Good Souls Better Angels
I just picked up a copy of Lucinda Williams' new album Good Souls Better Angels from Amazon.
Lucinda Williams' "World Without Tears" album.
My first Lucinda Williams album was World Without Tears, where the intensity and darkness of her lyrics mesmerized me.
Lucinda's songwriting skills are formidable, and she no doubt picked up a few tips about writing while traveling the world with her Dad, poet and literature professor Miller Williams.
Lucinda Williams concert in Seattle.
My friend Chad surprised me with a ticket to see the Lucinda Williams concert in Seattle in June last year (above), so Chad, myself, and Mark - one of Chad's friends in Seattle - went to the Lucinda Williams concert that was part of her 20th Anniversary "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road" Tour.
The concert was an open air concert at the Woodland Park Zoo as part of the "Zoo Tunes" concert series. The concert was outside in a cozy & comfortable setting, and the sound reenforcement people really had the concert sound dialed in perfectly.
For the concert Lucinda played through every song on the Car Wheels On A Gravel Road album in order, to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Lucinda was in great form, as was her band, and they really performed to an appreciative crowd.
Lucinda gave a brief bio of her life to start the concert, talking about traveling around the world with her Dad, poet Miller Williams, and how learning about poetry from her Dad informed her song writing sensibility.
Before each song, Lucinda explained how the song was written about an experience in her life, and if you're familiar with Lucinda's music at all you know her songs are about some pretty dark and dicey life moments, yet each one is about a true life event that she talked candidly about.
I was so impressed to find out that Lucinda is exactly who she appears to be in her song's lyrics.
It was a great concert, and it was really interesting to hear Lucinda talk about her life and the events that inspired her songs.
Lucinda wrapped up with concert with a rousing rendition of Neil Young's "Rocking in the Free World" that brought the crowd to their feet.
Lucinda made an impassioned plea for people to get out and vote the current administration out of office so that we can continue "to rock in the free world" and not be subject to the oppressive Orwellian political regime that's now in place in the USA.
That brought the crowd to a long standing ovation - right on Lucinda!
Good Souls Better Angels
Given her superb songwriting chops, candid truth-telling in her lyrics, I was more than a little interested to hear Lucinda's new album Good Souls Better Angels.
Lucinda recorded Good Souls Better Angels in Nashville with Buick 6, the band that accompanies her during tours.
Looking at the song titles of this two LP set intrigued me even further: "You Can't Rule Me", "Bad News Blues", "Man Without A Soul", "Big Black Train", "Wakin' Up", "Pray The Devil Back To Hell", "Shadows & Doubts", "When The Way Gets Dark", "Bone of Contention", "Down Past The Bottom", "Big Rotator", and "Good Souls".
On Side D are acoustic covers of "Bad News Blues", "Pray The Devil Back To Hell", "You Can't Rule Me", "Man Without A Soul", and "Wakin' Up".
Time for a listening session!
This is classic Lucinda Williams music, mostly edgy blues roots music in style, and with superbly crafted haunting and insightful lyrics.
Think of it as "blues for today's world".
A few highlights.
"You Can't Rule Me" comes out throwing punches at the current political climate of the USA.
"You wanna go and tell me what's good for me
You wanna tell me what I'm payin' for
Well the game is fixed it's plain to see
I ain't playin' no more
You can't rule me
You can't rule me
You can't take my money
And try to rule me too"
"Man Without A Soul" is a cutting critique of Donald Trump, and doesn't pull any punches about his dark & turbulent rule of the USA.
"You bring nothing good to this world
Beyond a web of cheating and stealing
You hide behind your wall of lies
But it's coming down, yeah, it's coming down
You're a man without shame
Without dignity and grace
No way to save face
You're a man without a soul"
"Shadows & Doubts" is about the soul crushing darkness of our current times.
"Yeah, these are the dark new days
That much is true
And there are so many ways
To crush you"
"When The Way Gets Dark" is a melancholy encouragement to not give up, a message of hope for dark times.
"Don't give up
You have a reason
To carry on
Don't give up
Take my hand
You're never alone"
"Bone of Contention" is a harrowing song, suggesting the darkness of the current marriage of politics and false religion in the USA.
"You're a bone of contention
You're a thorn in my side
You're the salt in my wound
You're the splinter in my finger
You're the knife in my back
You're a bone of contention
You're a bone of contention
Filthy sin is in your blood
Abomination of all that's good
I saw you walkin' your two-headed dog
And you pretend to worship god
Mathematics and politics
Three sixes and deadly tricks"
"Good Souls" ends Side C on an upbeat note about good people. Those good people who are your friends through thick & thin, dark & light, encouraging us along life's path, those that are the true saints in our lives.
"With the better angels
With the good souls
In the hands of saints
Keep me with the good ones
Who help me find strength
Who guide me along
Keep me with the good souls
Who have a hand at my back
When I've strayed from the path"
Lucinda's Side D solo acoustic covers are beautiful and brilliant, with just Lucinda's vocals and her guitar, "Bad News Blues", "Pray The Devil Back To Hell", "You Can't Rule Me", "Man Without A Soul", and "Wakin' Up" are my easy favorites of Good Soul Better Angels.
Themes of true religion, false religion & politics, those times when we're in the darkness of the soul, these dark new days in the USA, along with faint glimmers of hope, those are the messages that permeate Good Soul Better Angels.
Highly recommended!
