Još nije gotovo

Ne volim da dajem prognoze, ali ću ovoga puta učiniti izuzetak. Posle sedmodnevnog slušanja albuma Close Ties (2017), sa priličnom sigurnošću mogu da tvrdim da je Rodney Crowell snimio jedan od najboljih ovogodišnjih albuma.

No, prvo da vam razjasnim ko je ovaj čika.

Sa 22 godine je došao u Nešvil sa željom da postane profesionalni muzičar. Stvari se nisu baš odvijale onako kako je želeo – nastupao je po svakojakim rupama, ali je uspeo da se sprijatelji sa dva svoja muzička idola (Townes Van Zandt i Guy Clark). Život mu se promenio u trenutku kada se preselio u Los Angeles. Postao je gitarista u pratećoj grupi Emmylou Harris, a nedugo zatim ona je počela da snima i njegove pesme. Već 1977. godine imao je i sopstveni album Ain’t Living Long Like This. Na stranu što je na njemu okupio muzičarsku i autorsku elitu (James Burton i Glen D. Hardin iz Elvisovog pratećeg benda, Dr. John, Ry Cooder, Nicolette Larson, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Willie Nelson) – njegove pesme su progovorile same za sebe, ekspresno ga svrstavajući u najtalentovanije songwritere svoje generacije.

Close TiesNarednih 40 godina Crowell je redovno snimao vrlo kvalitetne albume, oženio se i razveo od Rosanne Cash i može se reći da je najzaslužniji za njenu uspešnu karijeru. Iako nisu u braku, u dobrim su odnosima i često zajednički nastupaju, pa nije ni čudno što je i ona u današnjem snimku (uz mladu zvezdu u usponu Johna Paula Whitea).

Iako albumom dominiraju akustični instrumenti stvarajući laid back atmosferu, ali se nemojte zavarati. Crowell piše veoma ozbiljno:

It’s like I’m sitting at a bus stop waiting for a train
Exactly how I got here is hard to explain
My heart’s in the right place, what’s left of it I guess
My heart ain’t the problem, it’s my mind that’s a total mess
With these rickety old legs and watery eyes
It’s hard to believe that I could pass for anybody’s prize
Here’s what I know about the gifts that God gave
You can’t take ‘em with you when you go to the grave

It ain’t over yet, ask someone who ought to know
Not so very long ago we were both hung out to dry
It ain’t over yet, you can mark my word
I don’t care what you think you heard, we’re still learning how to fly

For fools like me who were built for the chase
Takes the right kind of woman to help you put it all in place
It only happened once in my life, but man you should have seen
Her hair two shades of foxtail red, her eyes some far out sea blue green
I got caught up making a name for myself, you know what that’s about
One day your ship comes rolling in and the next day it rolls right back out
You can’t take for granted none of this shit
The higher you fly boys, the harder you get hit

It ain’t over yet, I’ll say this about that
You can get up off the mat or you can lay there till you die
It ain’t over yet, here’s the truth my friend
You can’t pack it in and we both know why
It ain’t over yet

Silly boys blind to get there first
Think of second chances as some kind of curse
I’ve known you forever and ever it’s true
If you came by it easy, you wouldn’t be you
Make me laugh, you make me cry, you make me forget myself

Back when down on my luck kept me up for days
You were there with the right word to help me crawl out of the maze
And when I almost convinced myself I was hipper than thou
You stepped up with a warning shot fired sweet and low across the bow
No you don’t walk on water and your sarcasm stings
But the way you move through this old world sure makes a case for angel wings
I was halfway to the bottom when you threw me that line
I quote you now verbatim, “Get your head out of your own behind”

It ain’t over yet, what you wanna bet
One more cigarette ain’t gonna send you to the grave
It ain’t over yet, I’ve seen your new girlfriend
Thinks you’re the living end, great big old sparkle in her eye
It ain’t over yet

It Ain’t Over Yet” je prva pesma sa albuma za koju je snimljen promotivni video i zbog toga je izbor za ilustraciju Crowellove karijere. Ima i boljih jer nekada bučni mladić, kroz introspekciju, danas peva o svom životu iz pespektive starijeg i mudrijeg čoveka kakvim je postao.

I ne namerava da stane.