CD Odyssey Disc 1184: Bonnie Prince Billy

My last four music reviews have all been from either 2008 or 2018. You may be wondering why that is and the answer is…no reason! This is all random, remember?

Disc 1184 is… Lie Down in the Light

Artist: Bonnie Prince Billy

Year of Release: 2008

What’s up with the Cover? Just another professional wrestler grappling with a butterfly man. You know, basically a scene you’ve seen a thousand times.

How I Came To Know It: A couple years ago I did a deep dive through Bonnie Prince Billy’s discography. “Lie Down in the Light” was one that stood out. I put it on my list and eventually my patience was rewarded when a copy showed up at my local record store. Support your local record store!

How It Stacks Up:  My Bonnie Prince Billy collection consists of one compilation (which doesn’t stack up) and four studio albums (which do). Of the four studio albums, “Lie Down in the Light” comes in at #2. And since this is the last of those reviews, here’s a full recap:

1. Ease Down the Road: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 927)
2. Lie Down in the Light: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
3. I See a Darkness: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1092)
4. Superwolf: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 903)

Ratings: 4 stars

Bonnie Prince Billy doesn’t always appeal to me - my deep dive through 15 of his albums only yielded 5 keepers – but “Lie Down in the Light” is a reminder of just how much I like it when he lands one.

Billy’s real name is Will Oldham but don’t let the false moniker fool you; there is nothing fake about Will Oldham. “Lie Down in the Light” is another example of what he does best: gentle folksy melodies that are sneaky complicated and lyrics that are so stark in their honesty they are often uncomfortable.

Oldham’s vocals are light and airy, carrying a bit of that ‘from the faerie woods’ quality of sixties folk singers. By sight he looks plain and rough around the edges, but to hear him is to look into his soul, which is a beautiful if slightly twisted flower.

“Lie Down in the Light” is my most recent record by Oldham and comes almost ten years from his debut “I See a Darkness.” During that time Oldham hasn’t always kept my interest, but over the years he has found his voice, and where he might have murmured a song, now he sings it out. He won’t overpower you, but you can feel the confidence and conviction in the delivery.

Thematically this album didn’t seem to be about grief so much as it was about post-grief. Many of the songs are an absorption and acceptance of past darkness, not a rejection of it. Oldham looks into the spaces in our lives and sees not emptiness, but connectivity. On “Missing One” he characterizes a lost lover this way:

“But I wouldn’t trade my life

For someone’s millions

And I know you left

For a reason

And the trees and flowers

And creeks and rocks

Hold your face

With every season.”

And on “What’s Missing Is” he takes the image into musical theory:

“What’s rhythm is

Plenty of things missing

Steps taken, lips kissing

New harmony on an

Awesome scale

Meat against meat

Under sail.”

The ‘meat against meat’ image is vintage Oldham. He is a romantic but there is a part of him that always grounds his romanticism in flesh. When you listen to him sing it you know he isn’t being base; he’s just reveling in the animal condition equally as much as our ability to rise above it. He celebrates the tension between points.

On “You Want That Picture,” ex-lovers argue over how they perceive a break-up. The song is a duet of a man imagining the woman he left behind bereft, and the woman behind imagining the man callous and uncaring. Both are wrong, with each answering the false portrayal with a verse about how they feel balanced and free, both seeing beyond the moment of grief into a greater truth. Even in sadness, Oldham finds balance.

“You Want That Picture” is one of the record’s finest songs, with a big assist from guest vocalist Ashley Webber. Webber’s vocals were maddeningly familiar and when I looked her up I was not surprised to find she is the sibling of Black Mountain’s Amber Webber. Both sisters have a slight vibrato and a tone that is tough and tragic.

One quibble I have is with the CD presentation. The Disc case does not list the songs on the back, instead just saying “Twelve Songs.” There are twelve songs, but if you are listening on CD you have no idea what they are without opening up the booklet. The booklet has the songs and lyrics printed, but both are in an annoying “scrawled on a napkin” font. However, these are minor quibbles about presentation, not the music.

This isn’t a record for parties and road trips. The songs are quiet and they whisper their truths to you. The experience requires your attention. If you give it, you’ll be rewarded with some beautiful music and some concepts that have the potential to make even the most wounded spirits feel at peace.

Best tracks: Easy Does It, So Everyone, You Want that Picture, Missing One, What’s Missing Is