I have been listening to Big Thief more and more lately and I think there is a case for Adrianne Lenker who is their vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter being one of if not the best songwriter of her generation.
She tells such beautiful stories, often with a bittersweet twist, lyrically she is raw but simple yet deep....and her ear for an ear worm melody is as strong as they come, but she can and often does also throw out some weird and at times ramshackle melodies that disorientate, yet somehow stick.
Some example lyrics:
"Paul"
Oh, the last time I saw Paul
I was horrible and almost let him in
But I stopped and caught the wall
And my mouth got dry, so all I did was
Take him for a spin
Yeah, we hopped inside my car
And I drove in circles 'round the freight train yard
And he turned the headlights off
Then he pulled the bottle out
And then he showed me what is love
I'll be your morning bright good night shadow machine
I'll be your record player baby if you know what I mean
I'll be a real tough cookie with the whiskey breath
I'll be a killer and a thriller and the 'cause of our death
In the blossom of the months
I was sure that I'd get driven off with thought
So I swallowed all of it
As I realized there was no one who could kiss away my shit
I'll be your morning bright good night shadow machine
I'll be your record player baby if you know what I mean
I'll be a real tough cookie with the whiskey breath
I'll be a killer and a thriller and the 'cause of our death
Well Paul, I know you said
That you'd take me any way I came or went
But I'll push you from my brain
See, you're gentle baby
I couldn't stay, I'd only bring you pain
I was your starry-eyed lover and the one that you saw
I was your hurricane rider and the one that you'd call
We were just two moonshiners on the cusp of a breath
And I've been burning for you, baby, since the moment I left
A lovely example in my view of the story telling, the grittiness and the bittersweet feel.
One of their better know songs "Masterpiece" is another that lyrically i love the way the story plays out.
From a review I read:
"Masterpiece" tells of two old friends-in-arms, who wile away hours in diners, and liberate each other from terrible parties. One of them passes away, but Lenker vows to keep their steps entwined.
"Old friends, old mother, dogs and brothers," she sings with palpable weariness, following a messy guitar solo that conveys all her desperation. "There's only so much letting go you can ask someone to do/ So I'll keep you by my side/ I will not give you to the tide/ I'll even walk you in my stride, Marie." It's stubborn, but sometimes you have to play grief at its own game....
A verse from it which again i love the grittiness and rawness of.
You whisper to a restless ear, "can you get me out of here?
This place smells like piss and beer, can you get me out?"
You were asking me, how to get you free
I only know the recipe to roam
The chorus throughout the song goes the first two times:
You saw the masterpiece, she looks a lot like you
Wrapping her left arm around your right
Ready to walk you through the night
Then the last two times it switches and goes.
You saw the masterpiece, she looks a lot like me
Wrapping my left arm round your right
Ready to walk you through the night
Followed by:
Cause I saw the masterpiece, she looks a lot like you
Wrapping your left arm round my right
Ready to walk me through the night
I just love the gut punch of that change and the subtlety of it.
From "Forgotten Eyes" - this just slays me...
Hollow-eyed on Eddie street no sirens to hear
Just trash and soiled needles clawing the veneer
And no crying but it is no less a tear
On the common cheek with which we smile
Hollow-eyed on Eddie' is it they or is it I?
Is it me who is more hollow as I'm quickly passing by?
And the poison is killing them' but then so am I
As I turn away
The wound has no direction, everybody needs a home and deserves protection.â€
Two songs below - there are many other examples of her what i think is brilliant craft - any fans here?
Paul
Masterpiece