’m getting
extra
lyrics or more meaning from each song’s message.
“Won’t You Give Me One
More Chance”
Don't
you
think I know you don't
want me anymore?
Now you've turned off
to me like the closin' of a door
When I search your
eyes for a sign that you care
All I see is goodbyes
and I wish I wasn't there
[Chorus]
Won't you give me one
more chance to make it with you?
Forget about the bad
we had, I don't believe we're through, honey
Come and lie with me
like the way you used to do
You're the only thing
I've got to hold on to
Felker
had to learn how to write
songs while sober.
“It
was very, very, very scary,” he
explained. “I had to do something to jar myself into this or out of the
situation, or else I’ll be in that procrastination loop or writer’s
block,
maybe for the rest of my life.
“I
rarely ever am struck by
lightning—as far as inspiration goes—and just sit down and finish
something,”
he notes of his creative process. “I’m always compiling things and
looking for
a novel idea or observation within the realm of day-to-day life. I’m
just
trying to make the next thing I like or am proud of or feel like I’ve
solved
another of life’s puzzles or riddles.”
“A Cat
in the Rain”
You
can try to put the past behind
It’s on your clothes like burning pine
Is it gin or turpentine, you keep in your canteen?
If pressure makes a diamond, babe, I still might come out clean
For a walking ghost, that southern coast was a lawless piece of heaven
There were bayou dives and oyster knives and liquor for to drown
In the Q beam lights and rooster fights and months I don’t remember
My winning hand went busted, and my luck was winding down
“I’m still pretty
romantic about
the process of writing, so I still want to go somewhere and immerse
myself in
it,” Felker explains.
“Brought Me”
Well, I have loved you
for so long
I have no memory of falling
So long now
It feels that we have never been apart
I hear you have a
world away
You know for whom you're calling
I'd have said this years ago
If I'd known where to start
Oh now, it still beats
steady
This heart I handed you for free
Should you ever need a thing
It won't be hard to find me
Recorded
at the
famous Cash Cabin of Johnny Cash fame –14 songs in seven days with
Jayhawks
multi-instrumentalist, John Jackson and Wilco bassist, Pat Sansone
producing.
“We
didn’t
overcook things. We couldn’t. We didn’t have the time. It was so much
fun to
make. There was never really a struggle.”
“The
Fool”
You’d
be a fool
not to want her badly
You’d
be a fool
not to love her madly
Go
play it cool
And
your heart
will suffer
Go,
play it cool
And
you’ll only
make it tougher
“Irish
folk music
really helped me during the pandemic,” Schoepp says. “There’s an
uplifting quality in this tradition that can break your heart
and make you
laugh at the same time.”
“Cliffs
of Dover”
Brother,
don’t you
know
We
were bound to
lose?
And
now you’re
lying in bed
With
them Baghdad
blues.”
Schoepp
watched a
YouTube video of an Irishman moving his fingers up and down the neck of
the
guitar using a technique called “open D tuning.”
“It
basically was
the whole impetus for this album. I D-tuned my guitar, and I began
writing
songs,” he said. “It was as if I had never played guitar before.”
“Anna
Lee”
I
took too long to
come around
If
you’re still
single I am down
I
think that were
are meant to be
I
still love you
Anna Lee
Anna
Lee, Anna Lee
How
about me, Anna
Lee
I
still love you
Anna Lee
I
took some time
to think about it
The
more I think,
the less I doubt it
The
more I look,
the more I see
That
I still love
you, Anna Lee
“I’m
using old
formats, old song structures, and old mediums to express things that I
think
haven’t been sung about to death,” Schoepp says. “There are enough
songs about
cowboys and broken hearts. There are enough romance songs. I’m trying
to
communicate new ideas with old formats.”
“In
Returning”
It’s
not the
leaving that worries me
It is
what I will
find in returning
I
lift my head to
a red, red morning
The
kind of skies
I have learned to take warning
And
I’m looking
out from the upper deck
With
your Saint
Christopher dangling down my neck
It
seems like
nearly every year Dori Freeman has an album in my Top Ten. That’s the
quality
and dedication she has to her work. (Maybe ever other year 2016, 2017,
2019,
2021).
“Wrong
Direction”
You’ve
got that
look about your eyes again
They’re
pouring
out but nothing’s getting’ in
You’ve
got a shell
around my tender heart
Been
trying to
crack from the very start
I
don’t wanna be
the reason why you’re always runnin’
I
don’t wanna be
the last word of a long discussion
Don’t
wanna the
answer to a sad, sad question
I
don’t wanna feel
like I’m a wrong direction
“I’m
someone who
really likes to observe. I love to watch people, listen to stories,
take things
from my own personal experiences. Those are my biggest sources of
inspiration.”
“Laundromat”
The dryer
hums me
a lullaby
And
into paradise
I fly
I
come late when
the morning is nigh
And
was away all
my frustrations
But
who’s got time
for that
It’s
my laundromat
vacation
I
threw in the
coat you wore
It
still makes me
sore
‘cause
you don’t
want me anymore
Rambled
on to a
new temptation
But
who’s got time
for that
It’s
my laundromat
vacation
“Lyrics usually
come for me after I have at least the beginning of a melody. I feel
like the
melody of a song guides the direction and theme of the lyrics and then
they
weave together from there.”
“Why
Do I Do This
to Myself”
The
clock is
tickin’ like a warning
Judging
everything
I do
And
as the night
bleeds into morning
I lie
awake and
think of you
Should
be asleep
but instead I’m dreaming
I
pull the whiskey
off the shelf
And
every time I
get to thinking
Why
do I do this
to myself
“Creativity
is
obviously different for everyone, but for me music is a way of
processing
situations and experiences. It’s also something I do because it brings
me
genuine joy to write stories and to sing. It feels like an absolutely
necessary
part of living.”
“Do
You Recall”
I start to
daydream when I'm back here again
The words come back to
me just like an old friend
You said, "I love you"
"I've got to have you"
"Don't go nowhere"
You wore your overalls
all winter long
I heard you outside
kicking to a dad song
And up above
The sun was shining
like an angel's bed
[Chorus]
Do you recall
When you gave me a
ring and we said everything?
Do you still fall?
Every time I sing, it
always ends being about you
I just can't help
myself
“For
better or for
worse once you release a song into the world you relinquish control
over how
the song will be received and interpreted. I try not to obsess too much
over
that because songs mean different things to different individuals and
that’s
the point in some ways.”
The
new record
builds upon narratives, settings and characters established in 2002’s
concept
album All Hail West Texas.
I
haven't been a
fan long enough or had time to immerse myself in the
entire Mountain
Goats catalog, but I did like this album. I think it can stand on its
own, so I
included it in my Top Ten.
“’Jenny
from
Thebes’ is the story of Jenny, her southwestern ranch style house, the
people
for whom that house is a place of safety, and the west Texas town that
is uncomfortable
with its existence. It is a story about the individual and society,
about
safety and shelter and those who choose to provide care when nobody
else will.”
“Clean
Slate”
And
then just when
you think you've learned how to forget
You learn it's just the ones who haven't risen to the surface yet
Absence
after
absence, keep the place secure
This will be the last time that I do this, I'm pretty sure
No one lasts for long in this profession, so they say
Maybe see you again someday
[Chorus]
Every endpoint fixed forever
On the day its arc began
Remember at your peril
Forget the ones you can
Darnielle
says his
relationship with the character of Jenny is fairly simple: “I always
related to
her: She had a motorcycle I want.”
He’s
talking about
the yellow-and-black Kawasaki mentioned in the lyrics of 2002’s “All
Hail West
Texas”. “She not only gets to have one, but she
gets to ride it very
fast and abandon her entire life. I think that’s a basic conflict:
between your
responsibilities and the infinite freedom that you feel as a human
spirit.”
“From
the Nebraska
Plant”
Walk
across the
bridge, used to get so scared
Signed out AMA, no one really cared
It wasn't in your nature, taking in the strays
But you handed me your helmet, I clung to you for days
[Chorus]
But I am strong now, I am strong now
That was all years back
On your custom Kawasaki
Chrome yеllow and black
“What
happened
was, I wrote a new song about Jenny and said, “Well, either this song
is going
in the garbage or you’re making a whole album out of it.” And I liked
the song.
This is the great rule in life: Half measures are generally useless.
You have
to commit.”
“Murder
at the 18th
Street Garage”
I'm
in the repair
bay casting spells
Mystic in the glow of the spotlight
Ringing out the funeral bells
Tending the fires, gathering power
May I present the man of the hour
[Chorus]
Placing his faith in the strength of the safety visor
Placing his faith in the strength of the safety visor
Leaving only slightly diminished
Older but wiser
“I’m
almost always
writing about situations that you as a person would prefer to avoid.
And then I
want them to heal. Because all your characters are eventually you
anyway.
There’s no way you can write a character who doesn’t somehow come from
you.
Nobody has that kind of vision. So, I want them to learn something from
their
hard times and wind up someplace better.”
“Going
to Dallas”
No
blinking red
light on the line tonight
Or any night out in the future
Kiss the people you hold dear
Forget that I was ever here
If word should reach you from the field, be cool
Try not to talk out of school
Make them beat it out of you if they want it
Live like a pack mule
[Chorus]
Going
to Dallas
As
far as anyone's concerned
Maybe
Montana
Depending
on the way the roads turn
Many
songs on
“Working My Way Down” are from 25 years ago when Irion and Stinson were
in a
band together, writing songs in an old rehearsal studio called “The
Alley
House.” They teamed up with Stinson’s close friend, Andy Jones, a
singer and
songwriter, who had composed several songs for them to sing back in the
day.
Soon after, Jones became ill and slipped into a coma, eventually
passing away.
The songs went unrecorded, until recently, when the pair reunited in
Irion’s
studio
“Bottle
and Me”
I’m
gonna sooth my
soul and ease my mind
Make
me forget
about the ones I left behind
Gonna
cut me loose
just like a jailhouse key
Honey,
don’t you
come between the bottle and me
Now
I’ve been told
to settle down
Aint
no percentage
in painting up the town
I’ll
dig my grave
eventually
Well,
I guess it’s
better left between the bottle and me
“The
title track
‘Working My Way Down’ was written by Andy Jones, the secret weapon in
the late
’90s in Mike and Johnny band,” says Stinson. Jones’ untimely death in
2011
meant these songs he’d written for us would be lost to history had we
not
recorded them. Honoring his memory and legacy was the catalyst for this
record
being made.”
“Working
My Way
Down”
How
many times
must I say the lines
and
pretend that
it don’t mean a thing
You’ve
got the
reason and I’ve got the rhyme
Ain’t
nothing else
I can bring
Now,
all my
chances are all used up
Can’t
get a drink
from an empty cup
When
I started, I
was way up town
But
I’m working my
way down
“The
album just
sort of took on a life of its own,” Irion said, after they got started,
seeing
what they had. “Mike and I both brought new songs to the table.”
“Taking
No for an
Answer”
I
been taking no
for an answer for too long
I’m
making like
Hank Snow and movin’ on
You
can send all
my mail to parts unknown
I
been taking no
for an answer for too long
Everything
I done
is done gone wrong
And
this mean old
town has cut me to the bone
If
they ask how
come I just quit hangin’ on
Say
he been taking
no for an answer for too long
The
musical
chemistry Mike and Johnny stumbled on years ago has only ripened with
age and
experience. The vocal blend still has the undeniable power, and the
combination
of Mike’s drumming and Johnny’s guitar playing reveals why they
gravitated
toward each other in the first place.
“Brand
New Love
Song”
Why
does every
chance I take
Make
my heart
break for no one’s sake
Why
does
everything I need
Make
my heart
bleed and go to weed
I got
a brand-new
love song to sing for you
And
the worst
thing about it is it’s true
Yeah,
the worst
thing about it is the truth in every line
And
the only
saving grace is that it rhymes, yeah it rhymes
Why
do all the
fools I’ve been
keep
lingering to
fool again
Why
is everything
I see
reminding me what
used to be
Cleaves
thinks the
pandemic had contradictory effects on his songwriting.
“On
one hand, the
future was unknown and scary, so it made me clam up,” he said. “During
other
periods, I took advantage (of the down time) to write. A couple songs
on the
album came out of the pandemic but most don’t have anything to do with
it.”
“Through the Dark”
We nurse our bruises
and we touch
our scars
We look up to the night, seeing chaos in the stars
Through endless time the same old dance
We stray out into the dark, in search of one last chance
When the night comes
creeping in
And the day has left a mark
I'll take you by the hand
Together through the dark
I'll tend the fire
through the
night and through the doubt
Can't fight the storm outside, but we can wait it out
“The
not knowing
was the worst for me. Wondering when or if it would be over.”
“Make Your Own Light”
You won't find it in a
bottle
It's as quiet as a prayer
It's quicker than rain, thinner than air
You can't ask it of another
It's more valuable than gold
Ever out of reach, a mystery to behold
[Chorus]
It always follows truth
It dwells deep inside
Though you search the world from low to high
You listen in the dark
In the deep of the night
You try once again, and again
You try to make your own light
He
describes his
songwriting process as coming to him in concentrated little
bursts. “I
have to isolate from day-to-day life,” he said. “If I have a good song
idea,
I’ll start at it for an hour and I don’t leave. Sometimes, something
will
happen.”
“Nature’s Darker Laws”
See the man from a
humble home, he
goes to work each day
Until he's told a stranger soon will take his job away
The sun goes down and in his heart a quiet anger gnaws
In his veins, therе runs the quickened blood of naturе's darker laws
"You must go on," our Father said, "Your faith will see you
through"
And all day long, he trudges on, he wants it to be true
But when he hears the demagogue, the rapturous applause
He's found the voice that fills the emptiness with nature's darker laws
“They
start with
good, strong source material. I don’t have that much of an imagination,
but I
collect characters or stories. I work at it, and sometimes they don’t
turn out,
but I throw them on the junk pile and maybe use them for parts.”
“Sparrow”
By the open barn door
he drinks
alone
In the elm a lone crow
looks away
No more to be done
Losing the sun
In the silence,
watching the sky
turn gray
A life that started
hard turned
soft with age
The disappearing years
blew by like
days
A calendar in the
picture show
tears off page by page
Life unwinds
Today, his little
sparrow flew away
Today, his little
sparrow flew away
“I
booked some
studio time for a month out. I hung out in our guest house and hammered
away
until I got it finished.”
“Put the Shovel Down”
Losin' friends and
family
Stumblin' along
Kicked out of every drinkin' hole in town
Every day just singin'
That same old jukebox song
Until he learned to put the shovel down
[Chorus]
Some guys keep right on diggin'
You could say they're trouble bound
If you wanna get out of the hole you're in
The first thing you gotta do is put the shovel down
From playing with
his family in the dance halls of Mabou to performing on stages around the
world, Jimmy Rankin has had quite the career. And the 59-year old Cape Bretoner
is celebrating his eighth solo studio recording since the Rankin Family (Jimmy
and three siblings) stopped performing in the late 1990’s.
“It wasn’t really
our intention going in, but we ended up doing much of the album pretty much
live off the floor,” Rankin explained.
“Doors of Assisi”
St. Francis was a
drinking man
Oh, he loved the
women, too
He walked down to
the lowlands
He gave the Devil
his own do
Open up the doors
of Assisi
Time to let the
light come shining in
Open up the doors
of Assisi
Today would be a
good day to begin
“Harvest Highway
just seemed like a great opener and appropriate title for the album. I keep a
lot of snippets for song ideas on my phone and one day I was on my way to a gig
driving Highway 101 in Nova Scotia when I noticed a sign referring to the Harvest
Highway in the Annapolis Valley. The song really started there and it grew as I
came back to the idea. It’s really a metaphor for life,” Rankin stated.
“Harvest Highway”
Driving down the
harvest highway
Country farms on
the bay of Fundy
Winter coming on,
it's getting colder
Passing time and
passing places
remembering long
lost faces
I'm like a
changing tide. I'm feeling older
Missing exits,
keep on going
keep on reaping
what we're sowing
That's what they
always say
You and me we ride
together
we roll through
any kind of weather
It's just another
day on the harvest highway
“Joel (Plaskett) produced
– he has the studio – but he’s also a singer, a songwriter, and a touring
musician. So, he knows live and he also knows studio, and we have a similar
interest in those albums from the ’60s and ’70s that have a sound that most
modern recordings just can’t touch,” Rankin adds.
“Missing at the
Somme”
Got a picture of
his mother waving in his mind’s eye
It’s the first
time that he saw the old man cry
Across the room
his net the one his brother used to wear
Sweet Jesus, don’t
you turn away, leave him lying there
Blood on his
hands, cold vacant stare
Looking so much
older than his years
He will become, he
will become, he will become
One of the Missing
At the somme
“I’m getting older
but in a good way and maybe even getting a bit wiser… The point being that at
my age, I can take a step back and see with a wide-angle lens the things that
matter to me now: love, family, friends, being home and at home in my own
skin.”
“Our Time is
Tonight”
The old man was
pacin', swearin' in an ancient tongue
The young girl was climbing from her window rung by rung
[Chorus]
Run, lover! Run, lover! Run, lover into the night!
Your mind is made. Forget about wrong and right
Oh, run, lover! Run, lover! Run, lover into the night!
There's a time for everything, and our time is tonight
Tell me, daughter, tell me where your daddy went wrong
I put food on the table and a house built safe and strong
Mother, run to the back porch. Swiftly! Get my gun
He aimed at the stranger standin' by the end o' the lane
He was thinkin' of his daughter, thinkin' of the family name
Then he put the gun down, said, "I'm not that kind of man.”
Strays by Kasey Anderson
These are songs
that were not quite finished or never appeared in the form they are here on any
other album over the last 10-12 years. In 2010, his Nowhere Nights made my Top
Ten.
I included this in
my top ten because I think the songs are really good at whatever stage they are
in. It is such an eclectic mix of styles
and genres with some informative details about where and when they were
recorded.
“Mylow”
Mylow you know
your mother loves you true
When you were asleep she used to love me too
When you were hungry and tired unshaven drunk and wired
Your mother’s love would always pull us through
She was still a girl when she left home
Musta been she got the itch to roam
She packed you up strapped on a skirt of blue
Beneath a blanket of stars, she found a different view
“Some of this I
can attribute to mental health stuff, some I can attribute to drug use, and
some to just the nature of my personality, but I decided for awhile not to make
anything but electric rock and roll.”
“Exit Ghost”
I recollect with mixed
emotions
All the good times
we used to have
But you were
making preparation
For the coming
separation
and we blew
everything we had
When you live your
life on credit
And your loving
days are done
All the checks you
signed with love and kisses
All come back insufficient
funds
Can you get to
that, I wanna know,
Can you get to
that
His song, “The
Dangerous Ones” was used in an anti-Trump movie by ElevenFilms.
“We were not
seeing this dude (Trump) as someone we should be taking seriously. So, that’s
how the song started.”
“Prelude” (“The Dangerous
Ones”)
They’re gonna
stack up the dead
‘til they black
out the sun
These white boys
with money
Make the whole
world run
So let the wall
hit your back
And the blood hit
your tongue
You and me, baby,
We’re the
dangerous ones
He has a new
record coming out in late 2024 that he claims will be his last. I very much
hope that is not the case. As avid consumers of fine songwriting, we would be
the worse for it.
“Lost Parade”
Last night I led
the lost parade
Up to the house to
see the mess I’d made
We filled every
room with smoke
Then hollered
until the windows broke
It’s quiet now and
the streets are bare
I see the image of
you everywhere
In the back of my
mind
In the back of my
mind
The world is full
of fools like me
Hypnotized by reverie
I learned the lies
and the lover’s prayers
I offered both to
God
But God didn’t
care
Honorable
Mentions:
Only Dead for a
Little While by Jon Dee Graham
O Sun, O Moon by
Bruce Cockburn
Just Like a Rose
by Laura Cantrell
Forsythia by Caleb
Caudle