According to the liner notes, "'New Songs of Freedom' is a special mini-album from Taylor bringing together songs from several upcoming projects along with a couple of lost classics from the out of print cult album 'Black and Blue America'. These powerful folk-rock songs reflect Taylor's unique original and unique perspective on America's past, present and future."
The album opens with the gutsy and powerful "Dance With A Hole In Your Shoe". If I'm correct, the song is singing about learning from mistakes and be willing to listen to each other. It also warns to be aware of the reprocussions of actions. "So kill everybody that's not like you/Who's friends can come back and they can kill you too/and everybody can kill somebody/And maim somebody/And lame somebody/And tame somebody/And shame somebody/Dance with a hole in your shoe"
The album is peppered with podcasts that Taylor recorded live. The first of these is "Former American Soldier", written about American soldiers left in Vien Tiem (sp?) after the Vietnam War. It's straightfoward storytelling, and is very passionate. It's very soft but you can feel the serious tones in Taylor's voice.
"New Song of Freedom" picks the album's tone back up while continuing the political nature of the lyrical content. It's very, very refreshing to hear lyrics that sing of peace without using silly metaphors like many politically-charged songs written today. Much in the style of Neil Young's "Living with War", the album is critical at time of governments past and present but also paints a picture of hope.
"Sunshine's a Waterfall" is a song that speaks about helping others, even just a little bit. It's a fun little number with a good message. A very nice song.
"Black and Blue America" opens with a audio montage of moments from America's past, such as the announcement of MLK and JFK's assasinations, Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat, a DJ announcing an Elvis Presley single, the retirement of a baseball player, and others. The song itself sings about the 50s and 60s, both the good times and the bad times. The song just tells it like it was, not critical or appraising, but just an observation. It's a slow, somewhat solemn-sounding song.
"Dance with Jesus" is a fun old-time song, just singing about himself. Best line is "I say 'I'm bad, Lord.'/ he says 'Whatever.'/ 'Son in time you're gonna dance with me.'
"Theme from An American Hero" is written about America, as if she were a person. 'She was with me across the sea/south of the Bay of Japan/Just Give Her your love and your pride/and lay down beside her/and give her what's left of your heart.' A love song for America that sings about his relationship with America.
The last track is the blooper reel/recording session from "Dance With a Hole In Your Shoe". It reveals the song to have been much more upbeat, and actually works a little better.
Overall, the album is powerful, but is still very listenable on a casual level. A great travelling album.
Key Tracks: "Dance With a Hole in Your Shoe", "New Song of Freedom", "Sunshine's a Waterfall", "Dance with Jesus"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment