Somehow, Someday March 3, 2009

Telling someone how you feel about them can be way harder than it should.  This song features a narrator who obviously has some pretty serious feelings (and romantic interest) towards someone he has known for quite a while now, and he’s trying to figure out how he’s going to let her know that he wants his relationship with her to move from friendship to something heavier.  It looks like telling her is his only option, too.  He openly admits “There ain’t no way I’ll ever stop from loving now.”  This doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s going to be telling her soon, though.  When he says “I’m gonna try and show you somehow/Somehow…/Someday…” 

Who knows when “someday” will come?  To be honest, there’s a really good chance that it never comes… 

I’ve always really enjoyed this song, and I feel like it would have been a great choice for a single.  As an R.E.M. fan, I find the guitars pretty much irresistable, and I imagine Peter Buck would definitely be proud.  This song just has such a big chorus, it’s a shame that it wasn’t sent out to promote Gold.

Sweet Illusions February 28, 2009

This was a song that I really liked on my first listen because of the guitar intro.  It reminded me of those old Glen Campbell songs that had the solos with the tremolo effect.  While the “Wichita Lineman”/”Galveston” vibe may not have exactly been the intended sound Ryan and the Cards were going for on this song, it’s just a little something I always got out of it.  Luckily, once you get past the intro, there’s a really great song there.  Lyrically, it might be one of the best on Cold Roses (or any of his albums with The Cardinals). 

There are so many lines that just say more than a whole song could (in most cases):

Let me go, I’m only letting you down

I ain’t got nothing but love for you now

You never knew me, but I did my best

These are some incredibly heavy lyrics set to music that is really pleasant and cheerful sounding.  There are really nice jangly guitars and make a nice atmosphere around everything else, and great lines like the ones I just mentioned are icing on the cake.

Magnolia Mountain February 25, 2009

I got into Ryan Adams in 2006, and started going after his back catalog like it was nobody’s business.  I was nuts about “Gold” and “Demolition”, found pleasure in listening to “Rock n Roll”, and connected with “Love Is Hell” more than I should have.  When I finally hit “Cold Roses”, I didn’t know what to think.  I could tell by the artwork that this album was just going to be…  you know… different… 

So when I put in that first disc and heard this start up, I really didn’t know what to think.  After the first listen, I could get into “Beautiful Sorta” and a few other obvious ones, but it wasn’t until a few more spins that I realized how great of a song “Magnolia Mountain” is.  What I like about the album is the fact that it’s set in its own little world.  There’s Magnolia Mountain, the Easy Plateau, Cherry Lane, Meadowlake Street…  I’m not sure if all of the geographical titles were intentional or not, but I’m a big fan of them. 

What I really like about this song is the way they manged to really capture the soft/loud dynamics without sounding like Nirvana or something.  Really, this is probably the most live-sounding recording the band has.  Sure, they tried to achieve it on Cardinology, but there’s a certain freedom I hear on “Magnolia Mountain” that hasn’t been matched by any other studio recording I’ve ever heard.

My Winding Wheel February 22, 2009

I’ve expressed in several other posts on here that I never really saw Heartbreaker as the amazing album that a lot of other fans do.  I feel like it has some good songs and a few that are absolutely amazing, such as “Oh My Sweet Carolina” and today’s song: “My Winding Wheel.”  It’s a pretty simple folk song, all built around a loose guitar rhythm and lyrics about lovving someone who has other men on her mind.  What’s interesting about it is the fact that this song isn’t sad, though.  Rather than sitting around, feeling sorry that he isn’t up to her standards, the narrator is defiant and challenges her to go out and try to find someone better.

The chorus is one of his best.  “Buy a pretty dress/Wear it out tonight/For anyone you think could outdo me/Oh, better still/Be my winding wheel” truly says it all.  But, to be honest with you, I don’t know what a “winding wheel” could be.  I mean, I guess every wheel winds…  I just don’t really understand the words in the line.  I completely get what he’s saying, but the term just doesn’t really click with me.  I feel like this song is the highlight of his folkier material, and I’m surprised it isn’t a regular in his setlists.

Voices February 17, 2009

I feel like the album’s artwork is a visual presentation of today’s song: “Voices.”  The lyrics quite obviously deal with someone dying, and the cover (drawn by Ryan himself) shows a cloaked figure with a scythe walking towards a house with some other shadowy people walking behind him. 

It’s interesting to see all of these songs about the same topic on 29.  I mean, death is found pretty frequently in music and other forms of art; but there are references to people trying to resist death.  Look at “The Sadness”, which is truly a battle over whether or not the main character gets to live.  This song isn’t as violent or action packed, but much more somber.  Really, the resistance towards death is over, and it’s just a lot of begging. 

“Voices” is one of the songs I find hardest to listen to.  I feel like there’s too much emotion and intensity sometimes, and I seriously have to end it early.  I’m just a big baby, though…

This Is It February 14, 2009

I have a friend whose favorite Ryan Adams songs are the ones where his voice sounds really strained.  There are several on Demolition, a few on Love Is Hell, and a few more found on Rock n Roll.  One of those songs is the one I’m writing about today: “This Is It.”  It’s very reflective of the early 2000s back-to-the-garage movement that saw a surge of bands like The White Stripes, The Strokes, and every other band with “The” in front of their names.  However, most of their lyrics are somewhat charming, while the same can’t be said for “This Is It.” 

I mean, seriously, how can you kiss someone on the teeth?  I guess you could if you tried, but I don’t know that you’d really want to.  For the most part, though, the rest of the lyrics make sense.  It has a really nice, big chorus: “Don’t waste my time/This is it/This is really happening.”  But it sticks to its punk rock guns throughout the whole song, only straying when the synths kick in before the second chorus. (which sounds really cool)

My Love For You Is Real February 10, 2009

I really enjoyed Follow The Lights more than most people, I think.  The two truly new songs gave us a peek at a very different Ryan Adams and the Cardinals than we had seen on Easy Tiger.  While that album had a lot of pretty intense moments, this material presented a band who were writing songs that were much more relaxed and peaceful sounding.  I feel like these are the first songs that could be listed as “The Cardinals”, due to the fact that they play a much bigger role in it than previously.  Especially in “My Love For You Is Real”, where the backing vocals weave in and out, working well with the CSNY-esque music.

While “Follow The Lights” can be praised for carrying a great message and being charmingly simple, “My Love For You Is Real” is almost the opposite.  My favorite part is when the reverb-laden, distorted electric guitar chords get thrown in the middle of the mix near the end.  I don’t know that they’ve done this song live, but I feel like it carries the potential for some nice jamz… (with a z!)

Oh My Sweet Carolina February 5, 2009

This was one of the first Ryan Adams songs I liked, and I’m really happy to see that he’s been playing it live again.  Maybe I’ll get to hear it when I go down to Nashville and catch him on March 15.  It’s so different from his other songs, though.  It’s not a bad difference, though.  While some may argue that it sounds like he’s holding himself back, that’s definitely not the case.  This is one of those songs that needs to be simple to get its message across, and that’s exactly what he did with it. 

Really, the backing vocals courtesy of Emmylou Harris are better than any big budget choir, and that simple guitar part says more than any experienced orchestra could.  There are some great live performances featuring harmonica that really add to the song, but it was unfortunately left off of the recording.  I’m a big fan of when he busts out the harp, mostly because it’s like the poor man’s woodwind section.  It can really add a lot of emotion to a song when used properly, and it really takes this song to the next level. 

This song is so lonely and remorseful, looking back at how he runs away from everything.  He misses his home, but feels like he can’t go back on his own.  The final verse is the saddest, where he sings about missing his family, and saying “Up here in the city, it feels like things are closing in/The sunset’s just my lightbulb burning out.”  Damn…

Sweet Black Magic February 4, 2009

God, I love it when Ryan Adams gets folky.  This is right up there with “Pearls On A String” for my favorite folk/bluegrass style song of his.  I think one of the reasons I like this one so much is because it breaks one of the major rules of bluegrass.  While a lot of songs refer to simpler times in the Southeastern/Midwestern rural U.S., he goes ahead and modernizes it with references to Los Angeles and drugs…  Not exactly “Keep On The Sunny Side”…

There are bouncy banjos, warm acoustic guitars deep in the background, and some backup singers who make this song sound like it could have been recorded during the Great Depression.  (You know, if they don’t pay any attention to the lyrics)  This is one of the few songs on the bonus disc that I feel wouldn’t have fit on Gold that well, but I’m definitely glad they included it.  It’s a fun listen and a really good song to drive to, as I discovered recently.

You Will Always Be The Same January 31, 2009

It seems like sometimes the quieter songs are the ones that have the greatest impact on the listener.  Songs like “You Will Always Be The Same” will always mean more to me than a song by a band like Radiohead who try to fit a jillion different sounds in one song.  Is it because the focus is on the songwriting and leaves the artist much more vulnerable and honest?  I think that’s a big part of it…  But it’s also like my love for short songs, it says everything that needs to be said without anything extra or excessive. 

“You Will Always Be The Same” is right up there with “Dear Chicago” for my favorite song on Demolition.  I like the idea of these unfinished songs being released, just because you get to see them in their raw, natural, beautiful form. 

Demolition 4 Life!