Comments on Fragments of a Cale Season: So Much For Love

Must confess I like this CD too! I think it´s exce...

2007-08-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

Must confess I like this CD too! I think it´s excellent Cale. But it´s a nice blog :-)

Jack: Thanks for the pro argument. I still listen...

2007-08-20T10:29:00.000-04:00

Jack: Thanks for the pro argument. I still listen to the album (until I'm done with this here project, at least ;), and I'll try to keep your ideas in mind.

Lance:
I believe Chris Spedding (guitar), Tim Donald (drums), Pat Donaldson (bass). You never know with Cale, though.

Totally unrelated to your post, but do you know wh...

2007-08-18T23:58:00.000-04:00

Totally unrelated to your post, but do you know who the three musicians with photos on the back of Helen of Troy are?

Hm. See, I don’t hate Walking On Locusts, and I do...

2007-08-16T14:30:00.000-04:00

Hm. See, I don’t hate Walking On Locusts, and I don’t think it fails quite as badly as your assessment indicates. I think you’re on to something with Cale trying to write from the heart. There are moments on Walking that I find quite moving, and “moving” is an adjective I hardly ever associate with Cale.

Here’s the thing: the profoundest sentiments often do sound inescapably cliché. “I love you” is the most powerful statement in the world, and also the most banal. It’s all about delivery. And on this song (and others on Walking), I get the impression that Cale is intentionally trying to keep the language as basic as possible and to sell the emotion of the song purely on the performance. It’s not that far-fetched, given Cale’s odd relationship with the English language and his admission that he often chooses words and phrases for their sound-value rather than their actual meaning. It’s not so much what he sings as how he sings it.

And frankly, I think he sings the hell out of this; the voice, so weary and yet so tender, a rasp always on the verge of becoming a crack. Not enough to save the song, maybe, but enough to show what he’s driving at.

And I like those woozy, drunken horns, too.