Monday, April 25, 2016

Completely Biased Review

                As you might’ve guessed from my clever title what follows is a completely biased review of Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. It’s important you know that I’ve been listening to, and loving Mr. Simpson’s music since 2014. I’ve purchased his last three albums, and I don’t expect my buying habits to change anytime soon. Simply put I enjoy his music, his lyrics more precisely because he says something- more than something- a lot actually. And I can relate to nearly all of it in some form or fashion.  
                Now that I have had ample time to absorb and evaluate the sounds in what I feel is a proper length of time I can lend my opinion…track by track…
Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)
                Full disclosure, I’m not even sure I know what a pollywog is, a tadpole maybe? Dunno, and Googling it seems dishonest at this point.
                At any rate this album is said to have been written by Mr. Simpson for his son, and this song rings true to that:
“Grandfather always said God's a fisherman
And now I know the reason why”
                This line caught me for some reason, made me think of Hank William Jr.’s line from All My Rowdy Friends have settled Down; “And I think I know what my father meant when he sang about a lost highway”. The line rang in my mind, and maybe that’s because it’s a father’s song to a son, and a son singing about his father. Whatever, the reason we need more of this as men. We need to make sure our loved ones understand where we’ve been, and to tread carefully, avoiding the places we’d like them not to go. Perspective is only dangerous if it’s not shared.
Breakers Roar
“Bone break and heals
Oh, but heartaches can kill”
                What do you remember more, the first broken bone you had, or the first time your heart got broken?
                ‘Nuff said. Let’s move it along.
Keep Between the Lines
                This song might be so simple that some would dismiss it as ridiculous. That being said, there’s more knowledge packed in this song for a young child than any textbook I ever remember from school.
“Don't let them try to upsell you
There's a reason they make chocolate and vanilla, too
If there's any doubt, there is no doubt
The gut don't never lie”
                What more do you need to know? Well, the answer is the chorus, because there’s some good stuff there as well. But I’ll let you check that out on your own.
Sea Stories
                So this one feels kind of personal to me, but for all the wrong reasons.
“Seen damn near the whole damn world
From the inside of a bar”
                You see, I never served (say sorry) but I can relate to seeing the world, or at least most of the U.S. from a bar. There’s something really deep (although in actuality, probably shallow) about raising a pint in a city that you’re visiting.
“And the next fifteen trying to figure out
What the hell you did that for”
                I think everyone, except the most well adjusted (and boring) among us, probably has something they did that completely fucked up their world. It was likely intentional, just not that well thought out at the time.
In Bloom
                No quotation on this one, as if you’ve heard any of these tunes before, this one’s probably it.
                I am sure there are people all over (mostly those that live in the internet) that would cry foul after hearing this song solely because its “different” than the original. There’s part of me that gets that, there’s also a part of me that wants to smack them upside the head. But then again, they don’t know what it means to love, now do they?
Brace For Impact (Live a Little)
                Had my father been capable of expressing himself through music, I’d like to think he’d have written something like this for me.
“So go and live a little
Bone turns brittle
And skin withers before your eyes
Make sure you give a little
Before you go to the great unknown in the sky”
                Maybe a bit macabre for some but it is true. This is simply beautiful and unrefined instructions throughout this song for living, and the opposite.
All Around You
                Again, if my father could’ve penned a tune, he’d have probably written Brace for Impact, and then stopped and thought, “Damn that’s a bit heavy handed…let me try the soft sell.” And then All Around You might’ve been written out of that.
“Just know in your heart
That we're always together
And long after I'm gone
I'll still be around
Cause our bond is eternal”
                It whispers; “Kid life sucks sometimes, it ain’t easy, but when it comes down to it, I’ll have armed you, and helped you arm yourself with everything you’ll need to get through it.”
                I am not sure if that’s what Mr. Simpson was focused on when he created this track, but that’s what my ears heard.
Oh Sarah
                When I first heard this song I wondered why include it on an album supposedly for your son? As it seems to be between the writer and his true love.
                Then I reconsidered.
                How much insight would it give you as a young man to see what stumbling blocks your own parents may have had to work through between the two of them to bring you into this world?
“So forgive me if sometimes I seem a little crazy
But god damn, sometimes crazy is how I feel
And my brain is starting to swirl
Down the drain of this old world
And there's only one thing girl I know is real”
                Beyond that, my true love shares the same name as the titular woman in this song, and yes as you may have guessed there are some shared details that are outlined within. (BTW, Thanks for putting up with my crazy honey!)
Call to Arms
                As mentioned before, I never served but this song is boisterous, full of itself and doesn’t apologize. And I like to think I “get it” even minus the personal experience it describes.
“Well they cut off your hair and put a badge on your arm
Strip you of your identity
Tell you to keep your mouth shut boy and get in the line
Meet your maker over seas”


I know I've emphasized the lyrics in this review rather than the musical qualities of the songs, however I readily admit I first look for meaning and the ability to relate to a song, then focus on how it sounds. And Mr. Simpson does in fact deliver on both, and therefore, I recommend the album.

“The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.”
- Vincent Van Gogh