Lucinda Williams - World Without Tears

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Free Music Notes for World Without Tears

Free Music Review: Music Without Fears
Hit: 5 Stars

We have been blessed with a creative explosion from the best living songwriter in America - three CDs in just five years. I was among a minority who did not believe "Car Wheels" was her best work - close, but not the best. "Car Wheels" was a fork in the road. It set her on a path that led her to write about the urban landscape a bit more than before. The exhausting strain of being on the road didn't stop her from absorbing the surrounding humanity or lack thereof like a sponge.

"Essence" was another step, but in what direction? Barely a year later we see. She remains intensely personal, and perhaps she feels pain a little too deeply. She warns the listener in the opening tune, "I been tryin' to enjoy all the fruits of my labor/ I been cryin' for you boy but truth is my savior."

"Righteously" extends an urban sound she toyed with in "Essence" - hints of rap and a dose of jazz. "Flirt with me don't keep hurtin' me/ Don't cause me pain/ Be my lover don't play no game/ Just play me John Coltrane."

It culminates to some extent with "Atonement" and "Sweet Side." "Sweet Side" is so emotionally wrenching and important it requires being spoken more than sung. "Hands that would feed you when you were two/ Were the hands that beat you/ black and blue."

"American Dream" is the reality that she can never ignore. It's the people we whiz past in our cars; walk faster to avoid even meeting their eyes. "I ain't got no hot water/and they shut off the heat/ Can you loan me some money/ for something to eat/ Been out here on this corner for about a week/ Tryin' hard to stand on my own two feet."

"Words Fell" is simply beautiful - a mesmerizing closing for a truly special work. Words fail, sometimes. But Lucinda is fearless. Steve Earle complained she is impossible to work with because she can never be still - no cut is ever quite right. With "World Without Tears" and "Essence" she seems to be saying, maybe it does not have to be perfect, but it damn well needs to be said.

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