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Rating: "Jacksonville City Night" is the second annual release for Ryan Adams & The Cardinals following the splendid and vigorous "Cold Roses," and once again we are faced with a brilliant, timeless album that borders on being a masterpiece. It recalls the legendary country records of the '60s, those unforgettable ones from Mercury and Smash, which inspire the beautiful and boozy cover where the dominant color is the wisdom of Jack Daniels.
"Jacksonville City Night" is the highest proof album of the year, a truly intoxicating album where wine, beer, and whiskey flow through the 14 tracks, mixing together in an attempt to drown out the sorrows of feelings, lost loves, ended summers, life's disappointments, and sometimes life itself.
Ryan Adams has always been the bard of bars par excellence since his days with Whiskeytown, but with this album, he centers all his songwriting visions on the bar counter, and the evocative power of this music projects these images, vivid, flaming, and desperate, into the listener's mind: a country music jukebox in the corner, patrons sitting on stools, each with a story to tell and one to hide, then the girls moving gently to the rhythm of a country ballad, worn out and disappointed as they wait only for someone with the courage to love them after they've been screwed over. It's a place where time stops, where it's always September, where peace is always about to arrive but never actually does. I can see these people, I count them, in total there are fourteen, are they real or are they ghosts from the bartender's mind? What does it matter, the bar is beautiful only when the bartender knows his craft and he absolutely knows it, I look at him better and I recognize him, yes, it's him, it's Ryan Adams, he calls me and offers me a drink... it's a new cocktail, it's called "Jacksonville City Night," and it's delicious.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
05 The Hardest Part (02:52)
Pay my respect to the company store
I ain't got no money don't want no more
Pay my respects to the company boys now just move along
I worked hard for every little bit I got
And got lucky once on some advice
Met a dark haired girl that the Mississippi moon
Musta left by mistake one night
In a hurry, Lord
And that ain't the hardest part
The hardest part is loving
Somebody that cares for you so much
Promises don't pay cash at the bank
If they did I'm bidding your word
They couldn't pay me for the time that it took to write a check
To buy a babydoll for my girl
And I worked hard for every little bit I got
The things I got are gonna stay
and it's been flooding so hard on them company mines
That you know it's gonna flood someday
And you're gonna miss someone
And that ain't the hardest part
The hardest part is loving somebody that cares for you
And that ain't the hardest part
The hardest part is working and I've worked enough
I could stretch that penny like a silver line
Rolling through the pages of my life
Underneath your name where it's underlined
I've been turned around
I've been mystified by a true love
And that ain't the hardest part
Talkin' bout a true love
And that ain't the hardest part
And that ain't the hardest part
And that ain't the hardest part
11 Trains (04:08)
Trains moan in my sleep when I'm trying to go to bed
moving way to slow for whatever that they be carryin'
and I've been working hard ever since I was a kid
Trains moan in my sleep
Seems like something's always moving
Trains moan in my sleep when I'm trying to go to bed
Moving way to slow for whatever that they be carryin'
I've been working hard ever since I was a boy
Trains moan in my sleep
Seems like something is always moving
You know I don't always show
What it is I'm feeling baby doll
You know that the things that you want
Are that the things that you need
But the things that you love they're a lie
I'm gaining on them trains and fast
Trains moan in my sleep
Into the future and out of the past, into the future and out of the past
Trains moan in my head when I'm trying to go to sleep
Throwin' rocks at the window
When the sun's crawling up the sheets
And I've been working hard ever since I was a boy
Trains moan in my sleep
Gnawing on me like I was a chew toy
You know I don't always show
Whatever I'm feeling baby doll
You know that the things that you love
And the things that you want
Are the things that you want are a lie
I'm gaining on them trains and fast
Trains moan in my sleep
Into the future and out of the past
Into the future and out of the past
Into the future and out of the past
Into the future and out of the past
Trains moan in my head
When I'm trying to go to sleep
Moving way to slow for whatever that they're carryin'
I've been working hard ever since I was a kid
Trains moan in my sleep
Seems like I'm always moving
Trains moan in my sleep
Seems like I'm always moving
12 Pa (03:52)
Pa drove to town yesterday to pick out a grave
He found the lot where she'd lay
Then he drove to old man Ed Sederdoms's place
To find him some peace
He got there round about twelve
And he stayed 'till three
And the sun left him down in the valley
But the moon met him up in the hills by the lake
Reflecting the ghost of ma's face
Suppertime came and went
No one heard from him
Sis' left his food on his plate
At the end of the table right next to ma's place
Where nobody sits
Telephone rang about four
My sis answered it
And I felt the news through the floorboards
Like a long sufferin' moan
Like a wreck on the road
Like a joining of hands
Shalalala
Shalalala
Shala la la
Shalalala
Shalalala
Shala la
So I drove to town yesterday
To pick out his grave
I found the lot where they'd lay
And I drove to old man Ed Sederdoms's place
To find me some peace
14 Don't Fail Me Now (04:30)
Oh gal, oh gal, with your darkened eyes
Kindle the wood and prepare the lies
And don't fail me know
Oh me, oh my, oh beast with might
Drown me with water and burn me with fire
And don't fail me now
Just don't fail me now
You don't do me right
You don't do me right
Why you do me wrong when the rope gets tight?
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
Oh day, oh night, oh darkened light
Drown me with water and burn me with fire
And don't fail me know
Oh Mary, oh mother of all that is near
Lead me to freedom from my kingdom of fear
And don't fail me now
Just don't fail me now
You don't do me right
You don't do me right
Why you do me wrong when the rope gets tight?
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
Oh gal, oh gal, with your darkened heart
Kindle the wood and prepare to start
Just don't fail me now
Just don't fail me now
You don't do me right
You don't do me right
Why you do me wrong when the rope gets tight?
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
Lyrics based on JCN version:
Oh gal, oh gal with your darkened eyes
Kindle the wood and prepare the fire
And don't fail me now
Oh gal, oh gal with your darken soul
Kindle the wood and get ready to go
Just don't fail me now
And don't fail me now
You don't do me right
You don't do me right
Why you do me wrong?
When the rope gets tight
Oh gal, oh gal with your darken soul
Bundle up my things and get ready to go
And don't fail me now
Oh Mary, oh mother, of all that is near
Lead me to freedom from my kingdom of fear
And don't fail me now
Just don't fail me now
You don't do me right
You don't do me right
Why you do me wrong?
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
When the rope gets tight
Why you do me wrong?
Why you do me wrong?
When the rope gets tight
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