Every now and again you come across a song in some fluky way--you get a free download or have a free compilation CD stuffed in some magazine, and for whatever reason, there's one song that turns out to be one that you never forget. Such was the case with this week's tune--back in the day when I was managing a music store for Camelot Music we received some freebie compilation from EMI called I Guess We Didn't Save the LP, and on that compilation was "Carolyn" by Steve Wynn. It was love at first listen.
Steve Wynn is one of those artists that make many of us wonder why we didn't become musicians (other than that whole no musical talent thingie)--Wynn started making music in 1979 and has continued to record and tour since, and has never had a single or an album crack the Billboard Hot 100 or the Billboard 200. He came to some acclaim as a member of The Dream Syndicate , a critically well-received band that had little to no commercial success. before going solo in the early 90's. and having little to no commercial success. Wynn has tried various other bands and The Dream Syndicate is reforming this year for another album, but....
Fun Fact: Together with Peter Buck and Mike Mills ( both of REM fame) and a couple others, Wynn formed a group called The Baseball Project, which surprisingly enough, records songs about baseball. They've released three albums thus far. Fascinating, my God....
Released on his debut solo album Kerosene Man in 1990, "Carolyn" plays on a theme done quite often in movies but not nearly as much in songs: You're dating an asshole and you really should be dating a nice guy like me. Though, as Wynn readily admits in the song, he's really not that great, but he's still a whole hell of a lot better than the jackass she's currently seeing. Wynn conveys his feelings with a roots rock tune, high on the jauntiness and featuring a lot of an emaycee fave, the mandolin. Wynn also has a way with turning a phrase, using a lot of quick rhyming schemes with a bouncing cadence that serves the song well. In the end, it's a diamond in the rough--a little known piece of magic that I've been listening to for better than 25 years...and singing for the past several days.
Lyric Sheet: "In this town there's a joke going around/And everyone says it's you...."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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