A Stroll through American Popular Music and Our Lost Dreams.
Jill Sobule’s latest album “Dottie’s Charm” is unique. The closest equivalent albums I can think of are Randy Newman’s “Sail Away” or the Kinks' “Village Green Preservation Society.” Jill Sobule asked her favorite authors to write lyrics about a charm bracelet she had received as a gift. Who was the former owner, Dottie? What had she done with her life? The authors went in search of Dottie and America. It is a witty look at the history of American popular song and our dreams: “Preserving a history that never quite was.”
The album has fun with many musical styles: there is a rousing Union fight song that turns quirky (“Women of Industry”), sad country songs that are really funny when you realize what is happening (“Old Kentucky”, “I Hate Horses”), a beach party dance rave song about a weekend that is best forgotten (“Flight”).
My favorite songs? They are all great; I really do close my eyes and travel through time and around our country but I linger the most at:
1.“Lonely 88” is a bittersweet look at an musician:
“And now I’m here alone as the moon goes thru its phases
And the only folks who call are candidates
I blow the dust off, pick a score, and limber up my wrists,
And in the stillness I begin to celebrate…”
2.“Statue of Liberty” has such a haunting, end-of-an-era feel to it worthy of Randy Newman’s “Dayton, Ohio - 1903”
3. “I Swear I Saw CHRISTOPHER REEVE”
“Quaint as crocheting
Silent as that “c”
Just came to Mackinac
Came here with me…
So magically sweet and so sublime
Almost don’t care that there’ll be no next time.”
There is exhilarating sense of fun and adventure as we jump from musical style to musical style. Yet beneath the party it is about a country unable to be at ease or find happiness. It is very witty and very sad, but in a way that is cathartic. I’m not alone in feeling displaced and all at sea. We are a country of strangers.
It is odd that the concept album is now “dead.” And here is one of the most accomplish concept albums. It is a backward glance whose strength is fighting sentimentality all the way down the line but holding on to real, conflicting emotions. It isn’t simple, it’s like life.
http://harpers.org/blog/2014/05/jill-sobule-dotties-charms/
