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Rating: Late '90s: the peak period for MTV's musical-media dictatorship: the years of Britney Spears, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and so on; years when Blink-182 captured the hearts of "rebellious" teenagers and talented bands like Fastball were happily dismissed after a single; in that era, it was truly rare for people with real talent to reach the highest peaks of musical popularity, and rightly so, those who achieved it had the sacred right to self-celebration, even lavish and ostentatious.
Take Sheryl Crow, for example: born in 1962 in Kennett, Missouri, in the heart of America's countryside, and having reached success at the age of 31 after a long and tough grind, with three studio albums under her belt and more than eight million records sold, a perhaps mediocre figure for an upstart who makes scantily-clad videos panting like a calf in heat, but of absolute value for a singer-songwriter, musician, and performer in her own right (sad but true) in 1999 decides to celebrate herself live, and so far everything is normal: the first live album of Ms. Crow's career is recorded at Central Park, NYC, and the choice of this prestigious location already hints at the ambitions and intentions of the Missouri Diva; the live setlist features songs like "Gold Dust Woman" (Fleetwood Mac), "Happy" (Rolling Stones), "White Room" (Cream), and "Tombstone Blues" (Bob Dylan), guest stars of the event are the Dixie Chicks, Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks, Eric Clapton, and Keith Richards.
This whole parade of stars presented like this might also seem an unnecessary exhibition, even a bit opportunistic unless you consider that we're dealing with Sheryl Crow, someone who has clawed her way to every bit of success she's achieved, and who knows how to express all her charisma and personal artistic creed even live: supported by an excellent band, SC (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, harmonica) brings to life a sparkling performance where she excels in "White Room", a song already powerful and evocative that gains a particular, almost exotic touch thanks to Sheryl's voice blending perfectly with that of the legendary Slowhand and in the biting finale "Tombstone Blues", a tribute to one of her greatest inspirations, performed with the right energy and abrasive edge; but this is above all a Sheryl Crow concert, showcasing her versatility, with her inimitable voice that shifts from one register to another with the style and savoir-faire typical of the greatest, expressing different moods: there's the engaging energy of the opener "Everyday Is A Winding Road" and the grittier and more shameless rhythms of "A Change Would Do You Good", "There Goes The Neighborhood", and "All I Wanna Do", reinterpreted in a talking-blues style and much more mature and edgy compared to the studio version; and if it's no surprise that an arena anthem like "If It Makes You Happy" gets a perfect rendition, with its guitar framework almost urging the listener to join SC in singing that memorable chorus at the top of their lungs, a stunning and self-deprecating "Leaving Las Vegas" is surprisingly positive, delivered lightly, like a soft, almost spoken lullaby with a gently intoxicating aftertaste, bringing a smile and a pleasant sense of fulfillment, almost of inner peace.
Of course, manifestos like the sweet "Strong Enough", here supported by the Dixie Chicks' backing vocals, which immediately captivates with its straightforward and fresh simplicity, and "My Favorite Mistake", in my opinion, one of the most elegantly sexy and provocative songs of all time both musically and lyrically, can't be missed; it's accompanied by two lesser-known gems like "It Don't Hurt" and "The Difficult Kind", masterfully duetted with Sarah McLachlan, both from "The Globe Sessions," the most difficult album of Sheryl Crow's entire career; probably I would have preferred a live album that was solely and exclusively SC, perhaps including little masterpieces like "Solidify", "The Na-Na Song", "Oh Marie", and "Free Man", just to name a few; conceived under the "Sheryl Crow and Friends" formula, this album perhaps loses a bit of uniqueness, but should be interpreted with a specific perspective; namely as a demonstration of strength by an artist at the peak of her career, who with a grand show filled with illustrious guest appearances wants to prove that it's still possible to create great music, real music, and reach a large audience (unfortunately never large enough, especially in the old continent of Katy Perry and Amy Winehouse), this is my personal interpretation, but upon closer inspection, it would be typical of Sheryl Crow's style, a style that since I've had the chance to know, I have never stopped loving and appreciating, for which at least for today, neither Whiskey nor Cointreau, I am drunk on Sheryl Crow.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Everyday Is A Winding Road (05:29)
I hitched a ride with a vending machine repair man
He said he's been down this road more than twice
He was high on intellectualism
I've never been there but the brochure looks nice
Jump in, let's go
Lay back, enjoy the show
Everybody gets high, everybody gets low,
These are the days when anything goes
[Chorus]
Everyday is a winding road
I get a little bit closer
Everyday is a faded sign
I get a little bit closer feeling fine
He's got a daughter he calls Easter
She was born on a Tuesday night
I'm just wondering why I feel so all alone
Why I'm a stranger in my own life
Jump in, let's go
Lay back, enjoy the show
Everybody gets high, everybody gets low
These are the days when anything goes
[Chorus]
I've been swimming in a sea of anarchy
I've been living on coffee and nicotine
I've been wondering if all the things I've seen
Were ever real, were ever really happening
[Chorus]
03 The Difficult Kind (05:56)
I think I was wrong
I think you were right
That all my angry words
Will keep me up at night
And through the old screen door
I still can hear you say
Oh, Honey won't you stop
Treating me that way
If you could only see
What love has made of me
Then I'd no longer be in your mind
The difficult kind
Cause babe I've changed
Tell it to me slow
Tell me with your eyes
If anyone should know
How to let it slide
I swear I can see you
Coming up the drive
And there ain't nothing like regret
To remind you you're alive
Chorus
I crossed the canyon a thousand times
But never noticed what was mine
What you'll remember of me tonight
Well, it almost makes me cry
Yeah, it almost makes me cry
Oh ballbreaking moon and ridiculing stars
The older I get, the closer you are
Don't you have somewhere that you need to be
Instead of hanging here making a fool of me
If you could only see
What love has made of me
Then I'd no longer be in your mind
The difficult kind
But you won't see the change in me
If you could only see
What love has made of me
But I'll forever be in your mind
The difficult kind
But you won't see
No you won't see
The good in me
But babe I've changed
Cause babe I've changed
05 There Goes The Neighborhood (05:32)
Hey let's party, let's get down
Let's turn the radio on, this is the meltdown
Get out the camera, take a picture
Drag queens and the freaks are all out on the town
And cowboy Jim's in bed
Nursing a swollen head
Sunshine Sally and Peter Ustanov
Don't like the scene anyhow
I dropped acid on a Saturday night
Just to see what the fuss was about
Now there goes the neighborhood
Photo chick made to look sickly
Is standing in her panties in the shower
She plays the guitar in the bathroom
While the police dust her mother's plastic flowers
And Schoolboy John's in jail
Making a killing through the U.S. Mail
Sunshine Sally and Peter Ustanov
Don't like the scene anyhow
I dropped acid on a Saturday night
Just to see what the fuss was about
Now there goes the neighborhood...
Neighborhood...
Well there goes the neighborhood
This is the movie of a screenplay
Of a book about a girl who meets a junkie
Messenger gets shot down
Just for carrying the message to her flunkie
We can't be certain who the villains are
'Cause everyone's so pretty
But the after-party's sure to be a wing-ding
As it moves into your city, oh...
Sunshine Sally and Peter Ustanov
Don't like the scene anyhow
I dropped acid on a Saturday night
Just to see what the stink was about
Sunshine Sally and Peter Ustanov
Don't like the scene anyhow
I dropped acid on a Saturday night
Just to see what the fuss was about
Now there goes the neighborhood...
Hood...
Now there goes the neighborhood
There goes the neighborhood
08 Leaving Las Vegas (07:21)
Life springs eternal
On a gaudy neon street
Not that I care at all
I spent the best part
Of my losing streak
In an Army Jeep
For what I can't recall
Oh, I'm banging on my TV set
And I check the odds and I
And I place my bet
I pour a drink
And I pull the blinds
I wonder what I'll find
I'm Leaving Las Vegas
Lights so bright
Palm sweat, blackjack
On a Saturday night
Leaving Las Vegas
Leaving for good, for good
I'm leaving for good
I'm leaving for good
Used to be I could drive up to
Barstow for the night
Find some crossroad trucker
To demonstrate his might
But these days it seems
Nowhere is far enough away
So I'm leaving Las Vegas today
I'm Leaving Las Vegas
Lights so bright
Palm sweat, blackjack
On a Saturday night
Leaving Las Vegas
Leaving for good, for good
I'm leaving for good
I'm leaving for good
I'm standing in the middle of the desert
Waiting for my ship to come in
But now no joker, no jack, no king
Can take this loser hand
And make it win
I'm Leaving Las Vegas
Lights so bright
Palm sweat, blackjack
On a Saturday night
Leaving Las Vegas
Leaving for good, for good
I'm leaving for good
I'm leaving for good
I quit my job as a dancer
At the Lido des Girls
Dealing blackjack until one or two
Such a muddly line between
The things you want
And the things you have to do
I'm Leaving Las Vegas
Lights so bright
Palm sweat, blackjack
On a Saturday night
Leaving Las Vegas
Leaving for good, for good
I'm leaving for good
I'm leaving for good
I'm leaving Las Vegas
And I won't be back
No I won't be back
Not this time
09 Strong Enough (03:36)
God, I feel like hell tonight
Tears of rage I cannot fight
I'd be the last to help you understand
Are you strong enough to be my man?
Nothing's true and nothing's right
So let me be alone tonight
Cause you can't change the way I am
Are you strong enough to be my man?
Lie to me
I promise I'll believe
Lie to me
But please don't leave, leave, don't leave
I have a face I cannot show
I make the rules up as I go
So try and love me if you can
Are you strong enough to be my man?
My man......
Are you strong enough? (to be my man....)
Are you strong enough? (to be my man....)
Are you strong enough? (my.....man)
When I've shown you that I just don't care
When I'm throwing punches in the air
When I'm broken down and I can't stand
Would you be man enough to be my man?
Lie to me
I promise, I'll believe
Lie to me
But please don't leave
10 It Don't Hurt (05:56)
It don't hurt like it did.
I can sing my song again.
It don't hurt like it did.
I can sing my song again.
I scraped the paper off the wall.
I put down carpet in the hall.
I left no trace of you at all.
And I can sing my song again.
I don't dream 'cuz I don't sleep.
The moon is hanging like your hat.
The sun comes up, well I don't see
Curtains tied up like a bat.
The electric man looks good today.
Maybe not, well I'm trying hard.
Trying hard to feel that way,
The electric man's a good place to start.
Took your paintings off the wall.
That one of me that you called doll.
I added on 'cuz the house was feeling small.
Now I can sing my song again.
I don't think of you no more
Except for everyday or two.
I don't think of you no more
Except for in between the sun and moon.
Packed up and moved out after all.
Bulldozed the house and watched it fall.
That blessed sight I still recall
I can sing my song again
I can sing my song again
It don't hurt like it did, it hurts worse.
Who do I kid?
(Sheryl Crow/Jeff Trott)
11 A Change Would Do You Good (05:18)
Ten years living in a paper bag
Feedback baby, he's a flipped out cat
He's a platinum canary, drinking falstaff beer
Mercedes Ruehl in a rented Lear
Bottom feeder, insincere
Profit low-fi pioneer
Sell the house and go to school
Get a young girlfriend, daddy's jewel
A change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
I think a change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
God's little gift is on the rag
Poster girl person in a fashion mag
Canine, feline, Jekyll and Hyde
Ya wear your fake fur on the inside
Queen of South Beach, aging blues
Dinner's at six, wear your cement shoes
I thought you were singing your heart out to me
Your lips were syncing and now I see
A change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
I think a change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
''[Interlude]''
A change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
I think a change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
Chasing dragons with plastic swords
Jack-off Jimmy everybody wants more
Scully and Angel on the kitchen floor
And I'm calling Buddy on the Ouija board
I've been thinking 'bout catching a train
Leave my phone machine by the radar range
"Hello it's me, I'm not at home,
If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone"
I think a change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
"Hello it's me, I'm not at home,
If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone"
I think a change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
I think a change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
Oh I think a change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
Oh I think a change (a change'd do you good) would do you good
(A change'd do you good)
13 If It Makes You Happy (05:03)
I've been long, a long way from here
Put on a poncho, played for mosquitos,
And drank til I was thirsty again
We went searching through thrift store jungles
Found Geronimo's rifle, Marilyn's shampoo
And Benny Goodman's corset and fan
Well, o.k. I made this up
I promised you I'd never give up
Chorus:
If it makes you happy
It can't be that bad
If it makes you happy
Then why the hell are you so sad
You get down, real low down
You listen to Coltrane, derail your own train
Well who hasn't been there before?
I come round, around the hard way
Bring you comics in bed, scrape the mold off the bread
And serve you french toast again
Well, o.k. I still get stoned
I'm not the kind of girl you'd take home
Chorus x2
We've been far, far away from here
Put on a poncho, played for mosquitos
And everywhere in between
Well, o.k. we get along
So what if right now everything's wrong?
Chorus
14 All I Wanna Do (05:59)
This ain't no disco
It ain't no country club either
This is L.A.
All I wanna do is
Have a little fun before I die
Says the man next to me
Out of nowhere
It's apropos of nothing
He says his name is William
But I'm sure he's Bill or Billy
Or Mac or Buddy
And he's plain ugly to me
And I wonder if he's ever had
A day of fun in his whole life
We are drinking beer
At noon on Tuesday
In the bar that faces
The giant car wash
The good people of the world
Are washing their cars
On their lunch breaks
Hosing and scrubbing
As best they can
In skirts and suits
And they drive their
Shiny Datsuns and Buicks
Back to the phone company,
Record store too
Well, they're nothing like Billy and me
Cause all I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
Until the sun comes up
Over Santa Monica Boulevard
I like a good beer buzz
Early in the morning
And Billy likes to peel the labels
From his bottles of Bud
He shreds them on the bar
Then he lights every match
In an oversized pack
Letting each one burn
Down to his thick fingers
Before blowing and
Cursing them out
He's watching the bottles of Bud
As they spin on the floor
And a happy couple enters the bar
Dangerously close to one another
The bartender looks up from his want ads
But all I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
Until the sun comes up
Over Santa Monica Boulevard
Otherwise, the bar is ours
The day and the night
And the car wash, too
The matches and the Buds
And the clean and dirty cars
The sun and the moon
But all I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I'm not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling the party has just begun
All I wanna do is have some fun
I won't tell you that you'e the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
Until the sun comes up
Over Santa Monica Boulevard
Until the sun comes up
Over Santa Monica Boulevard
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