This album opens with its title track, the music swirling around us in its first moment, and then quickly becoming a cool, energetic bluegrass number. It's a playful song where squirrels are the villains, "Running through my rafters" and breaking concentration. Jubal Lee Young takes troubles and makes them amusing and fun. "I hear them up there scurrying/Meanwhile I'm just worrying/I won't complete my ponderin'/Before they interrupt again/Oh, the great things I might be/If they'd just go live in a tree." The line that makes me laugh every time I hear it is, "What was I saying? Oh yeah. Squirrels." This track features some really good stuff on fiddle. This music might set your own troubles on the run. He then slows things down for a sweet number titled "Don't Be A Dickhead," which is about how people live by, or fail to live by, the King James Bible, a song about the great hypocrisy of the so-called religious right. "It's not like much has really changed/Except what's in your heart today/You want the rewards without the works." And since those people don't bother reading the book they claim to love so much, he offers a summary: "Don't be a dickhead/That's what the good lord said/Okay, I paraphrased." I know it's been said a lot lately, that so-called Christians seem to have no idea what Christianity is supposed to be about, that these right-wing lunatics would be the very ones to kill Jesus if he showed up now, but I wish we could move beyond Christianity (and all religions) entirely. I would love to see a world without any religious texts.
"Lost In Hollywood" has a great, raw and direct energy, and offers a critique of Los Angeles: "Man, the city of angels rarely lives up to its name/It's odd how in movie town you can't see the stars" and "That the L.A. freeway/Ain't for the faint of heart." This city is so interesting, because at times it is the most wonderful place, and other times it feels cold, a place that has no interest in you unless you're successful. And here Jubal Lee Young sings, "That it can't be good to be broken down/And lost in Hollywood." Then "Weird" has a softer, more intimate sound. "Don't you think it's kind of funny/That the poor fight tooth and nail/So the rich man can keep his money/They'll carry his water uphill both ways/And hope they'll be the rich man someday." That's what it is, right there. People defend the rich, because they hope they'll be among their number someday, which is both crazy and understandable. And, as he sings here, "But it almost never works out that way." I suppose it's the world "almost" that keeps people hopeful. Jubal Lee Young goes on to address the hypocrisy of people, and in this one too he mentions the bible: "You might as well lay that bible down and let's just cut the bull/You can't believe in hope and love, and then trade in hate and fear." I love his approach here, a sort of amused look at the whole situation. "Wouldn't it be easier to be who you are?" he asks. A good question, and something I've often wondered. But I think that's the most frightening thing for some people. And I love these lines: "Isn't it uncanny/And just a bit curious/How things that don't affect their lives/Make some folks so furious/Why do you care what's in my pants/If you're really not sure, just don't ask me to dance/Instead of filming one of your video rants." That's the craziest thing to me. Life is so short, so why would anyone spend a good chunk of his or her limited time raving about things that don't even concern him or her? This song features some nice work on harmonica.
"Hand-Painted Portuguese Punch Bowl" is a lighter, fun number featuring accordion. It's kind of wonderful to have some possession that you love that much, that you make sure to take with you whenever you move. This is also a hopeful song, about owning something that you plan to one day use. The song turns a bit serious, for just a moment, as he sings, "And some parties never get started/'Til one day we found we were gathered 'round/To honor the dearly departed." But, no worries, the humor is still there, the fun is still there. And the song's narrator inherits both the item and the hope. That's followed by "Wild Your Tamed Heart," a beautiful number featuring a passionate vocal performance. "Hearts are more resilient than you imagine/They take it and they take it/And only love more when they bleed." Then that in turn is followed by a love song, "Love Happens." We always need love songs, and these days it feels like we need them more than usual, to remind us of what is the most important element of this whole human experience. "I've heard it could happen on a night like this/I was told it could happen from just one kiss/I've even watched it happen to some friends/It often happens when you least expect it/Like two lost halves that are reconnected." Yes.
"Parts" is a light and playful number about, well, how many of us are feeling these days, eager for peace but ready to respond to provocation. "Now I'm one part peace and love and good/And one part wishing a motherfucker would/I like joy and harmony/But don't fuck with me." I've been keeping that second part in check, but there have been times when I stupidly wanted some Trump supporter to start something so I could punch the guy in the face and kick him in the groin. Again, Jubal Lee Young delivers this with some humor. When he sings, "Just know I got your back/If you're ever under attack/For being who you were born to be/You've got a friend in me," in the background we hear the added comment, "Unless you're just a fucking asshole." And the song becomes a sing-along toward the end. But, hey, you were probably singing along already, right? That's followed by "Miserable," another delightful number featuring a really nice vocal performance. "If you just get miserable/If you just get miserable/If you just get miserable/Honey, you can come on home." It is good to know there is always a place you can return to. Just knowing that helps us take chances.
"Kind All The Time" is a song about how we all have our own troubles, and sometimes we can't recognize other folk's struggles, since we're tied up in our own misery. "Just respond and don't react/They're probably hurting real bad, baby, cut 'em some slack/It's not that hard to be kind all the time." It does feel difficult these days, though, doesn't it? I love the gentle vibe of this song, and it contains some good work on fiddle. "Coffee" is a fun number that begins with the line, "I can't remember where I put my coffee," and so a song I need to remember to play for my girlfriend. It's a song that acknowledges how annoying and frustrating life can be at times: "It's a sad, old, indifferent world, I think that much is clear/What choice have you got but to try and make the best of it while you're here/Sometimes life is all elbows and assholes/One thing after another, just a hassle." He then adds, "That's why you got to be brave and find the love/Through the hate and the fear." I love this song, even how it acknowledges that its message isn't new, in these lines: "And if this is somehow familiar/You've probably heard it all before." This is a song that will have you laughing through the troubles and despair. It's a song that we need.
The music takes a more serious turn then with "World Without Light," a beautiful and moving song. "But I know your plight/Keeping hope alive in a world without light/From where I stand, I can't see you smile/But if you can, you should for a while/Because we're dying." Life is short, friends. That is followed by "IDGAF." I generally don't like abbreviations and acronyms, in part because I find that people don't know what they stand for (we've all heard someone say "PIN number"). This stands for "I Don't Give A Fuck," and as you might guess, this is another fun song, and another one that is perfect for these times. "You holler at me/Hey, what you want for dinner/I don't give a fuck/You ask me/Who's gonna be the winner/Lord, I don't give a fuck." As we get older, it's difficult to care about so many things. It's too exhausting. And there is so much stuff that people talk about these days that just doesn't seem interesting at all. How can anyone care about this shit? Who has the time? I love the song's ending, "I'd sing another verse, but I'm sick of this shit/And I'll write that one next."
"Dumb Luck" is a song about folks who maybe don't deserve the good luck they land. And Jubal Lee Young sings, "That's the kind of dumb luck I need." Interestingly, that line sort of equates the song's narrator with these less-than-deserving characters. But, seriously, it is frustrating when someone who doesn't seem to deserve such good fortune ends up with a winning hand. Just look around. I mean, if there were any sort of justice to the universe, the prick in the White House would be on a street corner offering to clean my windshield with a dirty rag. "Some people just seem to get it all handed to them by a cold and indifferent universe/Other people, like me, try so hard all their lives, but everything they do just seems to make it worse." He follows that with "It's Gonna Be All Right," a wonderful, beautiful song that ends up being one of my personal favorites. "It's gonna be all right/Everything's gonna be fine/I know it seems like the end of the world/But the world's ended thousands of times." This song offers some comfort, a friendly shoulder to rest your weary head. "I don't know who's right/And who may be wrong/But choose love and kindness as you go on/And in the darkness just look for the light/It's gonna be all right." And he reminds us, "In the end all that matters is love." It feels like this should be the album's final track, but there is one more song, "Welcome To Nashville, Asshole," ending on a somewhat lighter note. This song is about a town becoming a city. "The kind of folks I used to know/Can't afford to live here anymore/The very people that made up this town's soul." That's true, not just of Nashville, but many places, and I'm sure in each of those places, folks want to say to the newcomers, "Welcome to (name of town), asshole."
CD Track List
- Squirrels
- Don't Be A Dickhead
- Lost In Hollywood
- Weird
- Hand-Painted Portuguese Punch Bowl
- Wild Your Tamed Heart
- Love Happens
- Parts
- Miserable
- Kind All The Time
- Coffee
- World Without Light
- IDGAF
- Dumb Luck
- It's Gonna Be All Right
- Welcome To Nashville, Asshole
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