CD Odyssey Disc 718: Steve Earle

Another long day is over and I’m looking forward to an uneventful evening. I think I’m in the mood for a movie, or maybe just some American Idol. What can I say…guilty pleasure.

Disc 718 is…. I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive

Artist: Steve Earle

Year of Release: 2011

What’s up with the Cover? More bad art from Tony Fitzpatrick. This one is better than most of his stuff. I even bought the tour shirt featuring the ‘eye-star’ thing in the middle. Sheila hates that shirt and I’ve got to admit that based on how little I wear it I’m not that keen either.

How I Came To Know It: I’m an avowed Steve Earle fan. When he comes to town, I go see him and when he puts out a new record I buy it. With the buying of the ugly tour shirt, I scored the hat trick for this album.

How It Stacks Up:  I have a whole lot of Steve Earle. 18 albums, including an album of Townes Van Zandt covers and a live album featuring Townes and Guy Clark. Let’s exclude those and stack it up against the 16 regular studio albums. I’ve reviewed all but three of these, so I should have a pretty good idea…

Then why is this so damned hard? I’ll go with…10^th. This will bump 2013’s “The Low Highway” down one spot from where I first put it, but they’re pretty close to each other so it might just depend on the day. Today, “World” finishes ahead in the top 10.

Rating: 3 stars

Steve Earle just put out a new album – “Terraplane” – and his broken heart shows through pretty raw on it. I think I prefer Steve as he is on “I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive”; deeply in love with partner Allison Moorer and feeling his rootsy soul emerging like a spring flower.

There are a couple of touching love songs on “World.” One is sung with Moorer (“Heaven or Hell”) and one that is clearly sung to her (“Every Part of Me”). Both are pretty, but “Every Part of Me” is one of the better Valentine’s cards Steve has made for his girlfriends over the years. As ever, Earle is convinced this is going to be ‘the one’ and pours his heart and soul into this song with absolute conviction, with lines like:

“I can’t promise anything

Except that my last breath will bear your name.”

It’s not going to happen now, but what a beautiful notion for his art to capture in amber.

For all of these songs, my favourite love song is the very traditional sounding “Molly-O.” This song feels like it spilled right out of 19^th century America or Ireland, but it is brand new Steve Earle. This love song is about a man who robs and kills to gather wealth for a girl he is infatuated with, but never wins her over. Even though our lovestruck hero knows he is being used and will one day answer for his crimes, he is unrepentant. As he points out:

“Men have died for lesser things

Vengeance, country, god and king

Someday I’ll swing from the gallow’s pole

A final dance for my Molly-O.”

This being Steve Earle, there is also lots of social commentary, including one of my favourite songs, “The Gulf of Mexico.” “Gulf of Mexico” is about the horrific oil spill that occurred there, as told through the eyes of three generations of gulf coasters. Grandpa was a shrimp fisherman, dad converted the boat to a crew boat to the rigs and the narrator himself is a ruff-neck working the rigs when the accident happens. In three beautiful stanzas, Earle sums up the changing economy of the Gulf of Mexico and the terrible damage the oil spill wreaks on that living history.

The characters in “Gulf of Mexico” are not perfect; they’re just rough and regular blue collar type folks, earning their living off the sea. By personalizing the experience, Earle’s tale is that much more visceral to the listener. This is a five star song.

There are plenty of other good ones on “World.” “God is God” is an inspirational which somehow sings about a higher power without ever feeling preachy. “Lonely Are the Free,” is an homage to uncompromising folks that stand tall in the face of injustice, and never cry out at any indignities they might suffer as a result.

“World” has a laid back feel, and Steve has really cut back on the extra production on his previous record, “Washington Square Serenade.” Earle’s ability to update old American folk for a modern audience is on full display. These songs feel like they’ve been around for forty years, not four.

As an aside, Earle wrote a book also titled “I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive” around the same time. It tells the story of a heroin-addicted former doctor who is haunted by the ghost of Hank Williams. It is an odd book, but a good one, and proof that Earle’s talent for story writing doesn’t stop when he unstraps the guitar.

Best tracks: Waitin’ On the Sky, The Gulf of Mexico, Molly-O, God Is God, Lonely Are the Free