I’m sitting in the afterglow of a Christmas Eve dinner, attempting to write some pithy introduction to my favorite CDs of 2007. The truth, though? This list isn’t all that different from the eleventy billion others you’ve read, and I really don’t care. I’m writing it anyway.
These may not be the best CDs of ’07. (That’s the beauty of music reviewing, anyway: It’s almost totally subjective.) But they’re the ones that I’ve played over, and over, and over again, with the songs I sing to myself as I walk into the grocery store. (Yeah, I really do that. No, it does not sound good.)
Derek Webb, The Ringing Bell
There’s got to be a love
That’s stronger than our fear
Of everything
“A Love That’s Stronger Than Our Fear”
Great Lake Swimmers, Ongiara
I was moving across your frozen veneer
The sky was dark but you were clear
Could you feel my footsteps
And would you shatter, would you shatter, would you
“Your Rocky Spine”
Iron and Wine, The Shepherd’s Dog
(I can’t choose favorite lyrics for this one. You just have to listen to the entire CD. Obsessively.)
The Pierces, Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge
I asked you please to leave my heart
But you refused to go
I can’t take this pain much longer
You insist on teaching me what I already know
Absence made this heart grow fonder
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Maddy Wyatt, Backdive
I will give you all the elbow room you need
I require it myself most every day
“Habits We Keep”
Maria Taylor, Lynn Teeter Flower
I finally made it, I made a clean getaway
And I miss you, I miss you every single day
“Clean Getaway”
Patty Griffin, Children Running Through
I’m gonna find me a man, love him so well
Love him so strong, love him so slow
We’re going to go way beyond the walls of this fortress
And we won’t be afraid, we won’t be afraid
And though the darkness may come our way
We won’t be afraid to be in love anymore
And we’ll grow kindness in our hearts for all the strangers among us
Till there aren’t any strangers anymore
“No Bad News”
Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
I could sleep when I lived alone
Is there a ghost in my house?
“Is There A Ghost”
Josh Ritter, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
There’s a friend that I have
And for her I’ll go back
You see all of these empties that I’m holding
They’re too much for a man
Empty arms, empty hands
And she’ll know me by the sound of my hoping
Singing don’t let me into this year with an empty heart
“Empty Heart”
Red Mountain Church, This Breaks My Heart of Stone
Had I the guilt of all the world,
He’s able to forgive:
Why should I fear? The debt is paid.
If only I believe.
“Why Should I Fear?”
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand
Too late, too late
A fool could read the signs
Maybe baby
You’d better check between the lines
Please read the letter, I
Wrote it in my sleep
With help and consultation from
The angels of the deep
“Please Read the Letter”
Ryan Adams, Easy Tiger
He says her name, it echoes in my head like it was a canyon
He says her name, he says it and I know what’s up
You come to me sometimes when I’m thinking like a cannonball shooting out a cannon
And I forget whatever it was I was thinking about
“Everybody Knows”
Bonus tracks:
Holler, Wild Rose! – Holler, Wild Rose!
Naked Ground – The Dexateens
Wonderful World – James Morrison
Walken – Wilco (Yeah, I left Sky Blue Sky off. I haven’t been obsessing over it. But this song crawled into my head a few weeks ago.)
Killing Him – Amy LaVere
Not A Love Like This – Kim Richey
How Will You Meet Your End – A.A. Bondy
Brand New Bass Guitar – Jamie P.
Apologies – Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Videotape – Radiohead
Refuge – Matthew Perryman Jones
Take me to a place where love can mend these wounds
Where mystery can dance with truth
And a broken soul finds refuge
Until the end there, I thought you were going to forget Jones after alluding to him in the title. 😉 I love, love, love that album. Hell, I’m relaunching GFMorris.com with a MPJ lyrical reference.