Till the sun turns black

A while back I mentioned "Concept Albums" and my new found love of them. A concept album can be several things: an album where all the songs tell the same type of story; an album where all the songs tell one grand story; an album where all the songs have a theme; or an album where all the music is tied together somehow. These are just a few types of concept albums.

A concept album is a big undertaking. You wouldn't expect one from someone in the pop-music field. And traditionally they are only made by either established artists or artists who are just trying to make their own music and are not trying to sell a million albums. Some of the concept albums I have heard in the last year have been some of the most amazing music I have ever heard. And every time I have heard someone say what I am about to say I either cringe or roll my eyes, but it really does change the way you listen to music.



My first concept album was Ani Di Franco's "Reckoning". My friend Zak made me buy it and he made me promise NOT to listen to it... until I had the time to sit and listen to the whole thing all the way through. So, I didn't listen to it for about six months. When I finally put it in... I had to restart song one three times just so I could get her voice and intonation in my head. I wanted to understand what she was saying.

"Coming of age during the plague of Regan and Bush, watching capitalism gun down democracy, it had this funny effect on me, I guess." That is the first line you hear on that album and it just keeps getting better and more personal. But personal in such a way that it is personal for me too... I feel what she feels. It is not possible for me to explain the feelings and thoughts that I get when listening to this album. All I can really say with any surety is that this is the music I wish I could make. Personal, powerful, beautiful and utterly unique. It sounds like she walked into the studio with her guitar and played straight through to the end of the album. You can hear musicians come and go, and at one point at the end of a very sad song, she just stops the music and talks herself into a better mood before moving right into the next song.

Her concept album "Reckoning" is about how the music and the lyrics make you feel, and how the songs are not traditional verse-verse-hook-chorus type of songs... they all seamlessly flow into each other. If you are looking to experience some new music and move away from the popcorn thumpa thumpa of todays music, this is the first album I would buy.



Another great concept album is "Impossible Dream" by Patty Griffin. The concept here is that all the songs are telling Patty's own story. Patty Griffin was a house wife. And she was happy doing nothing but making her husband happy. When she turned 30 he up and divorced her. She was so devastated that she had to start seeing a therapist and he told her that she needed to find something to take her mind off the divorce. So, she picks up a guitar for the first time in her life. Ten years later her fifth album "Impossible Dream" comes out and it is an amazing journey from the day she walked out of that house to where she currently finds herself. There is a moment between two of the songs that is divine in it's simplicity. As one song ends you hear this faint singing, you turn up the volume and realize the singing is an old couple taking turns singing "impossible dream" from the stage musical "Man of La Mancha". It makes it even more personal to learn that the old couple that is singing is actually Patty's parents. It sounds like Patty had a mini-tape recorder and just happened to press record one night while hanging out at her parents house.



A master of the concept album, and this may come as a surprise to some, is Bruce Springsteen. He has done a number of them from his latest "We shall overcome" to "The Ghost of Tom Joad". But the best one is the one he did first: "Nebraska". If you have ever seen the movie "Natural Born Killers" you know the basic story of the album. You see, that movie was based on actual events that took place in the 50's in Nebraska. Each song on the album is told through the point of view of someone directly involved. The girl who kills her parents has a song, even the neighbors have a song. But the two most powerful songs on the album are Highway Patrolman followed by State Trooper. These two songs are devastating when heard together. In the first one the highway patrolman is the killers brother and he is chasing him down. There is this great inner dialog he has with himself about just slowing down so that his brother can get away. And in the very next song it is the killers turn... he is singing about being chased by this state trooper/highway patrolman. Not knowing that the cop following him is actually his brother. And he keeps saying please don't stop me... if you stop me, I'll kill you.



The final concept album I think you should run out and buy is "Till the sun turns black" by Ray Lamontagne. It took me a while to find it... but this album tells one grand sweeping epic story. This is the one that I have had in my CD player since it came out last year. I will give you the story that I found (And remember that it is entirely my own. You may hear a completely different story).
01: Be here now - This is the beginning. We are introduced to a family. A mother and father, and two young sons, the older son is our protagonist. This song is the father's advice to his two sons. This song sets up the rest of the story. You can see the two boys growing into men during this song. It is like a mantra that the father drills into both of the boys heads, be here now. "Don't put your faith in walls cuz walls will only crush you, when they fall". But like the beginning of all great stories, there has to be tragedy. Near the end of the song, after all the singing is done I see the family in the car. The older son is driving, parents are in the back seat and the younger son is in the passenger seat. I see a drunk driver. The parents die. The younger brother ends up in a coma. Our protagonist walks away unharmed and destroyed. He feels responsible for their deaths.

02: Empty - This song starts with the sound of a storm. I picture we have jumped ahead a couple years. Our protagonist is now in his mid twenties and for the first time in his life he glimpses love. Her name is unimportant, you can pick one that you like. This is the song where he begins to heal from his family tragedy and starts to put faith in another person again. It is a wonderful love song. At the end of this song I see him in the graveyard with her. Walking away from his parents headstone for the first time without crying.

03: Barfly - Here they begin their life together. Going to the local watering hole, hanging out with their friends. Somewhere about halfway through the song we realize that our protagonist is an alcoholic. And so does his girlfriend. She tries to get him out of the bar, but I don't think he gets it. He doesn't understand why she isn't having as much fun as he is. By the time we get to the end of the song she is at home alone... waiting. He is in the bar, drinking. But there is a moment, with the last words he sings. The same words over and over again while staring at himself in the mirror behind the bar... "I'm going no where... I'm going no where". He gets it. He has been drowning his pain and his relationship is drowning.

04: Three more days - What does any reasonable adult do when they realize they have a problem? Hopefully they do what our protagonist does and checks into rehab. This song is his recovery. It's three more days until he comes home to his girl.

05: Can I stay - He has finished his stint at rehab and he is now sober. You can see him running home to her. She is already in bed when he gets there, so he tiptoes in, picks up his guitar sits down and plays her this song. It is amazingly romantic. It would melt the heart of anyone, seriously. I see people using this song as their wedding song. But if you are not careful, you will miss the surprise ending. Again, it is not anything that he says... it is just a feeling, and it makes perfect sense going into the next song. During the refrain of the song (about the last 20 seconds) you see her telling him yes he can spend the night. They cuddle up in bed and he drifts off with this look of peace on his face, while she lays there in his arms with her eyes open and tears flowing. You can see it in her eyes, it is over. The love is gone.

06: You can bring me flowers - When I'm dead and gone. He is pissed. She has just told him that it is over between them. This is his moment to rant and say every hurtful thing he can think of. He is convinced there is another man.

07: Gone away from me - After all the drama, he goes back to the bar. It is a huge struggle for him not to drink. This is his "oh poor me" time.

08: Lesson learned - If he is to remain sober he must have some completion with the relationship. So he goes to her to confront her. Instead he gets her best friend who gives it to him straight. It was not another man... it was the drinking. Halfway through the song the now-ex comes out of the other room where she was hiding. And they hammer it out. This is the end of their relationship, and after all the talking, all the bitching... you are pretty sure that they are both going to be ok. Then the phone rings...

09: Truly, madly, deeply - This song has no lyrics, and is only roughly 30 seconds long. But it reveals one of the most important things about the story. Something that all of us forgot. The younger brother wakes up.
10: Till the sun turns black - Walking away from the hospital after seeing his brother awake for the first time in a decade, you see through the lyrics. His eyes are finally open and you know he has never seen this world before. The completion of one relationship leads directly into the beginning of a new one, with his brother. And through the song you can hear him coming closer and closer to...

11: Within you - The epiphany moment. That one moment when in the blink of an eye, everything is different. It is in that moment that he realizes what is important and worth fighting for. And though this song starts with lyrics... it ends with just one word... sang over and over again until you find yourself singing along... love.


Buy these albums.


Oh... yeah... one more to buy. The grand master of Concept Albums: Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. His album "Smile", if you listen to the whole thing... will make you do exactly that... smile, ear to ear.