Ninth release from a master songwriter whose lyrics will stick in one’s brain for years. Although the lyrics are the star, the music is equally penetrable. It’s singer / songwriter folk, country, good ol’ American music. Guitars, percussion, fiddle, mandolin, keys, banjo. This is a great album!! No FCC’s.

*My Favorites*: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11.

1. *(3:58) Mid. Song about existing without today’s technology and niceties, which in the song begs the question ‘does he exist’. Easy-going guitar, mandolin.
2. *(3:39) Slow / Mid. Song about Roberto Clemente’s fateful airplane trip to help his homeland. Great bongo / conga, guitar, mellow and heartfelt.
3. (4:14) Mid. Technology taking over, everything having a price. Keys, guitar.
4. *(4:56) Slow / Mid. About the detest of a guy stealing the singer’s girl. Great guitars, fiddle.
5. (5:22) Slow / Mid. Song about cutting back financially, as evidenced by wearing the same dress twice, et al. Easy loping guitar, fiddle.
6. *(5:28) Slow / Mid. Song about Babe Ruth’s supposed death. Ominous and dark, gets even darker with the black keys when he’s proclaimed dead. Guitar, keys, backing vocals. Heavy, brooding and sublime.
7. (5:17) Mid. Song about a ‘phenom’ pitcher. Great, bright, upbeat guitars.
8. *(3:56) Mid / Fast. Song about a boy who danced and the fallout. Quick guitar, banjo, fiddle, backing vocals. 0:45 of fiddle to end. Great.
9. (4:47) Slow. About a girl’s braids and her Holocaust story. Dirge with guitar, piano.
10. *(4:57) Slow. About a girl and her doll’s journey during the Holocaust, and a letter the girl wrote. Beautiful with guitar, mandolin.
11. *(3:14) Mid. Song about the people in a Nova Scotia town. Upbeat guitar, percussion, fiddle.
12. (2:59) Mid. About the speaker’s attempts to ‘fit in’. Upbeat guitars, percussion.