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Rating: Second album from the band from Louisville, Kentucky. First lineup. 2001.
I let myself be overwhelmed by the flat calm of summer. The empty house, the scorching walls, and the half-closed blinds trying to keep the thermometer below seventy-seven degrees.
I try to hide. Yet, a fine dust of light still seeps in, blurring my vision and plunging me into another dimension.
Still a few technical errors here and there, it's unclear if they were really intentional or simply due to the speed of the live recordings. But you can already sense the enormous talent of frontman Jim James.
A work that today seems somewhat dated on one hand, but on the other, anticipates many small trends that emerged only a decade later, like that whole myriad of American folk singer-songwriters, guitar and voice, neither flesh nor fish.
The keyboards of newcomer Danny Cash are only hinted at.
Some tracks are only briefly touched upon, like “If It Smashes Down,” voice and banjo, beautiful. They probably carried some meaning that for the author, just over twenty, was very important. Thus impossible to remove from the tracklist.
The whole album still seems to be searching for a real band to support James' creativity and sensitivity. In search of their own mojo, in short.
There are also more heavy songs, without a precise identity though. Like “Strangulation!,” which could easily belong to some work of the darker Neil Young, the influence is still very noticeable.
A very long album (seventy-four minutes, almost a double), perhaps too long.
But then at a certain point, something strange happens, a pearl of rare beauty, “Hopefully,” and everything becomes clearer.
Now I understand. I hope everything goes well, and if it doesn’t, I'll try to hold on till the end.
Tracklist and Lyrics
02 At Dawn (00:00)
at dawn they ride again, they'll haul you out to the streets.
They'll burn your papers and your empty trash cans,
beat this thought into your head, singin over and over again:
"all your life is obscene!"
"forget the papers, forget your musical dreams!"
but that's when my knife rises,
their life ends and my life starts again!
03 Lowdown (00:00)
lowdown, cheatin, aint no need for repeatin,
so love, dawg, cant ye see? That you never gotta fight with me.
Hurtin. Beatin. Aint no need for repeatin,
so love dawg cant ye see, that you never gotta bleed for me.
Chancing, glancing, sho nuff mood for romancing
so love dawg cant ye see that you only gotta dance with me.
04 The Way That He Sings (00:00)
why's it so strange when they say that the world's movin upwards?
Why's it surreal when my hands feel they cant roll the dice?
Why's it so great just to wake every day, alive and by your side.
It's a mystery I guess, there's lots of things I cant find.
Its not the way that you look, but your move that catches my eye.
Why's it so soft when the cannons unload on the others?
Why're we so loud when we say it wont happen to us?
Why does my mind blow to bits every time they play that song?
It's just the way that he sings,
not the words that he says, or the band.
I'm in love with this soul, it's a meaning that I understand.
05 Death Is The Easy Way (00:00)
some say, death is the easy way and I think they're right. Cause nights tick, by like a long week except when you stop by. And I know that tryin gets nothing done and I see you're about dry. Cause nothing gets you high, you're poor the day you die, and alcohol it only makes you tired. But seein you feels good, and its always understood. That anything much sweeter would make me die.
06 Hopefully (00:00)
I wont ask you where you're goin.
I wont ask you where you been.
I know after a million times you get sick of all my lines,
but I just wanna see you safe again.
Hopefully it occurs to me that there's one thing I cant stand.
That's the thought of a single day, without your head in my hand.
I know that just now I aint been showin,
the kind of love you know that I can.
So gimmie a little time and you'll be knowin your good lovin
baby is back on top again.
I always hoped you'd be showin,
and now you've shown as much as you can.
But after each time im still glowin
with a good lovin smile that's yours until the end.
07 Bermuda Highway (00:00)
sometimes I walk around town looking at faces
wonderin why their bodies go to silly places.
Walkin past the carpet mills looking in and takin stills,
your ass it draws me in like a Bermuda highway.
Oh, don't carve me out! Don't let your silly dreams,
fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall.
Two times I fell asleep in a dirty basement
snoozing in cobwebs and the cement.
Sometimes I wonder why that meek guy got all the fame,
maybe im to blame for his short bitter fucked up life.
14 Phone Went West (00:00)
is there a doctor in the house tonite?
If there's a wrong, he could make it right.
Is there still a lock on your front door?
Is there still a lock on yer back door?
Tell me im wrong, tell me im right.
Tell me there's nobody else in the world.
Tell me im wrong. Tell me im right.
Tell me there's nobody else in the world.
16 Hopefully (00:00)
I wont ask you where you're goin.
I wont ask you where you been.
I know after a million times you get sick of all my lines,
but I just wanna see you safe again.
Hopefully it occurs to me that there's one thing I cant stand.
That's the thought of a single day, without your head in my hand.
I know that just now I aint been showin,
the kind of love you know that I can.
So gimmie a little time and you'll be knowin your good lovin
baby is back on top again.
I always hoped you'd be showin,
and now you've shown as much as you can.
But after each time im still glowin
with a good lovin smile that's yours until the end.
18 Bermuda Highway (00:00)
sometimes I walk around town looking at faces
wonderin why their bodies go to silly places.
Walkin past the carpet mills looking in and takin stills,
your ass it draws me in like a Bermuda highway.
Oh, don't carve me out! Don't let your silly dreams,
fall in between the crack of the bed and the wall.
Two times I fell asleep in a dirty basement
snoozing in cobwebs and the cement.
Sometimes I wonder why that meek guy got all the fame,
maybe im to blame for his short bitter fucked up life.
19 Lowdown (00:00)
lowdown, cheatin, aint no need for repeatin,
so love, dawg, cant ye see? That you never gotta fight with me.
Hurtin. Beatin. Aint no need for repeatin,
so love dawg cant ye see, that you never gotta bleed for me.
Chancing, glancing, sho nuff mood for romancing
so love dawg cant ye see that you only gotta dance with me.
21 At Dawn (00:00)
at dawn they ride again, they'll haul you out to the streets.
They'll burn your papers and your empty trash cans,
beat this thought into your head, singin over and over again:
"all your life is obscene!"
"forget the papers, forget your musical dreams!"
but that's when my knife rises,
their life ends and my life starts again!
24 Phone Went West (00:00)
is there a doctor in the house tonite?
If there's a wrong, he could make it right.
Is there still a lock on your front door?
Is there still a lock on yer back door?
Tell me im wrong, tell me im right.
Tell me there's nobody else in the world.
Tell me im wrong. Tell me im right.
Tell me there's nobody else in the world.
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