I'm So Confused

Jonathan Richman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 23, 2011)
• Original Release Date: October 20, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vapor P&D
• ASIN: B00000DD1X
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,224 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

No doubt that playing the minstrel in There's Something About Mary gave Jonathan Richman the greatest exposure of his career. But don't expect success to spoil him: I'm So Confused--which includes that movie's "True Love Is Not Nice," if not the title song--finds the charming if offbeat pop-folkie singing the same simple-minded odes he's been doing since disbanding the Modern Lovers way back when. Produced with negligible effect by Ric Ocasek, Confused is mostly of a romantic nature, although with the occasional surprise. "The Lonely Little Thrift Store," for one, digs deep with arresting lines like "The avocado-green appliances with the smell of domestic violences." Perpetually quirky, Richman is nearly the definition of cult artist. No role in any blockbuster film's going to change that. --Neal Weiss

Product Description

I'm So Confused by Jonathan Richman

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Slick production can't disguise Jonathan's pain, June 7, 2002

By 

Gena Chereck (Nebraska, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm So Confused (Audio CD)

Richman's second Vapor album, I'm So Confused (1998), starts out on a lighthearted note with the jaunty "Nineteen in Naples" and a re-recording of 1986's "When I Dance." But then it quickly turns heavy as Jonathan, picking up where Surrender to Jonathan (1996) left off, continues to to address the end of his marriage in songs like "I'm So Confused," "Love Me Like I Love," "Hello From Cupid," "If She Don't Love Me," "I Can Hear Her Fighting With Herself," "The Night is Still Young," and "I Can't Find My Best Friend" (a song I cannot listen to without crying). Like the best songwriters (Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, etc.), Richman relies upon concrete images ("the night is still young, and the bed is still cold") and plain-spoken phrases ("I can't find my best friend, and my life's just not the same") to tell his stories and infuse them with genuine feeling.

Much has been made of Ric Ocasek's glossy production and cheesy synthesizers. However intrusive these things may seem, though, they can't disguise the sadness in Jonathan's voice, which lends these songs extra weight. The disc only drags during a re-recording of 1979's "Affection," one of Jonathan's most emotional songs; here, he drains all emotion from it by smoothing out all wavers and breaks in his voice, fixing up some of the lyrics, and adding a goofy spoken bit toward the end. (These changes may make for easier listening, but the results are much less -- pardon the pun -- affecting.) I can see why he would want to resurrect this song, though: He may have lost the love of his life, but he wants to show us that it hasn't made him bitter and cynical; he still stands by his old word that love and affection are still worth seeking out. On a lighter note, the mid-tempo ballad "True Love is Not Nice" (a sort of precursor to 2001's "Couples Must Fight") and the rockin' "Lonely Little Thrift Store" rank among his finest recordings. (I love the cover image, too -- the gloomy color scheme, and Richman standing off-center as his handsome face looks deep in thought. Sad but pretty, like many of his tunes.)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Jojo is So Confused., May 14, 2000

By 

George T. Parsons (Nevada City, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'm So Confused (Audio CD)

Of the two old songs he's redone this time around; When I Dance works pretty good, while poor Affection which is one of Richman's finest songs, is almost ruined by producer Ric Ocasek's synthesizer cheese (which is unfortunately fairly omnipresent). On the new stuff Ric's synth is far more tolerable, and this adds up to one of the most consistently strong albums Jojo's produced in a long time. Sometimes confusion is infinitely better than certainty, still recovering from, and dealing with his divorce, while stepping into a whole new world of possibilities. There are songs here that are among the best things he's ever written or sung; The Lonely Little Thrift Store is one of the most perfect Jonathan Richman songs ever: concise verbal description/evocations in his tight rhyming rocking style over an almost Egyptian compulsively catchy stripped down (sounds like just J.R. and drummer Tommy Larkins on this) holy rock & roll (send this one out to Al Hoff). I Can't Find My Best Friend is the kind of song and emotion that's only possible to create or understand if your heart has been broken. I'm So Confused is auto-bio honest, pensive, edgy and one of the few places where Ocasek improves stuff by his presence, True Love Is Not Nice is a lovely country-synth bit of accurate observation and wisdom. On, Love Me Like I Love Jonathan says he wants "people to love me like I can love" and though it's one of the best songs here, I've just got to argue, that people can only love you or anyone on their own terms, that's all anyone can expect, isn't it? Hello From Cupid is a sweetly seductive soul-pop gem, while The Night Is Still Young is the same guy that wrote Roadrunner almost 30 years ago still driving around at night looking for something as simple as salvation, or in this case, a party he was invited to but can't seem to find. Thankyou Jonathan, (as the kids all say) you rock.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you don't get Jonathan yet, forget it., April 15, 2000

By 

Bernard Perusse - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'm So Confused (Audio CD)

It's not as strong as its predecessor, the brilliant Surrender To Jonathan. Still,anyone who has been following Richman's career since the 70s already knows that any new release will contain at least a few songs that are catchy and charming enough to stick in your head ---permanently. This time,listen for the title track and The Night Is Still Young.This kind of innocence and humour is on the endangered-species list in pop. Docked a couple of stars for a haphazard approach and a below-average quota of memorable songs.