Taking a break from listening to a somewhat disappointing fistful of new tracks, I’ve had two songs in heavy rotation. The most recent one released Tuesday, the earlier one a week both.
Helen reviewed the Hold Steady’s “Our Whole Lives” and, correctly, complained about Craig Finn’s voice. I said the same thing awhile ago, his voice is so distinctive it overwhelms the songs. They can all sound the same if you’re not used to them. I think what I love so much about this song is that for me it is as vicarious a thrill as a love song is. There is a positive glow to the party Finn describes and a sheen of faith and joy. “Damn right I believe in love because I’ve been in love and I was loved right back”.
It sounds like fun and I mean sound, the ring ring rings and the clangs clangs clangs -what a blast!!! A great song and I liked it two months ago but I love it now.
Jackson Browne’s original never made that big an impression on me for two reasons: a) the instrumentation, for the fragility of the sentiment, seemed relatively bombastic and b) the stench of failure hadn’t permeated my very being the way it has by now. Monica Mancini’s version is a clear eyed, almost light for all its heaviness, and her phrasing is pauseful, like it is waiting for the condemnation of the world so it can clear it backwards. There is a pained watchfulness to Mancini: both sutbly beautiful and also wasted in emotion