Customer Reviews

Childish Things

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've been a fan of James McMurtry ever since I saw him play the Leon Springs Cafe when he was touring his first album many years ago. While he has never attracted the critical acclaim and national commercial success he deserves, McMurtry has been hard at work all these years honing his craft and building a grassroots fan base that continues to expand as word gets around that he is no pretender. With the issue of Childish Things, McMurtry should at long last be destined for glory.
Like Robert Earl Keen Jr, Dave Alvin, and Ray Wylie Hubbard, McMurtry is a master story teller. He covers all sorts of topics, mostly telling stories about ordinary people and their struggles. But he is at his best when he is in a mood of righteous indignation. Whatever side of the globalization debate you are on, you have to agree that We Can't Make it Here is about as hard-hitting as it can get! It graphically expresses the inchoate rage of millions trapped between the old economy and the new. It's a rather timeless theme, though the circumstances be ever-changing. But McMurtry really nails it and makes you think about what he is saying.
We Can't Make It Here is the standout, but there are lots of other good songs here. See the Elephant is kind of a fun song, Memorial Day details the anticipation and excitement of a family holiday gathering, Six-Year Drought speaks to the despair of those affected by it, while Holiday is a bleak and disaffected view of the loneliness often felt by those who have to work during the holidays. There are some great rockers as well, The Old Part Of Town and Pocatello stand out in that regard.
If you are an old fan of James McMurtry, then you will find Childish Things to be one of his best. If you are new to his music, then this is as good a CD as any to start yourself down the road to becoming a devoted fan. Enjoy!

James McMurtry is angry. Not the loud and raucous gloom of mainstream rockers like Green Day, or the camera-friendly pessimism of country stars like Tim McGraw; no, James McMurtry is angry at very specific diseases in out time and society. And he's telling everybody exactly how angry he is and why.

On most of McMurtry's recordings, the sound is spare to make room for his weighty lyrics. Like a Texas-fried Bob Dylan, McMurtry has something to say, and he wants you to hear it clearly. This album is as stark as the Bible and as incisive as a double-edged saber. The language is not pretty (he twice encourages someone to eat feces, though the word he uses is much more forthright than "feces") and his message is not dolled up in pithy turns of phrase. But all this about the plainspoken nature of the lyrics doesn't deny the fact that, as a songwriter, McMurtry is smart and witty. References on this CD include the Buddha, Marcel Proust, Charlemagne, and others. McMurtry may be earthy, but he is literate, and he expects you to be as well.

Ten of the twelve songs on this disc were written by the artist himself. He also covers "Old Slew Foot," a classic old bear-hunting beater, joined on the vocals by Flatlander Joe Ely; and Peter Case's "Old Part of Town," about how you sometimes have to go backward to go forward. And that about sums up the theme of the album. McMurtry believes we as a society took the wrong fork in the road and, if we want to survive, we need to reverse ourselves and get straightened out. Or, as he puts it on the epic-length third track, "We Can't Make It Here Anymore."

Some people will be bugged by the message-heavy nature of this disc. And some people won't like the stripped-down, driving sound of the music itself. Those people are probably provincial and don't know a good album when they land on it. Widely acknowledged by many critics as one of the top albums of 2005, this album proves McMurtry has the promise to join Richie Havens and Bob Dylan in the ranks of one of the great truth-tellers of all time.

Eminently listenable and thought-provoking, this is an album for everyone who sees where the truth lies, or wants to see it, both in life and in music.

James McMurtry comes through again with a musical snapshot of the southwest. While the tone and style of the music itself may be somewhat predictable, (although pleasently so), his lyrics are worthy of print. McMurtry manages to distill issues into distinct stories, sometimes amusing, ("Slew Foot"), sometimes heartbreakingly poignant, ("Holiday"). Listening to this CD is like looking through a scrapbook of the lives of people who work for a living, who struggle to make it in a hard part of the country and who manage to maintain hope and grace while doing so.

McMurtry is one artist who consistently makes first class music. No bad tracks, no mistakes, and no disapointments. I highly recommend this CD to any fans, as well as to anyone who appreciates smart, literate, and on point artists.

"When someone with as much writing talent as McMurtry takes up his pen to speak out on the state of things today, you know it's going to carry a tremendous amount of weight, as well as passion. McMurtry delivers a brilliant new disc filled with compassionate, heartfelt lyrics and strong, deeply rich melodies, answering the question I've long been asking, "Where are today's voices of outrage?" Here they are."
Kathy Coleman

James McMurtry is known for his song 'We Can't Make It Here', a protest song from the 2004 elections that shows "compassionate conservatism as a smokescreen for adding to the coffers of the rich, despite the detrimental impact that it has upon those who are less fortunate". It is sung with the cadence of a man who scorns those people and knows their dirty secrets. James grew up with dad; author Larry McMurtry, after his parents divorced. He picked up a guitar at the age of seven and never put it down. He credits 'Little Feat' and 'The Band' as early influences. He says as well that the "revelatory concerts courtesy of Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson" opened his eyes to the social fabric of the United States of which he sings. He plays guitar and sings with his group 'The Heartless Bastards'. This album depicts a man who like many of us, has come to face disappointment with the reality of life in these United States. The twelve songs on this CD flow effortlessly from one to another. Yet, each has its own story to tell.

'See The Elephant'-'I Want To See The Elephants', which is about a circus or travelin' show where a young man will get his first sexual experience. Along with the circus comes prostitutes and others, and the young men who see others they know visiting 'The Elephants, "Please Daddy Let Me Go To See The Elephants In The Travelin' Show.


'Childish Things"- he talks about childhood and a lost way of life that probably weren't all that his memories bring back. How to know when to put away childish things.

'We Can't make It Here'-as stated a 2004 protest song to the election and conservatism. It also talks about the decline of the American heartland. This song won "Best Song of Americana". Bernie Sanders of Vermont used this song as his theme song, and he won his Senate seat.

'Slew Foot'-he sings a duet with Joe Ely on this old standard.

'Bad Enough'-"Where have ya been, when ya gonna learn, when are you gonna give anything in return, when ya gonna act like you should" A relationship that is going nowhere.

"Memorial Day'-Off to Gramma's house on this holiday to remember our heroes. An excuse for relatives getting' together. 'Whuppins' for swearing and maybe a pie. "Memorial Day in America, this is how it's supposed to be.

'Old Part of Town'-trying to relive a favorite part of life and revisit the good times.

'Six Year Drought'- vivid portrait of a run-down town from the perspective of a drifter. "I'm just a visitor here, drought won't hurt me none.'

'Charlemagne's Home Town'- "I can hear your voice across the water- that's not near enough'

'Pocatello'-choppy rhythm that signifies a woman who is about to become temptation. "Batten down your hatches, I c and hear my gramma say, you like to play with matches, boy you goin to burn yourself someday."


'Holiday'-this song sums up the force of this CD- a family Thanksgiving road trip leads to an image of a middle-aged National Guardsman, sitting in an airport waiting to ship out to Iraq. "There's something inside that won't let us be," McMurtry sings. "And it's damn near as deadly as Texans on ice."

"Like most music critics, I have a long list of pet artists who remain criminally underexposed to the general public. Most of them I'm happy to keep to myself and the other music nudniks, but the persistent obscurity of James McMurtry nags at me like a sore tooth. Why isn't this guy famous, or at least critically revered on the same level as fellow maverick country-rockers like John Hiatt and Steve Earle and younger upstarts like Ryan Adams? He's American popular music's best lyricist since Dylan, and his chugging, elemental brand of roots rock, at its best, frames his words and world-weary voice so perfectly as to sound effortless, as if he and his band just coined all the chords on the spot. He's the Raymond Carver of singer-songwriters, an absolute master at unveiling complex truths with deceptively simple technique and a rigorous lack of pretense. In other words, there's no else like him in American music." Andy Herman

We learn from James McMurtry that we can get mad at each other for awhile and then we need to learn to laugh at ourselves. He sings with a conversational narrative like a long lost friend. We listen to his carefully worded lyrics and the mastery of his guitar. James McMurtry is an American experience that loosens up our reserve, and we want to protest right along with him. Highly Recommended. prisrob 2-24-07

This is a good album with the two strongest songs being the first and last. I probably would give this 4 stars if I was not addicted to the 'Live in Aught 3' which could be one of the best 3 live albums ever. I think it would be a better intro to McMurtry's music and his great live sound. This album is dark but it needs to be to tell the stories he brings. Although this is not my favorite of his work, it is easily worth the money to hear how a real songwriter crafts his vision. Memorial Day is a really solid strong, as well as Holiday (not quite as lighthearted as REK's Merry Christmas from the Family), but the real gem is 'We Can't make it Here'. Buy this album, McMurty's work is just as relevant as Springsteen or Steve Earl with the humor and wordsmithing of Robert Earl Keen.

Wonderful surprise. I bought this CD based on one song I heard on the radio, ususally a mistake. I am thoroughly enjoying the whole CD. I will definitly buy more.

A weird wonderful mixture of Bruce, Warren Zevon and Robert Earl Keen. His lyrics make you want to hurry up & learn the words so you can sing along. A most enjoyable CD.

James McMurtry has been recording for quite some time and has put together a considerable catalog. CHILDISH THINGS, his 2005 release ranks up with his best works.

The son of novelist Larry McMurtry (LONESOME DOVE, James obviously shares his father's genes for storytelling and observing small, but key details. His songs are similar to well written small stories. His songs often detail people living on the margins of life and are often undercut with a very dry sense of humor.

CHILDISH THINGS is a solid CD packed with great songs, that ranks up with McMurtry classics like 1995's WHERE'D YOU HIDE THE BODY and his debut TOO LONG IN THE WASTELAND. Songs like WE CAN'T MAKE IT HERE and HOLIDAY creep into political territory, documenting the issues of the have nots under the Bush regime. Ironically, McMurtry had been noted as one of Bush's favorite artists. He carries over the harder sound that he used on 2003's LIVE IN OUGHT THREE to good effect. The covers of Peter Case's OLD PART OF TOWN and OLD SLEW FOOT benefit most from the rockier arrangements.

Old McMurtry fans will find CHILDISH THINGS to be a treasure trove of quality songs (unless of course they are sensitive of the political criticism). Anyone looking into McMurtry's work would be well advised to start here. It's one of his best, as well as one of the best releases of 2005.

James McMurtry sees things a little more askew than most of us. The final song on "Childish Things" comments on how little things seem to have changed.

Departing Chicago at 9:52
In clean desert camo all baggy and loose
Sits an Iowa Guardsman alone by the gate
The place sure looked different, in 1968
When he traveled with mom, first time on a plane
To visit some kin, he's forgotten their names
But he remembers the soldiers, still in their teens
In their spit polished boots and their pressed army greens
With the creases so sharp, and their faces so smooth
But their eyes looked so heavy, he wondered how they could move
Now he's got that same look, like his insides are black
He's in his mid forties and he has to go back
And he can't even smoke while he waits for his plane
The uniform's different, but the mission remains.

Yes, McMurtry's one P.O.'d songwriter, and this album lets it fly from both barrels. For those who wonder why there aren't any good protest songs coming from the train-wreck that is W's War for Oil, "Childish Things" offers a pair of stunners. Both "Holiday" and "We Can't Make it Here Anymore" are like Ice Water to the face. There are plenty of aware songwriters out there, but your local right-wing clear channel owned outlet would rather you hear Miley Cyrus or a 30 year old Eagles song then something that would make you think.

Which is what McMurtry has been doing since he released the John Mellencamp produced Too Long in the Wasteland in the 90's. What has happened in the interim is that he's long since been off the major labels and has sharpened his voice. Songs like "Bad Enough" (a great rocker about a collapsing relationship) offer a keen observer's eye, as does the dryly funny "Memorial Day." But nowhere else on the record do the observations cut as cleanly as "We Can't Make it Here Anymore."

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day
Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far $5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore.

There are few better at this than McMurtry. "Childish Things" is an amazing piece of agit-Americana on a par with Steve Earle's Washington Square Serenade (DIG).

I heard an interview with James McMurty on National Public Radio one day while driving home from Louisiana. In the time it took to get from Marshall to New Diana, I fell completely under the spell of McMurty's hard-driving music and tough-as-nails lyrics.

McMurtry reminds me of a young Bob Dylan, singing about difficult personal relationships, society's ills and the horros of war.

"Bad Enough" tells of war on the home front.

Where have you been?
I don't want to know.
Probably some place
I wouldn't want to go.
Who were you with?
Who did you see?
What did you talk about?
What did you say about me?

Where have you been?
I won't let it drop?
What were you thinking?
When you gonna stop?

In the traditional "Slew Foot," McMurtry sings of a wild bear, but about half-way through, you realize he isn't singing about Gentle Ben at all.

He's big around the middle
He's broad around the rump.
Making 90 miles an hour,
Taking 30 feet of jump.
He ain't never been caught.
He ain't never been treed.
Some folks say he looks a lot like me.

The hardest-hitting song from "Childish Things" is "We Can't Make It Here Anymore," an anthem to tough times and war veterans.

There's a Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
A flag on the wheelchair, flapping in the breeze
One leg missing and both hands free.
No one's paying much mind to him.
The V.A. budget's just stretched so thin,
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war.
We can't make it here anymore.
That big old building was a textile mill.
It fed our children and it paid our bills.
But, they turned us out and they closed the door.
We can't make it here anymore.
. . .
Some have maxed out all their credit cards.
Some are working two jobs and living in cars.
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof.
Won't pay for a drink, if you gotta have proof
Just try it yourself, Mr. CEO
See how far $5.15 an hour will go.
Take a part-time job in one of your stores.
I'll bet you can't make it here anymore.

You might not agree with his message, but there is no denying McMurtry's mighty talent. Perhaps he inherited his storytelling skills from his famous father, author Larry McMurtry ("Lonesome Dove"). This apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

In a world full of pablum-infused musical mush, it's refreshing to know someone is out there writing songs that make us take a long, hard look at our world and ourselves.