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Rating: The birth of 16 Horsepower is lost in the dust of recent American history, in their gravelly way of playing a folk with a southern and mystical flavor. Put together by that genius of David Eugene Edwards in the early '90s, they have produced four studio albums: these are to be considered true milestones of the most gothic and religiously felt folk ever conceived and composed.
Despite having charted the tracks of a folk/country with southern contours, lost in the folds of time, they never found all the notoriety they deserved. Proponents of a revival of America's typical music, in the works of 16 Horsepower one can easily hear the sound (revisited in an original and absolutely dense manner) of bluesy and folkloristic tradition from across the ocean.
This extraordinary ability to evoke is put into music by Edwards (leader and main composer of the group) also with the help of percussionist Jean Yves Tola, bassist Pascal Humbert, and guitarist Steve Taylor. This is the lineup of Low Estate, the second chapter of their discography, released by A&M Records in 1997. Defining this album within very precise terms is far too limiting, and those who know the band's style and Edwards in particular know what I mean. In Low Estate there is not only folk or folk rock; you don’t just hear country, but rather all of it amalgamated with the most disparate musical undercurrents: raise your hand if you don't feel flashes of a certain type of gothic or if you can't perceive among the muffled or abrasive sound of percussion and banjo a sort of "desert blues" with utterly original traits. All of this is well present in Low Estate, which serves as the guiding thread that will carry these same elements into the subsequent (and even more splendid) "Secret South."
The pounding "My Narrow Mind" clarifies the stylistic conception of 16 Horsepower, while "For Heaven's Sake" is marked as one of the most beautiful and controversial tracks of the band, an absolute gem of the album. Although the previously mentioned song represents, in my opinion, the highlight of the album, it is not the only one worthy of note. Apart from some pieces that feel anonymous ("Brimstone Rock" and "Phyllis Ruth" in particular), all other compositions stand at more than worthy levels: the acid-tinged ballad "The Denver Grab" is beautiful, as is "Black Lung" which resembles a popular ballad around the warm jaws of a fire.
Low Estate is thus an album of multiple facets, all well chiseled together to be "chewed" right away. A complex and difficult work to digest, but once this journey through the desertic guts of the United States is completed, it will have borne its fruits. A long journey of religious power...
1. "Brimstone Rock" (4:29)
2. "My Narrow Mind" (2:58)
3. "Low Estate" (4:10)
4. "For Heaven's Sake" (4:55)
5. "Sac Of Religion" (3:28)
6. "The Denver Grab" (5:03)
7. "Ditch Digger" (3:22)
8. "Pure Clob Road" (3:43)
9. "Phyllis Ruth" (4:36)
10. "Black Lung" (2:27)
11. "Dead Run" (3:20)
12. "Golden Rope" (4:15)
13. "Hang My Teeth On Your Door" (2:36)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Brimstone Rock (04:28)
Listen closely to me now my darlin' girl
There's one who's out to have you
An jus his breath will burn your curls
Don't you fret
You needn't bother
Don't you fret
Here comes the father yet
Whatcha doin' up atop my roof
Creepin' cross them shingles
You 'bout scared me half to death girl
What's your name Ruthie Lingle
Oye I heard your talkin'
That little Jesus geek
Need a good ass good ass clockin'
Oye I seen your mockin'
Don't you dare boy - think my Lord
Hath done forgotten No
I beseech thee Lord clear my head
Before once again I scar the soul of that girl in my bed
O Lord clear my bed
For once again I scar the soul of that girl in my head
02 My Narrow Mind (02:58)
Wicked, wicked
From the mouth I spout - o Lord
Don let these thoughts come out
My knees they knock and my feet they fail
The thoughts I think I see your face turn pale
Take my hand an' you will see - the one in the wayback
Take my hand an' you will be the one atop the swayback
Your word so pretty
Yes I love that sound
My heart like a hammer does pound
My breath it leaves me to speak it
My legs they tremble to the ground
Wish I was a bible thumpin' fool
Ye from the old school
A mind as narrow as the road I walk
Always upright when I talk but
Take my hand and you will see...
03 Low Estate (04:12)
To Hell with boys creepin' up slowly
Swingin' them shovels 'round
Diggin' up words of pleasure
From evil hollow ground
O - An here's one now girl
The devil is in his eye
You'd better start stirring up soil boy
Or hear e'r you'll lye
Whispered to you in the dark
And I think you heard me say
Let's say goodbye like we said hello
In a friendly kind of way
Ye Charlie's neat & Charlie's keen but
David he's a dandy
David he's a nice young man
He feeds the girls on candy
Whispered to you in the dark
And all that sordid gain
Let's say goodbye like we said hello
In a friendly kinda way
Now what I done's my damage
An what you do is your'n
Y'all got nothin' on me
But I'll take that there
Crown of scorn
04 For Heaven's Sake (04:54)
I surely knew it was a trap ye
Yet my hands they would not listen
I shoulda known your word was flap
Comin' out all sweet an' drippin'
O so where could I go - yes but to the Lord
I been to your house an' see what you adore
I left there stiff - stiff as a board
Where could I go but to the Lord
When will I hurt for heaven's sake
When will I suffer for the sake of heaven
All my love well it is madness
Freely given to you folks with gladness
I will not live and die - no not by the sword
I am weak without the joy of the Lord
Taste and see that the Lord is good
Let's bend our knees like we know we should
We can't see clear - our eyes are made of wood
Taste and see boy that the Lord is good
05 Sac of Religion (03:28)
I'm a rompin' dead boy on a long road
What opened up my eyes to this
I'm just trying to keep 'em closed
Hey feller what ya got in that sac
Is it somethin' fer me?
A little knowin' is a dangerous thing boy
Please take it from me
'Cause I'm gone for today boys
Gone - but never far away
She won't come - an' I won't follow
Shadows lick the day
I entertained that thought so much
It'll never go away
Get outta here you yellow bellied snake
Slither your way through town
If e'r see you again -
Put you in the ground
'Cause I'm gone for today boys
Gone, but never far away
I'll burn lovely
Swoop on down an' grab me round
Land on me I'll burn lovely
Swoop on down - Jus' take off that
Singeing singing gown
06 The Denver Grab (05:08)
See my love cut down the lane
Sways and grinds ooh, that's your play
Ya treat me like your prayers
Though I'm alone
Yer drivin' me to pray, "Trouble" I'm undone
Hold me up
Will ye be my doll?
Hold me up
'Till the sun it cometh down
I didn't want it no
Blood is to blame
There's a little fury on me and I'm o.k.
Don't tell me that
You'll descend 'cause
I'm no bedlam - I'm your friend
See the girl -- The girl's alone
See the boy -- Away from home
Don't tell him nothin'
Leave well enough alone
Boy, oh boy, the boy's a stone
08 Pure Clob Road (03:43)
Are you weary my friends
Of my comin' 'round
Draggin' my chains 'cross your floor
You once had a stained glass look in your eye
Well, not any more
The train moves fast
As I walk this track
Carryin' sin in my sack
Same in the front as it is in the rear
He's taken our stripes on his back
On down to here
I cannot walk if you did not walk
I cannot breathe if you did not breathe
Sin in my marrow
Well this road is so narrow
No I cannot walk
This road is pure clob
On down to here
I figured that I would fall
Ye well I left it all
Sin in my marrow
Ye well this road is so narrow
I cannot walk
My Lord this road is pure clob
09 Phyllis Ruth (04:37)
The chill of coffeeville
She's in those hills still
Kindness of her face so white
The chill of coffeeville
Lord pray it be your will
That she dwell in your house tonight
As one with spirit yes
She goes where it goes
What my little girl sees from the sill
Nobody knows
As one with spirit yeh
She goes where it leads
O boy - that's where my little girl feeds
Should I do - do like you
Look long with swing eyes
An never talk about it
Phyllis Ruth
Yeah I should - do as you would
Walk right up to that box of wood
Step up girl
How far is heaven
I'll go tonight - be a man about it
Boy an hold you tight
11 Dead Run (03:21)
The devil's brand is on my bones
An from inside the holy ghost groans
Sure as shootin' the undertaker knows
He lays the headstones in endless rows
Ye one an all we croak like a raven
It's the dead an the dyin' we're cravin'
Ye one an all
Follow the man tall
Hear his voice
An drop to a dead crawl
Hey boy
Look straight at the sun
To the center you make a dead run
You're gonna halfta cut off both my hands
I got pride as big as Dixie Land
I wanna sit where the velvet is red yes an
Where can I lay this apple core?
I wanna drink of the blood that was shed girl
I can't breathe anymore
Ye that's right she's waltzin' out the door
To dandy lions waitin'
Ye that's right she wants more
She's my lady in waitin'
12 Golden Rope (04:16)
Oh, fire is the color of my true love's hair
Near to the father sits his golden chair
With prayer and petition to the king on his left
Light is the burden that I bear
Oh, so enchanting are these lovely chains that bind you
'Neath their deadly weight the lord's eye did find you
With fear and tremblin' before the one with your wounds
Your eyes are as empty as my savior's tomb,
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
There you are, hangin' by the golden rope
There you lie, no hope
Warm is the breath of his holy spirit
He who has ears to hear let him hear it
Torn were the hands of the worthy lamb
May you know his name and fear it
Warm is the breath of his holy spirit
May you know his name and fear it
There you are hangin' by the golden rope
There you lie, no hope
13 Hang My Teeth on Your Door (02:35)
your sympathy is my simple joy
your bossom my mobile home
free from the thunder that tore me asunder
i have you as my own
and i hold you over rolling on the floor
naked you say this is the way
let's sing an' dance some more
and there's love sore love in your eyes
there's rest love rest for me your lonely boy
rosey cheeks an' ruby lips fade with every sigh
dance in the middle an' flee from the ghetto
an' tango thigh to thigh
and please dare - show bare your need to me again
this is the way - redeem the day
an' daily pull me in
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