Back to back days--you'd think I'm trying to catch up (at least this one's only five days late)....
It's not surprising, given my penchant for a good pop tune, that the best pop song on a great album would eventually come to the fore. This week's tune spent weeks dancing around in my head, with me studying the lyric sheet daily to remember every word, and as I did my due diligence this week and listened to it again and again in prep for this post...it was every bit as good as I remembered it.
As with last week, I've written a post about Hozier before, in Vol. CCCXCI. Unlike last week, though, Hozier does have at least a little news in the interim, as he released his third full-length LP in 2023, a couple of EPS, and was fortunate enough to have his first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. He has remained active in social issues, and released a single, "Swan Upon Leda" which was a call for reproductive rights and women's empowerment. Sadly, as the loss of Vice-President Harris showed us, we have a long way to go for those two goals here in America.
"Jackie and Wilson" was the third song on his rather eponymously entitled debut album, Hozier. Though it was probably the best top forty oriented song on the album, it was not released as a single. I already covered the album's chart trifecta in the earlier post.
Fun Fact: The link (below) to the lyrics has a video wherein Hozier explains the process behind creating this week's tune. Not surprisingly, he notes Jackie Wilson as a big influence of his, even going so far as to say that he thought Elvis Presley was the white Jackie Wilson and not the other way around.
In the video I just mentioned, Hozier said the idea behind "Jackie and Wilson" was simply to make a song that was fun--and he succeeded magnificently. The song tells the tale of a man sitting in a bar, tired and lonely, who spots a woman and begins a fantasy of their adventurous life together replete with their kids Jackie and Wilson. Eventually she moves on, and he's left to wait for another woman to begin another fantasy. Hozier has a gift for the written word ("I need to be youthfully felt 'cause, God, I never felt young"), and his blue-eyed soul vocals are to die for. Not to mention the pulsating guitar and drums mimicking time? heartbeats? through the stanzas which segue into the cotton candy sweet chorus. And like the fantasy, the song ends as abruptly as the fantasy began. Just a wonderful song, another slice of truck stop pie on the Pop Music Highway.
Lyric Sheet: "Happy to lie back, watch it burn and rust/We tried the world, good God it wasn't for us..."
I turned sixty-five this last week, and once again this year (for the ninth time, no less), I'll be featuring one of my favorite albums of all-time in lieu of our weekly song. This year it will be...Fountains of Wayne's Sky Full of Holes. And I can honestly say (though noting that it would be neck and neck with Hozier's debut album, Hozier) that it is the best album I've heard this century....
I wrote about Fountains of Wayne in Jukebox, Vol. CCI, and as the band is still disbanded, and this is usually a lengthy post to boot, I'll leave my brief bio right where it was in that earlier post. I would like to add though, unfortunately, that since I wrote that post founding member Adam Schlesinger passed away from complications from COVID-19. Another good one gone too soon....
And away we go...
The Summer Place--I'll probably mention this a time or two before I'm done with this post, but this is what Fountains of Wayne always did so well--taking slice of life vignettes, throwing in a few killer hooks, and writing a poignant song. This one's about a woman looking back at her troubled past from the vantage point of her family's summer place--a little bittersweet, a lot of east coast vibe. Favorite Line: "Those good old days don't seem so far away (seem so far away)/Was it just yesterday?"
Richie and Ruben--This was actually the song that made me keep listening (for whatever reason, my first several listens of the album did not leave me impressed), though now it would not be one of my faves. Another slice of life--friends Richie and Ruben constantly have ideas that they think will lead to riches, and each and every one fails. Even worse? The narrator of the song is a friend who gets suckered out of his money each and every time--and still hasn't seen a dime. Favorite Line: "Richie and Ruben/Are both a little out of their minds/Don't give 'em a dime/They'll blow through your dough/Just like they blew through mine..."
Acela--For those not familiar (like moi), Acela is an Amtrak train that runs from (roughly) Boston to D.C. with several notable city stops along the way. This one features another poor bastard, only this time he was supposed to catch the Acela out of town with a lady friend, but she never showed (echoes of Casablanca?) at the station. Now he's thinking about heading back to find her--oh, the vagaries of love. Favorite Line: "Now the world is a blur/And the engine starts to purr/And we're flying through Rhode Island..."
Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart--Not one hundred percent sure about this one--seems like it's telling you that wherever you are in life, no matter how good cocksure you're feeling, eventually someone's gonna break your heart. Or not. Gotta love the chorus, though, which is basically three sets of oh-oh-oh-ohs, followed by a couple of whoa's. Favorite Line: "And the spirit she hides/On a damp path of moss and stone/From a fear we are born with and never outgrow..."
Action Hero--Picture one, a man in a restaurant looking for his keys while his somewhat dysfunctional family looks on. Picture two, same man is in a hospital for some tests and it's not looking too good. But not to worry, he's an action hero, at least in his mind, and it's all going to work out fine. A tale of a good man trying to keep his head above water as he's trying to make the world a better place and all the while he's fighting Father Time. One of the best cuts on the album. Favorite Line: "But the action hero/Swears he feels just fine/He's got to finish saving/The world for all mankind..."
A Dip in the Ocean--I wrote about this one for a regular post (see link above). A few years down the road and it's still a tribute to life being a beach...trip up the coast. Absolutely killer song, hearing it never ceases to bring me immeasurable joy. Favorite Line: "Give us a room with a mountain view/A tiny cabana by the water/Yeah, by the water/Got a rental for an hour or two/For a ride up the coast and a dip in the ocean..."
Cold Comfort Flowers--An allegory, telling of people stumbling then growing, but in the end, like cold comfort flowers, we only bloom to eventually decay. It sounds a bit on the depressing side, but it's really just life--fighting to make what's right as much as we can before time and tide take over. Another great cut on a great album. Favorite Line: "An unwelcome fate/May ferry all away/But cold comfort flowers/Will bloom and decay..."
A Road Song--This one is as advertised. Covers the tediousness of touring, name checks Will Ferrell and Steve Perry, and is, in the end, a love song for the lover left behind while on the road. It's got a nice country and western vibe and checks all the boxes between humorous and bittersweet. Favorite Line: "Some kid threw a bottle on stage/He had an arm like a pro..."
Workingman's Hands--This one is...a eulogy. It's the funeral for a workingman, one part working class hero, one part rotten bastard. And everything was plum, level, and square (to steal a phrase) in the end. Favorite Line: "Oh, you save your money for a hole in the ground/A long black car and a wall of roses..."
Hate to See You Like This--And with this one we've got a man trying to convince (perhaps fruitlessly?) his woefully depressed girlfriend that it's time to get her life back on track. Some see his encouragement as an honest entreaty, but I was left wondering if perhaps he was the reason for her funk? We'll never know, but it made for a great track. Favorite Line: "Let's get your phone reconnected/Let's get this room disinfected..."
Radio Bar--A song about good times listening to music at a bar, though the end leads me to believe this one may be somewhat autobiographical (he sings of their song getting played on the jukebox at the Radio Bar--and thoroughly enjoyed by the patrons--and I really couldn't help but wonder if it's not a reference to their hit "Stacy's Mom?") A fine, rollicking tune. Favorite Line: "They put our song in the jukebox/It was a hit with the drunk jocks/Even the guy with the dreadlocks/Sang along at the Radio Bar..."
Firelight Waltz--Won't swear to it, but I think this one takes place in England in the aftermath of World War II, wherein people are wandering their way back into pubs and back into their clumsy lives, but the this night is just right for dancing. Beautiful lyrically, beautiful musically, beautiful vocally. A stellar effort. Favorite Line: "It's a tune from your childhood and a soft yellow moon/And the firelight is just right for dancing..."
Cemetery Guns--And the album ends with a man reflecting to a woman on the history of his home, his nation, while a young widow stands in the rain as her soldier husband is buried, and the all too sad fact that too many of our sons and daughters have died on foreign soils and sleep evermore in a broken heap. A wondrous closing, full of military pomp, its inherent sadness, and its checkered history. Favorite Line: "Cemetery guns go bang bang bang/Shooting all the sky full of holes/Twenty-one times in a row/For the blue war widow in the grey raincoat/On the green grass down below..."
While I won't say this album is for everyone, if you like your pop smart, humorous, and with impeccable taste, this one's for you. And I can honestly say, after taking a deep dive into Sky Full of Holes, that I'm even more impressed with the work. It's their magnum opus, a beautifully crafted love song to life and its many joys and sorrows.
It's easy--especially with so much good music from past decades out there--to sometimes think that today's artists aren't as good as those from our youth, but this week's featured artist reminded me that such isn't necessarily the case. I first became aware of this week's tune from the piped in music played over the PA when I was slaving away for Save-A-Lot. Later I came across his debut LP for a buck at a library sale and spent the next year listening to it every time I got in our car, again and again and again. It turned out to be one of those albums where every few weeks it would dawn on me how brilliant yet another song on the album was and gave me yet another reason to continue listening...
Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (artistically known as just Hozier) was born in Bray, Ireland on St. Patrick's Day in 1990, taught himself guitar at a young age and by the time he was fifteen he was writing songs. He released his debut EP in 2013 at the ripe old age of 23, and its title track ("Take Me to Church"--a church I'd love to worship at) went on to become an international hit as well as get nominated for a Grammy. In the years since, Hozier has released two studio LPs (both #1 in his native Ireland--so many cool kids in Ireland!), and five more EP's. He's also released 15 singles with three tops fives in Ireland and one #2 here in the States. Hozier continues to record and tour and is truly one of the bright stars in the current state of music (he can flat out sing and writes songs like someone who's been doing it for a lot longer than 17 years). Hozier is also quite the activist, donating time and money to help the homeless, as well as supporting abortion referendums, the NAACP, and Black Lives Matter, and--emaycee fave!--being an outspoken critic of the Catholic Church.
"Someone New" was the fifth single released from his debut album, the aptly titled Hozier. It was not released as a single in America but hit #13 in Ireland. The album reached #1 in Ireland, #2 in the U.S., and #3 in the U.K., which is a hell of a run for a first album.
Fun Fact: Of all the songs on Hozier's first LP, he said that "Someone New" resonated with him the least by the time it was released. Important to remember that Keith Richards thought the Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was an album filler....
As regular readers (both of you) know, emaycee is a big fan of blue-eyed soul, and like fellow Irishman Van Morrison, Hozier is an exemplar extraordinaire of the singing style. Add in Hozier's unique and nuanced lyricism, and a 60's/70's soul/pop vibe and you have yourself one hell of a tune. Hozier has said the song is about love at its most fatuous (hopeless romantics beg to differ), and some have said it's about loneliness, but I've always felt it's a song about admitting our fallibility as we fall in and out of love ad infinitum in our long-term relationships. Any which way, it's a funky strut down pop music lane...which is always a beautiful place to be.
Lyric Sheet: "Would things be easier if there was a right way?/Honey there is no right way/And so I fall in love just a little, oh a little bit, every day with someone new..."
The average American gets paid just enough so he doesn't quit his job, and works just hard enough so he doesn't get fired.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Source unknown
Uncle emaycee Wants You For the Coming Class War! Enlist today....
Capitalism: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you can exploit his labor, become filthy rich, and keep the poor bastard living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of his life.
