Spirit Trail

CD Shakedown: Spirit Trail has inspired strong feelings, with some critics calling it the Album of the Year. Nobody seems to like the silly cover (a 1966 photo of Hornsby’s late Uncle Charley), except Hornsby, who explains “It’s ironic to use an inane cover, because it’s a fairly serious record.” Fans of challenging pop, with a languorous streak, will enjoy Spirit Trail.

Boston Globe, August 14 1998: “Elemental. It’s not a word always associated with Bruce Hornsby, whose sometimes ornate, classical-jazz influenced piano style has earned him sessions with Ornette Coleman and Wayne Shorter. But Hornsby can also cut back to a funkier, stripped-down approach, as he does with the post-Grateful Dead band the Other Ones and on an upcoming double CD, “Spirit Trail,” which sports his most accessible music in years.”

King of the Hill

Immediately, the listener is plunged into an upbeat, jazzy vamp. It is a great way to kick off the record, and easily gets the listener’s attention. However, we quickly see that this is just a way of setting up the mental state of the speaker in the song. My guess is that the speaker is some kind of laborer or blue-collar worker who is upset with his employer. From the lines “feeling like a captive on a long chain” and “he says he cares about me but he’s lying”, it is revealed that this particular worker’s employer is not a very likeable character.

I got the feeling that the speaker is watching this person and wondering how he ended up in his high position while the speaker himself is stuck down with the lowly laborers. The speaker probably thinks that social position is not based on one’s own accomplishments, but rather which class of people one is born into — thus the line “some people say they got the game rigged” and “his daddy gave him everything…”. Even so, it seems that the speaker is also longing to have a shot at being the “king of the hill” himself, as he watches him “driving the big cat”.

It is at this point that Hornsby breaks into one of his brilliantly executed long piano solos indicative of his new style — it is during this solo that I get an image of the narrator going about his daily work, while these ideas go through his mind. Once he comes down off this extended solo, we start the final verse while the speaker is still hard at work. This section of the song is slightly different from the other two. It starts off with the same scheme used in the first two, but as the narrator starts talking in detail about the actions of his employer, we get a feeling of rushing from one idea to another without pause — almost like we are inside the mind of the narrator himself and watching random thoughts stream by.

It is during this passage that we also find out the speaker’s health is suffering from the demands of the boss. Finally, we are left again with the main question repeated by the narrator, followed by another instrumental section and a gradual dwindling down to a rather indefinite ending.

This indefinite ending adds a nice touch to the end of the song, because it leaves the situation of the narrator unresolved. There are quite a few songs on the record which leave their endings unresolved – probably because of the album’s theme stated by Chip DeMatteo in the insert. Relating DeMatteo’s words to this song, I have interpreted the laborer as being a “trapped spirit” seeking a way out or an escape from his “evil” boss. The situation is left unresolved in order for the narrator to remain “trapped” in his own situation.

Mike Boggs

 

Sunflower Cat

This song starts out with a catchy excerpt from the Grateful Dead’s original recording of “China Cat Sunflower”. Bruce’s repeating piano chorus seems to work quite well with the background excerpts. This clever combination sets the stage for the song and gets you (at least me) boppin’.

In the course of listening to the lyrics, we find that the narrator is in some sort of troublesome situation. This song reveals almost no specific details with regard to the actual situation, but such a description is not needed for a song of this spirit. Rather, this song seems to focus on the narrator’s (the “dour cat” I think is the narrator himself) appeal to a friend for some relief from his rough times. The narrator has high aspirations and dreams for the future, but the rough times that he is experiencing are holding him back. The narrator is trying to get the companion to realize that just a small amount of help could alleviate this situation which is currently out of his control.

Although this may sound like a serious discussion, the language used indicates that the narrator is at least taking his situation lightheartedly. The repeated phrase “I’m down, down with that” perhaps means that he can deal with the rough times, and that any help from the companion would be casually appreciated.

The bridge of the song is most likely a conversation between the 2 people: the companion is giving the narrator a few suggestions on how to alleviate the problems, and the narrator is indicating that he is just trying to get by. It is also during the bridge that we find out that the narrator’s situation may also be partially his own fault, hence the line “Slow down son shake yourself, why make your own hell”. In conjunction with this same idea is the “confidence pill” to “take away my self-doubt”. The song ends with more of the Grateful Dead excerpt and some upbeat solo work.

The overall idea of the song once again goes back to the idea of “trapped spirits.” The narrator has become a victim of rough times and possibly his own dispositions, and is simply seeking a “way out”.

Mike Boggs

 

Line in the Dust

Thinking back to Bruce’s previous albums, there has usually been some kind of “introductory gesture” in the words or music of the opening song on the disc. For example, take “Look out any Window”, with its long electric guitar fade-in. “Spider Fingers” starts with the gig-like introduction “So nice to be here, with all you good people…” There is also some (beautiful) piano preamble before “Harbor Lights”.

(Just in case nobody’s noticed, the last 5 chords of the Harbor Lights piano introduction are almost identical to the last 5 chords of the National Anthem of Wales!) (just one more, increasingly desperate, reason for Bruce to play a European tour.

I digress. My main point here is that there is no introductory gesture, whether your disc starts with “Line in the Dust”, like my incomplete European version, or with “King of the Hill”, as on the full U.S. double-disc version. So the quick opening bars of keyboard / guitar on “Line in the Dust” knocked me back at first – I wasn’t ready for it! However, since then the song has grown on me to the extent that it is now my favourite song on the album, and one of my top 10 all-time Hornsby songs.

Just look at the theme involved – two old friends who shared a lot in common during their early years, now grown apart “an old friend changed, or maybe it was me”. Looking at Si’s survey, with an average age of 28-30, it’s quite likely that many of you out there have gone through a similar experience as described in “Line in the Dust”. I like the chorus in particular, it seems to capture the uncertainties of the situation: “Hey, wait a minute, what’s that you said? I’m not so sure that I heard you right”. There’s not much more that I can say that’s not already said in the song, except that this theme of interpersonal relations is one which runs right through the album, and represents a new development / maturity in Hornsby’s work.

Carwyn Fowler

 

Shadow Hand

Probably my second favourite song on the album! I think the essence of this song lies in its simplicity. It’s a 3-chord wonder, talking about the existence of an imaginary childhood companion. I don’t know if it’s written specifically about any of Bruce’s children, nevertheless, the sensitive handling of the topic demonstrates that Hornsby is probably equally at home on a kid’s activity centre as he is on the keyboards.

As I said, it’s the simplicity of the idea, in the middle of an album full of complicated grown-up ideas, that’s most appealing. And the simplicity of the childhood friendship with this imaginary being, serves to highlight some of the complexities of adult life: “No cards to send, no torn heart to mend. A little imagination and then…a world of fantasy with my friend”. Simple as that!

Carwyn Fowler

 

Preacher in the Ring

There’s no way I can enter into the same dialogue on some of the “Spirit Trail” songs as I did on my review of “Scenes from the Southside”.”Spirit Trail” offers several new concepts which I’m not so sure about. “Preacher in the Ring” is one example. We do have some tall tales to tell here in Wales, but nothing so far that concerns snake-handling congregations (mind you – what a good idea to start filling up some of our dwindling chapels!)

I have read on one review that it might be something to do with one congregation up in the Appalachian Mountains who took one verse in the New Testament a little too literally, and formed a sect of their own. I also note the influence of Lee Smith is acknowledged on the album cover (and on “Road not Taken”). I would be grateful to anyone who can fill me in on this point. I’ve tried getting a copy of Lee Smith’s “Oral History” through different sources, as yet with no luck. It’s out of print over here. Can anyone arrange to fly/ship/throw a copy over from America? Please get in touch!

Carwyn Fowler

 

Instrumental Songs

Let me deal with the individual “songs” first. I’ve never heard “A” or “B”. As I said earlier, I’m the unfortunate owner of an incomplete, European single disc CD, despite having searched all over for the double disc. However, I’m a big fan of the type of music that Bruce presents in “C” and “D”. Indeed, I wish he’d recorded a little bit more of this sort of stuff over the years. He’s hinted at it several times – the intros to “Show Goes On”, “Harbor Lights” and the general ambience of “Lost Soul” springs to mind. Perhaps there will come a time when he might record a purely instrumental album, which will expand on the quiet piano mood.

However, I’m less convinced that “Variations” should be where it is. However, again, perhaps there is a concept here – a “Bruce in practice” album? I don’t know.

Carwyn Fowler

 

See the Same Way/Pete & Manny

Once again, I may have to be a little careful on the specific content of “See the Same Way”. I’m not to sure if Hornsby is referring to actual events that may have happened, and I apologise if I’ve missed a point. However, as I have stated in previous lyric interpretations, the location of actual events that may or may not have happened is not the most important issue

Here are two songs which have two different styles, yet make a similar, pervasive point about the human condition, which is not restricted to any one time or place. “See the Same Way” is a song using serious examples: (V1:a girl contrasting two toy dolls, one black, one white; V2: a courtroom episode; V3: the life and works of Jesus Christ; V4: not sure – possibly a queue for welfare money? V5: A young soldier in (ultimately futile) training for the “promised war”.)

It’s a song all about perceptions, and how one small situation can provoke many different perceptions – many of which are conditioned by political or social prejudice. In the chorus, Hornsby offers an open hand to us all, to “Talk about the difference / Find out what’s in the way / Open our eyes / See the same way”. We sure need more of Bruce’s warm-hearted views in Europe at the moment, where the tide of prejudice and hatred against an easy target – war refugees from Kosovo – is stirred by politicians and the media.

“Pete and Manny” makes a similar point, but in a totally different way. Here we have the classic scene of schoolyard banter towards those with a different interest or hobby from the rest. I’m sure that most of us, without question, can remember a similar situation. I know that I was guilty of it, but as a busking harpist I can sure tell you that I have been on the receiving end of mockery from “the lads” as well! On a more philosophical note, I love the chorus of “Pete and Manny” for two reasons:

“Round and round and round it goes, where it stops no one knows”

First, it’s a sort of warning shot for listeners who think they have got everything sorted. Don’t count on it. Moreover, someone who you have been mocking all this time may be much smarter than you think. Second, but more positively, if your down on your luck then things will soon come round again.

Finally, is the following anomaly on my CD cover a deliberate reference to the nihilist character in “Pete and Manny”? Alternatively, should I invest in a new CD?

“Johnson loved to feign indifference A Nihilist to the brim We’d shout as he would sp” …

Carwyn Fowler

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More on See the Same Way…

This song relates back to The Way It Is, in that it specifically refers to historic events, like the 1964 Civil Rights Act (“They passed a law in ’64 to give those who ain’t got a little more”). See the Same Way is just as historically profound. From what I can gather…

The first verse, the girl and the dolls, refers to the doll studies that formed the basis of the Brown v. Board of Education desegregation Supreme Court decision. In that case, which ended school segregation, the plaintiffs presented evidence of black children who would say that they felt the white dolls were good, pretty and the most like them, while the black dolls were bad and ugly. This was the evidence of the harmful effect of desegregation.

The courtroom verse is a clear reference to the O.J. Simpson case, where the black population tended towards seeing O.J. as another black victim of a corrupt justice system, while most whites saw him as a murderer.

The third verse is a religious reference which is lost on me, I am sad to say.

The fourth verse is actually a reiteration of the verse for The Way It Is, which talks about a cynical rich person telling a poor person to “get a job”. This verse against touches upon economic disparity and, what clearly is a view on the insensitivity of the rich towards the poor.

The final verse is about the recent surge in the U.S. “militia” movement (“Soldiers waiting on a coming war”). Bruce talks about the distrust many of their members have for the government and how many of the groups, who frequently isolate themselves from mainstream society, have a tendency to blame their own problems on others. The verse suggests that they would be well served, rather than viewing the world with distrust and anger, to “open up and love a little more.”

Just some thoughts.

Chad Marlow

 

Resting Place/Fortunate Son

Two extremely thoughtful songs, demonstrating Hornsby’s determination not to leave any stone untouched in his commentary of the human condition and the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Furthermore, the songs here demonstrate the author’s willingness to address issues that most of the rest of us might find “difficult” or “awkward”, and would prefer to ignore. It may even be argued that Hornsby could have been more successful, in strictly commercial terms, if he had taken the easy option, “passed by on the other side” and left the humanitarian issues for somebody else to deal with.

“Resting Place” is the point of view of an overweight person and the everyday stigma that he must face just to make it through an ordinary day. On “Spirit Trail” we find some of the most graphic imagary of all of Hornsby’s work, this song is certainly no exception

“Ever feel like a side-show attraction / ever feel like a walking infraction / Some people call me Tarzan in my big, big sweats…I get by being a funny talker / all those funny jokes sting / so keep walkin’”

I note Hornsby’s comments in one review that some of these songs are, in a way, little reminders to him about such matters. This is an honourable admission which we could all learn from, as most of us are probably guilty of little, flippant remarks which cause hurt, possibly without us knowing. Hornsby himself refers in a flippant manner, probably unconciously, to the “fat man selling salvation in his hand” in “Jacob’s Ladder”. However, “Resting Place” at least represents a concious decision to see the situation from the opposite viewpoint.

“Fortunate Son” is the ironic title of a song dealing with a character who is bound to his “ever present” wheelchair. This piece is a little more reflective than “Resting Place” – the quiet piano sets the tone – but the sense of battling against negative elements is similar. The first verse, situated in a street parade, is a quite remarkable, poignant example of an environment which the character must deal with:

“People laughing and smiles all around me / Balloons and paper in my hair / There’s a man in the car with the top down, waving wildly at me…I know he’s thinking / Better him, him than me”

The song deals with a range of emotions which touch the character’s life. In the first verse, a sense of being patronised by well-meaning individuals. The chorus betrays perhaps an element of self-pity. In the second verse, we learn of the experience of having to put a lid on emotion and deal with the situation rationally. Then comes the feelings of absolute despair. In the end, the resigned feeling of having to go out for a smoke and some drinks just to escape the hurt.

Carwyn Fowler

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Bruce’s lyrics in the chorus of this song “I layed down odd and even, but double zero played” , it makes an obvious reference to the game of roulette. My thought happens to be that he’s speaking of russian roulette. Being that the character feels so alone, he thinks that it may be his only way out. So he settles for the smoke and a drink to take away all the pain.(Which I agree with) It also sounds like that he may be an alcoholic like his father was. (Givin’ the old man’s best salute…)

Larry Chisholm

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I have a live MP3 of the song at home on which Bruce introduces the song by saying it was inspired by Lewis Puller’s book “Fortunate Son”

Puller was the son of Gen. “Chesty” Puller, the most decorated US Marine in history, and followed his father into the service only to lose both his legs, part of his hand and stomach in Vietnam. Bitter about the war and why it was fought, bound in a wheelchair for life he fought depression, pain from his wounds and alcohol. Even the success of the book could not save Puller from the Hell his life had become. He killed himself 3 years after it came out. The song to me is sung from Puller’s standpoint as a disabled vet who watches a parade consisting of the leaders who orders gave them fame and glory while he is left broken and forgotten.

David Leslie

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“Fortunate Son” is Bruce’s retelling of a quintessentially American tragedy that had almost mythic significance in the naval community around the Tidewater region of Virginia. Tidewater is the coastal area at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and is the home port of the US Navy’s Atlantic Fleet, the home base for the Marines, and includes Bruce’s home town of Williamsburg.

Bruce took the name of the song from the title of the autobiography of Lewis B. Puller, Jr., a young man about Bruce’s age (and mine) from Hampton, VA, which is about 30 miles southeast of Williamsburg. The author’s father was Lt. Gen. L.B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC, the most highly decorated Marine from WWII and Korea, and a legendary figure to the large community military, dependent and retirees in this part of the country.

Here’s how Amazon.com summarizes young Puller’s life story:

“Son of the famous World War II Marine commander “Chesty” Puller, Lewis Puller proudly followed in his father’s footsteps. It was his misfortune, though, to serve in Vietnam in a war that brought not honor but contempt, and exacted a brutal personal price: Puller lost both legs, one hand, and most of his buttocks and stomach. Years later he was functional enough to run for Congress, bitterly denouncing the war. He lost, became an alcoholic, and almost died again. Then he climbed out of that circle of Hell to write this searingly graphic autobiography, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992. One last poignant postscript: three years after the enormous success of this book, the author killed himself.”

The parallels between the song and Puller, by the way, isn’t just speculation; Bruce introduced the song as being *about* Puller at a show out here in California. I got the feeling Bruce may have actually known the guy, or had friends in common…

Now I’ll get speculative, but not by much. Bruce, Puller and I are all about the same age, and we all grew up on John Wayne movies and duty-honor-country values at home. Bruce turned 20 (draft age) in 1974, and if the US combat role not been winding down that year, he could have spent the year in the jungle instead of at the U. of Miami.

The draft was using a lottery system then — one day each year, the gov’t assigned all the days in the next year a randomly number from 1 to 365. The next year, they started drafting people with birthday #1, and so on. The lower the number assigned to your 20th birthday, the more likely you were to get drafted; they also provided an estimate of how high they’d have to go to fill their quota. Student deferments were abolished, and almost everyone was eligible

Maybe Bruce felt the same way when the lottery was cancelled for 1974 as I had on 8/5/71 — the day it became clear that I wasn’t going to have to give up college and my comfortable middle-class life and go to Vietnam, or jail, or Canada — fortunate. Maybe Bruce feels the same way I do today, when I see a guy my age with no legs, sitting in a wheel chair, begging for change in downtown Santa Cruz — “…thinkin’, ‘Better him than me.’ ”

I’m pretty sure Bruce feels like I do, when we catch ourselves thinking that way.

Dan Murphy

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Just an FYI, Fortunate Son is the name of the autobiography of Lewis Puller. He was the son of Lt. General “Chesty” Puller. (Hence, “old man’s best salute.”) Lewis went to Vietnam and was horribly wounded there. He struggled with alcoholism and addiction to pain killers, but his autobiography won the Pulitzer Prize. Despite the accolades his book received, he lost his fight and committed suicide in 1994. He is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

Jackie Hilles

 

Swan Song

I remember the sheer panic which characterised the internet response of some fans to “Swan Song”, immediately after Spirit Trail was released. To be sure, I was in two minds, not being sure if this was just a fictional love song of some sort, or was it a signal that Bruce was having some doubts about his musical career? I even began interpreting the line “I will miss the times when we were so right” as a veiled reference to Bruce’s times with “The Range”.

Happily, it seems that things are still ticking over in Bruceland, with a live album planned and no sign that the gigs are seriously slowing down. Though I do wonder if we will be able to use the words “Hornsby”, “Tour” and “Europe” in the same sentence ever again? There – I’ve just done it!

I note on Si’s polls that “Swan Song” is unofficially the most popular song on the album. Perhaps this is something to do with the vote of Hornsby “traditionalists”, who favour the classic blend of piano, background synth/guitar, and steady “bonehead” drum rhythm.

This is not a criticism – my own favourite album will probably always remain “Scenes from the Southside”, because of my own individual configuration of time, place, the musical arrangements and lyric ideas (sorry, that’s a bit heavy! see lyric interpretations of SfSS if you wish to fathom my brain out!) This is another powerful song in terms of its lyric content. Once again, the use of imagary is quite breathtaking:

“Sometimes it’s the right thing to cut the chord / You’ve been holding on hard but your hands get sore / Sometimes it’s worth it / But sometimes you wonder what for.”

In terms of musical arrangement, “Swan Song” is also one of my favourites on this album. It’s beautiful. However, its position as the last item on the CD leaves the long-term Hornsby fan with a bitter-sweet feeling. As he fades out, claiming he’s “gone, gone”, you feel like shouting out “Don’t go, Bruuuce!!! Please don’t go!!!” It’s all heartbreaking stuff, and conjures the same sort of emotions, I suppose, as the time E.T. left earth behind in his spaceship way back in 1982.

In E.T., I seem to remember that Elliot was left with a little pot plant to remind him of his new friend. Similarly, we’re left with “Variations on Swan Song & Song D”.

Carwyn Fowler