Lori McKenna: The Balladeer
For those who have never heard any of Lori McKenna’s work… here is your warning. If you put one of her albums on, you’d better be prepared for a good cry, ‘cause there is just no way to avoid it. Lori has always had this innate skill of writing songs in terms that anyone who has lived more than a decade can relate to. She writes about the hard stuff and she does it in a way that pulls you in. Her words draw out your memories and shortly, your emotions. The Balladeer, her latest album, is like a Ph.D. dissertation in this style of songwriting. It’s ten new songs that pull and tug at your heart. I recommend making sure you are well hydrated before putting this on.
On The Balladeer, Lori joins forces, for the second time, with Dave Cobb. Cobb produced her two previous albums, The Bird and The Rifle, and The Tree, garnering a Grammy nod for The Bird and The Rifle.
“Marie” is a tribute to her older sister who we all owe a debt of thanks. It was because of her encouragement that Lori decided to go to an open mic night that kicked off her career and all this wonderful music. I love the way that Lori describes that while they are sisters and share some similarities, they are still very different people.
“God knows we couldn’t be more different / the two of us cut from the same cloth / one end must be velvet soft / the other denim and gabardine”
“She looks more like our mother / She’s prettier and softer and she always helps me find my way / I’ve been lost a time or two / She knows bigger words than I do / We both got the same size shoes and no one’s ever walked in mine, but me and Marie”
Musically the song is a slow full band piece dominated by piano and bass, and while it has a danceable beat, I don’t think that was an intended component of this song.
“The Dream” is captivating from the very first line: “I had a dream last night that the two of you met.” She never says who that relative is who has passed, but it’s clear that she wishes that her child could have met this person and how important that person was to her. It starts slow, with vocals and keys and with a hint of guitar in the background and grows from there. Bass and drums enter in the second verse and the song grows in both musical and emotional intensity. The perspective of the piece is a complex mix of both “what might have been,” and “never could be,” all wrapped into one. Her lyrical prose in this song, like many of her songs, hits you hard, especially if you have lived enough life to relate:
“Yea he was something / He was one of a kind / And you would have loved him if you were born in his time / But he’s somewhere in your eyes / between heaven and earth / it’s a damn long view”
If you are ready to get kicked hard in the feels, put on “When You’re My Age.” This song has it all; the melancholy feel of a middle-aged person remembering how much simpler life used to be, an acknowledgment of today’s tough and stressful reality, and a parent wishing a better life for their children, as we all do. Usually, I’d put in some of the song lyrics to highlight such an important message. But in this case, I’d have to write out the entire song. You just have to listen to it. The song starts with keys and double bass played with a bow, which give the song its gravity.
“Till You’re Grown” is much along the same lines as “When You’re My Age.” It’s taking a look at life from the perspective of someone older who is trying to tell someone younger about the things that are truly important in life; how time does seem to fly by when you are older and how “you don’t see it till you’re grown.” The song starts with just vocals and guitar. After the first verse the bass, drums and keyboard join in. Shortly after that point it seems mostly driven by the keyboard and bass. Lyrically it might not carry as much weight for some folks as “When You’re My Age” does, but Lori brings equally important life lessons to the table in this song with thoughtfulness and sentimentality, and in doing so, echoes those little jewels that no doubt many of us heard throughout our lives and can probably identify with.
“Your daddy’s hands won’t feel so rough / his fuse won’t seem so short / runnin’ away won’t look like a cure to anything that really hurts / That breakup ain’t gonna’ break you / it’s gonna’ sting a while, no doubt / and that tattoo will be stupid, you’ll thank your lucky stars that you chickened out”
The Balladeer is an album that you will put on repeat for a while, just to soak it all in. But if you are anything like me, you will return to it to either just enjoy again, or to gain some perspective on life or maybe, just maybe, to hear your own little jewel of wisdom.
