Almanac Music: ‘Rock N Roll Heart’

 

 

 

 

My favourite song of 2023 was ‘Rock N Roll Heart’ by Lucinda Williams. Pure unabashed love of music, with a wink and a dollop of wit.

 

You don’t have to be that smart
You don’t have to be a work of art

 

As long as you’ve got a rock n roll heart
It can’t be broken or torn apart
Yeah, you’ve got a rock n roll heart

 

What great lines! It doesn’t hurt that Springsteen joins her in passion and belief for this wonderous chorus. I am so on board.

 

This is Lucinda’s treasure map in search of the good life Aristotle and Elvis imagined: let creativity be your compass and follow your dream in pursuit of that elusive sound.

 

Country, soul and rocknroll are my life source. The emotional pull, pleading, plaintive expressions, the wit, whimsy and wonder of lyrics, arrangements that feel familiar but will surprise, instruments engaging you emotionally, conveying hard truths, love and lust, with exciting beats, wild rhythms, melodies to melt a cold, cold heart, and an invitation to the land of 1000 dances.

 

I love when a song grabs you by the scruff of your spirit, or finds you in unguarded moments, and even after years absent from your playlist, a song you love will fill your heart, like it never went away.

 

When I was decades younger I wanted Heaven to be a bar with bands playing through the day, a jukebox for in-between times, and pizzas at the ready. In our twenties we spent most nights and weekends playing a wild, eclectic assortment of albums. This was largely thanks to two friends in particular, Polly and Brett. Their impressive record collections, and generosity sharing information about artists, genres and history has left a lasting impression.

 

Back in the 80s there were many bands that caught my attention for an album or two. The Smithereens were damn good. Lone Justice even better. I’ve treasured artists like Elvis Costello and Steve Earle but in the last 15 years or so not so much. Two artists whose records continue to hit me in the heart are The Replacements and Lucinda Williams.

 

The Replacements barely got through the 80s but over 6 albums (that combined probably didn’t sell 500,000 copies) they left one hell of a mark, influencing artists across the rock spectrum from Nirvana to Justin Townes Earle to Lorde. Their most critically regarded album, Tim, from 1985 was reissued as a boxset in 2023, including a new mix by Ed Stasium. I have played Tim at least 5 times a year for the last 40 years, marvel at the insightful lyrics, ravaged, heart on sleeve vocals and wild mercurial guitar. When I played the ‘new’ mix it was like listening to a brand-new record. If only everything old could be refreshed like this, and yes, I’m referring to my own ageing process!

 

My favourite concert, album and song of 2023 were by Lucinda Williams. And best book of 2023? Lucinda’s memoir. She is, to quote Rod the Mod, in my heart and in my soul. Has been since 1988. Never let me down. So, how is it I’ve never seen her in concert? That’s some kinda bullshit Rick. I coulda, woulda. shoulda, except for being unwell-off for a while, starting and raising a family (that shaves 20 years off just like that!), and life getting in the way of living.

 

In 2023 LW was in Australia for Bluesfest and that event spawned a Melbourne concert. We went and I was in Heaven.

 

Lucinda had a serious stroke in 2020. She is still recovering. She needed to be assisted to the mic and was unable to play guitar but so what. Her magnificence and her oeuvre were there. The songs are the thing. She writes and sings from her soul. She is deserving to her core, of that maligned but still purposeful phrase, authentic.

 

Her latest album is a deep reflection of what music means to her. It includes a song about Bob Stinson, The Replacement’s reckless, troubled guitarist, who sadly passed away from the ravages of excess aged 35. As a touching gesture to Bob and the themes Williams conveys across the album, his brother Tommy, another member of The Replacements, sings back up, on this song.

 

My favourite lyric from 2023 (yes, it’s from ‘Rock N Roll Heart’) is the following: Outside of the outsiders. She’s describing the young guy from a “no win town” who is bound to lose but music changes his life. He (or she) is more displaced than the town’s outsiders. Outside, of the outsiders. Ideas that line evokes just keep resonating.

 

Her songs nudge your inner dialogue so that like a stone dropped in a lake they ripple outwards, lapping the shore of an unrelated memory or refocussing an idea, a point, a moral reckoning. In her brilliant album, Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart, Williams argues passionately for the glory of rock n roll wrapped up in country and soul, as a companion, a compass, a reason for living and the quest for meaning. There’s a song called ‘Stolen Moments’ about how much Tom Petty means to her. The album finishes with, ‘Never Gonna Fade Away’, a paean to Rock N Roll from someone who has lived her life inside its beauty and its challenges.

 

‘Rock N Roll Heart’, along with other key songs like ‘Let’s Get the Band Back Together’, ‘New York Comeback’, ‘Jukebox’ and ‘Where the Song Will Find Me’ depict Williams’ profound desire for what Shakespeare called, the food of love. Having come face to face with mortality, Williams looked straight back, and reaching deep into her heart created a record extolling resilience, community and being moved by the concord of sweet sounds.

 

 

More from Rick Kane Here.

 

 

Read more stories from Almanac Music  HERE

 

If you would like to receive the Almanac Music and Poetry newsletter we will add you to the list. Please email us: [email protected]

 

To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au  home page click HERE

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

 

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE