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Rating:
Just the track "In The Sun", the opening song, would suffice to justify the critical acclaim (among the top ten albums of 2000 according to various specialized magazines) upon the release of Come To Where I'm From, Joseph Arthur's second album.
Indeed, this opening track is the synthesis of what musical perfection is: great melody, poetic and profound lyrics, a sublime arrangement with strings entering at just the right moment to add a dramatic tone to the atmosphere while Arthur's vocal performance is more poignant than ever.
This single song alone would elevate any album, but Arthur is a gifted songwriter and so he doesn’t settle for writing just one masterpiece. Instead, he fills the entire album with songs of piercing beauty and morbid charm.
Thus, we move from the unease of "Invisibile Hands" to the sick and paranoid ballad of "Ashes Everywhere," from the madness of "Creation Or A Stain" to the distorted folk of "Cockroach," to name just a few.
What makes these songs incredibly enchanting is above all the choice of the type of sound that looms over the entire work. A dense and dark sound, born from experimentation but which, through a reverse and strange journey, seems to reach the roots of folk and country.
The album's lyrics are nothing more than a long self-analysis where the author lays bare his fears, and like an exorcist does with prayers, Arthur fights his own demons with his songs, until he reaches the glacial (not redemptive) light of the captivating "Speed of Light".
If every album could be compared to a film, then this would be an Ingmar Bergman film, probably "The Hour of the Wolf". In that film, there was a sunset and there was a sunrise (even though it was cold and desolate), in the middle a long nightmare journey through the heart of the night and the subconscious, exactly what happens in Come To Where I'm From.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 In the Sun (05:36)
I picture you in the sun wondering what went wrong
And falling down on your knees asking for sympathy
And being caught in between all you wish for and all you seen
And trying to find anything you can feel that you can believe in
May God's love be with you
Always
May God's love be with you
I know I would apologize if I could see your eyes
'Cause when you showed me myself I became someone else
But I was caught in between all you wish for and all you need
I picture you fast asleep
A nightmare comes
You can't keep awake
May God's love be with you
Always
May God's love be with you
'Cause if I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
If I find
If I find my own way
How much will I find
You
I don't know anymore
What it's for
I'm not even sure
If there is anyone who is in the sun
Will you help me to understand
'Cause I been caught in between all I wish for and all I need
Maybe you're not even sure what it's for
Any more than me
May God's love be with you
Always
May God's love be with you
02 Ashes Everywhere (04:51)
I'll be silent in my solitude
Can't fight my smile
Or my gratitude
I'm afraid of what I might do
'Cuz there's no me if there's no me and you
I wish that I could open up your eyes
To feel the sun that burns in your mind
I can't deal with what you have done
Reincarnate I wonder who I might become
Without potential I'm already gone
I could be as fresh as hard bubblegum
I don't have nothing now
I want me some
First some of you
Then some of everyone
Oh darling since you've been away from me
I know how the pins fill
In the bowling alley
They say love is something you feel but never see
When I see you
I finally disagree
I'm just trying to be all that I can be
Without destroying you now
Or joining the army
Your ashes must be blowing everywhere
'Cuz I can seem to feel you
And you're nowhere near
And though you didnt say so
I can tell that you still care
We could have had it all
But then, nothing is fair
I still think about washing your hair
I wish I could wash away all of your despair
03 Chemical (04:11)
Taking my medicine
Changing the way I am
I don't know where I been
But I was well behaved
I don't know who you are
Coming out of my scar
Driving my crashing car
That needs a coat of paint
Chemical
Up and up away I go
Out of my head
I'm putting myself in jail
I'm hoping to see you fail
I'm flipping my head and tail
Over
I don't know the way
Over
I'm throwing up what I drank
No one here I would thank
I feel like a shark that's caught
In a goldfish tank
Swallowing a thousand pills
Trying to change how I feel
There's just to much time to kill
Between all my mistakes
Chemical
Up and up away I go
Out of my head
04 History (05:40)
You're the shaded sun
You're daddy�s broken gun
You're the loneliest moon
You are a butterfly dreaming about your cocoon
You're the only sound when I am blind
So I label you mine
You're the house you grew up in
You're always just arriving at your end
You're your mama�s shit eatin� grin and your daddy�s double chin
You're the first pair of shoes you ever went to school in
And you're the kid pretending she's in prison
Behind the bars of a jungle gym
Someone's gonna give you wings
And you'll think it's what you need
And you'll fly
You'll be so high
But you're history acts as your gravity
Your history acts as your gravity
Acts as your history acts as your gravity
You're the only one you ever believe in
You're the solution and you are the problem
You're a rapist and your only victim
You are fact and you are fiction
Ou�re the only one you've considered a friend
And now you're alive
Waiting for your life to begin
Again
You try to find you, you who is lost
But your hooked to the rush of approaching chaos
You're king for a minute but a fool for an hour
Alone in your room
You are a closed flower
Dreams of your shadow you're going to destroy
The way you handle yourself
Like an unbreakable toy
09 Tattoo (04:10)
I miss the days when you were in my world
It seems like it was a lifetime ago
We said our goodbye with tears
And promised to not let the years get away
But that's something you just have to say
In my pain
Is where I've tattooed your name
Was it a dream
Was it a dream
Going round and round and round and round your heart
Jeremy said he saw you out on second Ave
And you looked like you could use some sleep
You told him you sobered up
But now you are giving that up
'Cause sometimes
Love isn't stronger than wine
In my pain
Is where i've tattooed your name
Was it a dream
Was it a dream
Going round and round and round and round my heart
I wonder
What you must think about me
What I heard
Is you consider me dead
I guess that's fair of you
I never was good to you
I'm ashamed
For making you feel all my pain
When i sleep
Sometimes i still think we speak
Is it a dream
Is it a dream
Going round and round and round and round my heart
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Other reviews
By honeyandmoon
Joseph’s ability to write lyrics that are true poems, his husky voice that perfectly suits beautiful melodies, and the highly experimental production are the album’s highlight.
'Come To Where I’m From' is a jewel of rare beauty in the contemporary music scene.
