Veteran artist Lucinda Williams has been crafting music for over 40 years. I use the word crafting simply because that is the best word to describe Lucinda’s work process. She doesn’t “make music” or “record music”, rather she crafts it, she works tirelessly on it, perfecting it. The Louisiana native is known to be a perfectionist when it comes to her music, preferring to work slowly and re-record an album numerous times in order to get it right. That work ethic, that attention to detail has served her well over the course of her career, producing an excellent catalog of music.
The Ghosts of Highway 20 is Lucinda’s second double album in two years, and yet another successful collaboration with guitarists Greg Leisz and Bill Frissel. But there is quite a difference in the two albums, and not just the fact that The Ghosts of Highway 20 is a concept album. The difference shows in the songs, which finds Lucinda slipping back into a deep melancholic mood. The lyrical content is heavy and has a great deal of depth, digging deep into the subconscious and the soul. The album’s themes revolve around the images and stories linked to the Southern Interstate, Highway 20.
The album is truly remarkable in its emotional depth; it’s raw and very convincing. The record opens with her second update of a poem written by her father, “Dust”. The track finds a narrator who has grown tired of dealing with herself. The stunningly provocative, boundary pushing “House of Earth” comes from an unfinished Woody Guthrie song for which Lucinda wrote music. The song is sung from the point of few of a prostitute, and finds her telling her male client that she’s really doing both he and his wife a favor by showing him what to do when he is with his wife. She explains that she’s helping the man open himself up to feel freer in that particular activity. It’s an interesting song, one that grabs your attention as you try to grasp her message. “House of Earth” is definitely a standout on the record, because of its lyrical content alone.
“I Know All About It” finds Lucinda playing the role as a survivor who is upfront and honest about her life, even the low and dark parts, telling the current rebels and partiers that she “knows all about” their struggles and experiences. She offers a friend a safe place in her heart, even when it’s a burden, in the softer, sweeter “Place In My Heart”. “Louisiana” is reminiscent of her earlier songs “Lake Charles” and “Jackson”, but instead of being in the first-person, “Louisiana” is sung in a more general, broader point of view, as it spins tales of growing up in the south and a not-so-nice childhood. The song talks about growing up in a difficult household, with abuse, guilt, and fear.
The dark and sparse “Death Came” is reminiscent of some of Nick Cave’s work, as it reflects on our mortality and death. The track has a spiritual flavor to it, that shines through on verses like “I was called to the rolling banks by the water/ to bathe in the river of truth/ the river tried to pull me under/ and refused to turn me loose”and “I was called to read from the Bible of life/ I read from beginning to end/ Every page and every line/ still I could not comprehend”. The gospelized blues number, “Doors of Heaven” finds Lucinda daring death to take her, almost laughing in its face. The melody is catchy and the lyrics are confident.
One of the standouts on this double disc album is the haunting, melancholic “Ghosts of Highway 20”. Coming in at just over 7 minutes long, “Ghosts of Highway 20” is a dark ode to the infamous stretch of highway stretching from Louisiana to Texas, and the effects it has had on the narrator. The track is an excellent piece of Americana, gritty and raw. “Bitter Memory” finds Lucinda’s crackling, gritty voice demanding that her memories leave her alone. The track features a throwback gospel-blues sound reminiscent of her early catalog. “Factory” is a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s blue collar lament. Lucinda truly shines on this track, as she shows a cleaner side of her vocals.
“If There’s A Heaven” finds Lucinda speaking from the point of the view of the ones left behind after their loved ones die. She’s not afraid of death, rather she’s afraid of the loneliness and misery that comes with loss and death. The record closes out with the whopping 13 minute long “Faith and Grace”. The track is probably the funkiest, grooviest track Williams has cut. It is yet another statement song that features a great deal of repetition. It’s not one of the stronger songs on the record, but still holds value.
Overall, The Ghosts of Highway 20 is a superb album, featuring a variety of sounds and storylines, while mainly sticking to a darker, melancholic theme. I would definitely recommend this record to anyone interested in creative, interesting lyrics and the gritty, raw sound that is Americana. I will certainly be adding it to my collection.
Originally posted here.
