Reflections on the horizon
On Sunday I ran out to Tescos to buy a few bits and pieces to make sandwiches with, some milk for our daily bowls of cereal and the new U2 album, no line on the horizon.
The unfortunate fact is that anyone in the creative industries is judges pretty much solely on the last piece of work that they produce. It is with some trepidation then that I pick up and play my new CD. And my fear was not unfounded. I was nonplussed by the majority of the songs.
Further listenings have not result in me becoming a zealous proponent of the new album - but it has grown on me considerably. Of note, many of the lyrics are strong and I think about three of the tracks are musically quite strong. I’m by no means an expert, but I sense that this album will grow in me.
I just want to proffer a few snippets of lyrics for your consumption - and a recommendation that you borrow it from a friend and listen to it at least three times. My top songs are the musically excellent Breathe and the lyrically stunning Cedars Of Lebanon.
Stand up, this is comedy.
The DNA lottery may have left you smart.
But can [I] stand up to beauty, dictator of the heart.
I can stand up for hope, faith, love.
But while I’m getting over certainty.
Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady.
(Stand up comedy)
and
Yesterday I spent asleep.
Woke up in my clothes in a dirty heap.
Spent the night trying to make a deadline.
Squeezing complicated lives into a simple headline.
(Cedars of Lebanon)