1001 Albums Summary

Excited to give this a second listen. I really enjoyed this album. It is like you get to get a look into the mind of the gutter of society, and it doesn't feel inauthentic, or judgmental - just raw. I love the bare bones music, and there is a lot of emotion in his voice, even if some can't get past it. He swings from a song about a wasted guy who got 27 stiches in his head, potentially committing suicide, or spending all of his money on a hooker - or both - running from something - or everything - to a lullaby that might be a songs that is critiquing lullabies, by also showing someone who didn't take to heart that he should have "combed his hair" - and is now in the gutter as a hobo (?) - to a heartbreaker about a breakup or a visit from a ghost. This is only the second album of his that I have engaged with, and I get the same feeling that I did after the first one I engage with - this guy is a genius songwriter. Again, I can't wait to revisit it and dig a little deeper, or have the meaning shift based on where my head is at. Heartattack and Vine: "Don't you know there ain't no devil, there's just God when he's drunk. This stuff will probably kill you, let's do another line." "Saving all my love for you" - I imagine a drunk, fuck-up wandering around town in the hours before dawn. Love it. Downtown - 9/10 - "It's the cool of the evening the sun's goin' down, I want to hold you in my Arms I want to push you around, I want to break your bottle and spill out all Your charms, come on baby we'll set off all the burglar alarms, goin' downtown Down downtown." - Did it before Matchbox 20 "Jersey Girl" - Didn't realize he wrote it. Better, more authentic than Springsteen's version. "Til the money runs out" - hell yes. Incredible lyrics. Wasted confusion, can dig into the meaning. Did the pointed man commit suicide? Or with a prostitute? Both? "On the nickel" - a lullaby? A critique of lullabyes? By a homeless guy who maybe should have taken the little things like combing his hair more seriously? Not run away from home? Dunno - it's all of those things -and it's great. Even Thomas Jefferson is down here with him - on the nickel. Mr. Siegal - " you got to tell me brave captain why are the wicked so strong how do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves his porch light on" Ruby's Arms - Is he dead? A soldier? Is he greeting her as the wind, and taking her scarf off the clothesline? Leaving through her blinds, past the windchimes. A soldier? Or a rambling hobo leaving someone he loves, and it breaks his heart? Awesome.