Sylvia Tyson: “At The End Of The Day” (2023) CD Review

Sylvia Tyson is a singer and songwriter known for her work as half of the folk duo Ian & Sylvia. After their divorce, she began a solo career, releasing several albums in the 1970s and 1980s. She is now in her eighties, and recently released At The End Of The Day, her first new album in more than a decade. It contains all original material, written or co-written by Sylvia Tyson, and is some of the best stuff she’s ever recorded. Joining her on this release are Jason Fowler on guitar, Charles James on bass, John Sheard on piano, Drew Jurecka on violin and mandolin, Denis Keldie on accordion and organ, Mark Lalama on accordion and organ, and Davide DiRenzo on drums.

The album opens with “Sweet Agony,” which has a beautiful and sweet sound. “Come to me, sweet agony/I am ready to fall in love again,” Sylvia Tyson sings at the beginning of the song. There is something wonderfully sad and hopeful in the delivery, in her vocal approach and in that work on strings. You get the sense of a past that contains a good deal of pain and loss. “Oh, love can hurt or it can heal you/It’s a gamble we all take/And we live with our mistakes/It’s both a curse and a rescue.” But in the end, love is everything, and so we all lean toward it, yearn for it. This is a moving and beautiful opening number. It was written by Sylvia Tyson and Cindy Church. “Sweet Agony” is followed by “I Never Got Over You,” also written by Sylvia Tyson and Cindy Church. This one features some nice work on mandolin and violin, and is about a love that was given up years ago but is still in mind. “The million things that fill my day/Help to keep these blues away/They’ll always find me when the day is through/Still wanting you.” There is a sweet ache to this song of memory and longing.

I love that accordion work at the beginning of “Leaves In The Storm.” This song takes us to the past, as she sets the scene at the beginning: “That night in Berlin at the end of the war/In a bombed-out building, we met ‘neath the stars/A distant phonograph played some old love song.” But even before those lines, the accordion helps set the tone, helps sets the place. The violin also helps create a vivid atmosphere, and is mentioned in the lyrics: “We danced in the dark to that sad violin.” This song has many lines that stand out, such as these: “Strangers, then lovers, in a world torn apart/We both knew in our hearts we were leaves in the storm.” That is a striking image, leaves in a storm. And this is another moving song, one of my personal favorites. “Regrets, I have many/But never that one night.” That’s followed by “Not Quite Rain” The work on guitar has a soothing quality. I love the way this one builds lyrically until she is speaking of love: “And though we’ve barely met, it’s clear that we/Have had a taste of how sweet love could be/But it’s not quite love.” She pauses after “love could be,” as if she wants to remain in that feeling as long as possible before admitting that what she is thinking about isn’t quite love, a strong and wonderful moment. This one was written by Sylvia Tyson and Joan Besen.

Things then get fun with “Now Tell Me That You’ve Got The Blues,” which has a Louisiana vibe. This blues number features some delicious percussion, and a wonderful lead on piano. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “I haven’t had a steady job since I don’t know when/My significant other left with my best friend/I’ve got holes in the soles of my dancing shoes/Now tell me that you’ve got blues.” Oh yes, she has a bit of attitude here, and I love it. She addresses those people who just don’t know what the blues are, but claim they have it rough. This one was written by Sylvia Tyson and Chris Whiteley, and is another of the disc’s highlights. Then in “Long Chain Of Love,” Sylvia sings, “With all the memories it can hold/On a long chain of love/They reached across the distance/On a long chain of love.” This track features some beautiful work on violin. It was written by Sylvia Tyson and Cindy Church.

Sylvia Tyson wrote “Generous Heart” with Shirley Eikhard, the songwriter responsible for Bonnie Raitt’s “Something To Talk About.” In the disc’s liner notes, Sylvia mentions that they had written it a decade ago, and Shirley died a week after Sylvia called with the news that she was finally going to record it. There is something darker in its sound, which I love. “You’ve always been there when I needed you/There was nothing I ever could ask that you wouldn’t do/I was so blind to all of your pain/I made a lover’s demands at a time when you needed a friend.” There is an ache in her voice as she sings, “Life isn’t fair/It takes funny turns/And if I’ve made some mistakes in the past/There’s something I’ve learned.” Another line that really gets to me is this: “No one should face the darkness alone.” The music takes a lighter turn again with “Cynical Love Song,” with that work on accordion. “Love’s a dance in the dark at best/It flies, then it dies/And the world goes on unimpressed.” Yup. I love the biting humor of this song. And the line “So it goes” of course makes me think of Kurt Vonnegut.  

“They’ve killed the lights on the midway tonight/All the attractions are shuttered down tight/And the tattooed lady has put on her clothes/No crowd, no show,” Sylvia Tyson sings at the beginning of “No Crowd, No Show.” The lines that especially stand out to me are these: “The rules of the game change every day/And god help us all if we don’t want to play.” Don’t you wish you could let the authorities know that you don’t wish to play their games? It doesn’t seem right that we are obligated to play along with someone else’s game. We should be able to sit out if we wish. This song has its own sad beauty. I especially like that work on violin. Sylvia follows that with “Angels In Troubled Times.” We are living in troubled times, no question about it. People are turning toward fascism in this country, even if most of them won’t admit it, and we can’t even trust or respect the Supreme Court anymore. Often it feels like we can’t do anything about it. But Sylvia asks, “But what if we all became angels/Each of us, all of us, angels/In troubled times?” What a beautiful idea. There is some wonderful guitar work on this track. “But we can prevail against evil.”

“At The End Of The Day,” the album’s title track, is a gorgeous song of memory, of life, of love. “At the end of the day when the shadows grow longer/The now is pushed aside, and the past grows stronger/When I think of the good times, all the hard times fall away/It’s the good times I remember at the end of the day.” Sylvia Tyson delivers a compelling and passionate vocal performance. And I love that moment when the violin rises up, as if to push away darkness itself, to push away the darker memories. I think at the end of our lives, none of us is dwelling on the troubles. At least, I hope that is the case. This is another of the album’s highlights. The album then concludes with “Janet’s Garden,” an instrumental track that begins with some beautiful violin work, that instrument again working to lift us up.

CD Track List

1. Sweet Agony
2. I Never Got Over You
3. Leaves In The Storm
4. Not Quite Rain
5. Now Tell Me That You’ve Got The Blues
6. Long Chain Of Love
7. Generous Heart
8. Cynical Little Love Song
9. No Crowd, No Show
10. Angels In Troubled Times
11. At The End Of The Day
12. Janet’s Garden

At The End Of The Day was released on November 3, 2023 on Stony Plain Records.