AUK has rightfully sung the praises of alt-country singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams for years now, and last year, she was voted the number one Americana artist of all time by our readers. With a career spanning 46 years now, Williams is undeniably one of the greats. In a Lucinda Williams song, pain is something intimate and holy. Breakups become mythology, diluting any heartbreak into fable. “All I ask… don’t tell anybody the secrets I told you”, she sings on the chorus of ‘Metal Firecracker’. She is effortlessly vulnerable, but still retains some mystery.
Going back through her discography, it is difficult to find a “bad” album, because she doesn’t exactly have one. Instead, there is a distinct identity and sound she cultivates, and some albums execute that better than others.
Can’t Live With It: “Little Honey” (UMG, 2008)
“Little Honey” came at an odd time in Lucinda’s career, one year after the meditative “West”, which converged on the death of her mother and a painful breakup. Where “West” had a tome of hurt to draw upon, “Little Honey” didn’t tell a specific story. It enjoyed commercial success, marking her first top 10 Billboard album, and received critical praise, so it was by no means a flop. Yet when revisiting it, “Little Honey” falters in the shadow of her greatest projects.
‘Jailhouse Tears’ with Elvis Costello is a great sounding duet, but the contents feel uninspired. Accusing a lover of being a drunk, stealing a truck, and ending up in jail all serve as Basic Country Song Events we’ve heard time and time again. The same problem emerges in ‘Tears of Joy’, where Williams vows to “be your woman, your everything” and the paramour is “my baby, you be my king”.
Songs like ‘If Wishes Were Horses’, ‘Rarity’, and ‘Knowing’ almost salvage it to a higher tier of Williams albums with their downtempo, reflective sound. They’d fit beautifully on another project of hers, particularly the next entry for Can’t Live Without.
And yet, right in the middle are things like ‘Honey Bee’, which is centred on a cringe-inducing innuendo that sounds more like a novelty song. Some find it fun, and it must be better to jump around to at a concert, but for this to be one song away from “wish you were bringing your love back to me instead of leavin’ / But if wishes were horses, I’d had a ranch”, is a disservice. ‘Well Well Well’, which shields ‘If Wishes Were Horses’ from ‘Honey Bee’, still sounds a bit nondescript.
Ultimately, what makes “Little Honey” difficult to live with is how frustrating it is, because her artistry periodically shines, yet is dampened by some of the weaker songs, and often sandwiched in between. However confusing it may be though, it still manages to feature some beautiful songwriting.
Can’t Live Without It: “World Without Tears” (UMG, 2003)
Many fans would probably choose “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road” as the definitive Lucinda Williams album. It represented such a special moment in music. To have a commercial breakthrough two decades into a prolific and hard working career meant that Williams was finally recognised for her genius. And “Car Wheels” is absolutely stellar.
But five years after that success came “World Without Tears”, further proving her versatility and songwriting ability. “World Without Tears” is slow moving poetry, giving an intimate glimpse to “where the spirit meets the bone”, per her father’s own artistry.
‘Fruits Of My Labor’, both as a hit song and opening track, immediately set the scene. The sultry, measured sounds are consistent throughout, and one can easily picture Williams plaintively reminiscing in a smoke-filled lounge as she sings that she remembers “all the things we did / When we slept together in the blue behind your eyelids”.
Blue seeps in throughout, reminding Williams of her lover. On ‘Overtime’, “your blue eyes, your black eyelashes / the way you looked at life in your funny way” suddenly seize her, but one day, “I guess out of the blue / you won’t cross my mind”.
To feel blue, to stay in that emotion and take comfort in it, remains at the core of the album. “In another place and time, I knew your mournful blue” in ‘Words Fell’, shows that a partner’s sadness is worthy of falling in love with just as much as their “golden grace”.
Getting over sorrow requires something more, which Williams explores in ‘Ventura’, a paragon of songwriting. In the wake of trauma, she is left paralyzed from her pain and imagines herself driving out past Malibu. “I want to watch the ocean bend the edges of the sun then / I want to get swallowed up in an ocean of love” makes a powerful chorus against an electric guitar. ‘Ventura’ is essentially a prayer; “give me back my power and drown this unholiness”, she begs towards the end. Utterly demoralised, she then throws up confessions of love in the toilet.
And what is there left to say about ‘People Talkin’, other than the fact that it is one of the most gorgeous songs ever written? The whole album is worthy of sitting down and listening the whole way through, it has that much presence. “World Without Tears” is Lucinda Williams’ true masterpiece, a sacred text of passion, anger, and heartbreak.
I have always struggled with ‘Little Honey’ as it feels as if someone else sneaked this into LW’s catalogue. Some of the tracks are dire such as ‘Honey Bee’ – overall the quality control so evident on most of her other albums is missing.
On the other hand ‘World Without Tears’ is immense and highlighting ‘Ventura’ is apt but the whole record is a gem.
Liked the arguments in this feature very much. Thank you.
My love for Lucinda goes back to WYEP playing Car Wheels On a Gravel Road, which i think may be one of the greatest albums of all time. Saw her last year @ McCarter Theatre in Princeton and while she could only sing (because of stroke) she was dynamite!!! Truly a treasure!!!b
Hard to argue that Little Honey is a stinker. Sadly I’d add pretty much everything she’s released since The Ghosts of Highway 20. The Jukebox albums were all pretty dire, as was Stories From a Rock’n’Roll Heart.