Horace Greely did not say that...!

i am drawn to sad art, literature, music and words. this is not to lend to the idea that i am sad or tragic for pretty much everything is damn good in my life. still, i want to dive right into the sadness with all that is around me - - especially music. more than a couple years ago i really got into joseph arthur's "come to where i am from" which deals with death, addiction, break-up's...but in a good way. that album turned me inside out with his singing "i wonder if you think about me...what i heard is you consider me dead. i guess that's fair of you, i was never good to you. i am ashamed of making you feel all my pain. when i sleep, sometimes i still think we speak. is it a dream?". well, that is just a smattering and i really want to talk about lucinda williams' new record "west". i love lucinda and her words always sink into me like ink on paper and this record hit me immediately. she lays it all out on this recording and her voice sounds more assured than ever with a hearbreaking verve that is close to chilly. the opening track "are you alright" had me in a grip while sitting and listening to it that i just put it back on immediately after hearing the five minutes go by the first time. this track and really, all of them are resonating as i hear the echo of ms. williams saying "unsuffer me" as though we were the best of friends.

i joke when i wrote above that joseph arthur sang songs about despair, etc. in a good way but not really. what i am trying to say is more about the universal connection we all have with these sad situations. lucinda williams really nails it here. along with joni's "blue", zimmerman's "blood on the tracks", beck's "sea change" this is a drop dead amazing recording. and i for one can't stop listening.