Customer Reviews

Sweet Old World

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was inspired to write this review after reading some of the others. "Sweet Old World" is actually my favorite Lucinda Williams album (although they are all favorites in their own way). I would say it is more bluesy than folksy. I find the album's meditations on suicide very poignant and deeply felt, unlike the listener from New York who wrote the weirdly bitter review below. My family has a history of clinical depression, and my sister committed suicide a few years ago. The title song, "Sweet Old World," expresses everything I wish I could have said to her--especially the line "Didn't you think that you were worth anything?" which always makes me cry. If you love exquisite songwriting and singing, and you don't mind being emotionally touched by what you hear, buy this album.

While the critics were going goo-goo ga-ga over "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road," and desevedly so, it was hard not to notice that this overlooked album is a much better listen in the long run. Not as obvious as Car Wheels, it sort of sneaks up on you like a slow burning fuse and finally explodes with emotion and Lucinda's somewhat understated delivery of a fabulous bunch of songs. Songs like "Sweet Old World" and "Little Angel Little Brother" just don't come arou d every day, and the entire album is up to that standard. Is it country? Sure, but you need not be a country fan to enjoy it. Is it folk? Absolutely. Rock and Roll? Without a doubt. But mostly, it's blues, although not in the traditional sense. It just gives you that same feeling you get after listening to some great blues tunes, yet with a stronger sense of melody. If you like any of Lucinda's work, or are looking for a good introduction, you can't go wrong with this totally underrated release.

This was my first Lucinda Williams CD and my favorite in many ways. Ten years ago it seemed as consistent as her first album, and I admit on re-listening today that it isn't. The instrumentation has become dated, and between that and the New And Improved production on her later releases, I can see how others may have skipped this one or may want to. It would be a loss, though, not to have this CD that speaks so poignantly to loss.

If I had to pick a single favorite Lucinda Williams song, the title track would be tempting. This song about suicide is her masterpiece, and you're not human if you aren't moved by it. It takes a poet to succeed with such a song. "Something About What Happens When We Talk" was the first of her songs I ever heard and remains a particular favorite. On hearing it I began my arguments with myself over whether her simple lyrics were trite or minimalistic. I eventually decided on the latter, and this song is so very intelligent and evocative, like so many here. The theme of suicide and loss from "He Never Got Enough Love" (those songs about men with abusive childhoods haven't stopped or become more subtle from here to "Sweet Side") through "Pineola" is perfectly realized. I don't have Lucinda's gift with words, but hers is used to remarkable effect in this series of songs.

There are lighter pleasures here, from touching story songs ("Six Blocks Away", "Sidewalks of the City") to a fun, sweet love song like "Lines Around Your Eyes". Even before I had those lines I thought this was a great song, and now that we live in a culture that worships youth like never before, you can't beat the sentiment. "Hot Blood" is often a great song live, but unfortunately wasn't recorded in a way that captured the heat. Still, it's a must-have for any fan.

There are weaker moments. Some of the lyrics on "Prove My Love" seem trite, though others are moving, and it's very country. I find "Memphis Pearl a bit maudlin, but not bad. And the cover of "Which Will" is nice enough, but dispensable.

This is probably not the first CD I would recommend for someone who wanted an introduction to Lucinda Williams. It's musically dated, not perfectly consistent, and that's less true of her first CD or of Car Wheels. Still, the sense of it being a theme album for the first half or so of the recording, and a series of truly great songs - "Something About What Happens", "Sweet Old World", "Little Angel", "Pineola" - and a few that are simple fun - "Lines Around Your Eyes" and "Hot Blood" - are essential for any serious Lucinda fan.

SWEET OLD WORLD was the second Lucinda Williams album I bought. While the album doesn't rival 1988's LUCINDA WILLIAMS, most artist never release an album that is half this good. There was a shorter wait between records (4 years compared to 8 years before). Lucinda turned down an RCA contract in 1991 so she could have creative control, thank goodness she did. SWEET OLD WORLD is a masterpiece, the songs are more daring, and the performances (vocally and musically) aren't any less spectacular than that on LUCINDA WILLLIAMS. "Six Blocks Away" is exceptional. The song is masterfully arranged, and flawlessly executed. "Something About What Happens When We Talk" is outstanding, with a majestic performance. "He Never Got Enough Love" is ground-breaking, she tells a compelling story that is absolutely flawless. "Sweet Old World" is goregous, as she tells a story about the effects of suicide, and she makes us believe the world isn't so bad after all. "Little Angel, Little Brother" tells an interesting story, in a less straight-forward manner. "Pineola" is excellent. Its almost a cousin to "Changed The Locks" in musical terms. The lyrics describe the effects suicide has on friends and family, with a realistic performance from Lucinda. "Lines Around Your Eyes" is magnifiscent country-rock, should have been a hit single. "Prove My Love" is a goregous love song, told with a tender vocal. "Sidewalks Of The City" is fantastic, as she tells a story about waliking in the city and what you experience. The song has a similar feel to "Side Of The Road", but the lyrics are completely different. "Memphis Pearl" drags things down a bit, but the story in the lyrics is again compelling. "Hot Blood" has a great music feel. The cover version of "Which Will", is brilliant, a tender love song. While SWEET OLD WORLD isn't as exceptional as LUCINDA WILLIAMS or CAR WHEELS ON A GRAVEL ROAD, it is as daring. Fantastic album, the second example of Lucinda Williams perfection.

Face it, *nothing* was going to live up to Lucinda's '88 self-titled disc-- and for good reason: "Lucinda Williams" (the album) is just about as perfect as albums come. When "sweet old world" was released 4 years later, everyone saw it as a let-down. But, SOW has plenty of its own charms... it's a darker, more resigned record than LW. It sounds like the blues finally "got to her"... the blues seems to have won this round, and Lucinda writes and sings some truly harrowing tales. The album is loosely focused on suicide, and in a broader sense, loss in general. Unlike most albums that mine this dark territory, this disc manages to remain totally uncliched and stubbornly unsentimental. Lucinda writes with such honesty and unflinching detail, they are sparse, straightforward and touched with true beauty. Ultimately, it lacks the cathartic, life-affirming tunes like "Big Red Sun Blues" and Passionate Kisses" that tempered LW, but that's sort of the point. That said, the title track is the best song about suicide ever written. It's stark, sad, and lovely-- like the album itself.

Everyone who only heard Lucinda for the first time with Car Wheels on a Gravel Road ain't heard nothin' yet! Lucinda has been an amazing musical genius since well before her break out record (which I personally think was her weakest record to date - including her brand new album Essence - which has gotten lame reviews in comparison to its predecessor but is, in my opinion a better album). Listening to Sweet Old World is almost like listening to a musical. The songs are so filled with meaning and feeling and solid story lines it is hard not to draw a common thread through all of them and assume they all come from the same pain (which according to an interview with Lucinda - they do not). This Lucinda Williams album is still second to her self titled work but good enough to stand alone. It's amazing and will always be somewhere playing in the soundtrack of my life!

A close friend clued me in to Lucinda Williams "Sweet Ol' World" and I've loved it every time I've listed to it since. Almost every song on the CD is excellently written and wonderfully sung. "Memphis Pearl" is a little too Country for me, but "Something About What Happens When We Talk" (a beautifully written and performed song), "Sweet Ol' World (ditto), and "Little Angel, Little Brother" (ditto again) are songs I can listen to over and over again. "Pineola" is even more powerful (if that's possible) once you learn that the song was written about Frank Stanford -- a family friend and poet who killed himself.

Lucinda writes the kind of slant rhyme lyric Emily Dickinson would have enjoyed. It's not surprising to learn she grew up with poetry (her father is the poet Miller Williams) since she has a wonderful way with words.

Buy it, it's the best.

This beautiful album opens with the uptempo Six Blocks Away but soon turns sombre with songs like He Never Got Enough Love, the tender and poetic Sweet Old World (covered by Emmylou Harris on her Wrecking Ball album) and the painful Pineola, a harrowing story about a suicide and funeral. Little Angel, Little Brother is less sad, but gentle, perceptive and poetic too. The mood never seems to brighten after that, although Lines Around Your Eyes is a powerful love ballad and Prove My Love is a melodic, emotionally gripping country song. Sidewalks Of The City is a sad but hopeful Springsteenesque ballad, while Memphis Pearl reminds me of Emmylou's Red Dirt Girl or Joan Baez's version of Love Is Just A Four Letter Word in its theme and mood. Lucinda's sound is a perfect blend of rootsy country, folk and rock that fits her lyrics like a glove. This beautiful, sad and moving album ends, quite appropriately, with her cover of Nick Drake's elegiac Which Will.

A lot of people have criticized this one for being too sentimental or syrupy. I'm a sucker for emotional music, so maybe that's why I liked it so much, but I would have to disagree. It's not as good as "Lucinda Williams", but very, very few records in the history of American music have been. The production is softer and more "folky" than "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road", but I think the songs are just as good. It is true that the emotion in these songs is very naked and direct. I think this makes some uncomfortable.

I came to this album after I head *Car Wheels On a Gravel Road.* No, its lyrics don't have the ethereal grit of that album, but *Sweet Old World* is well worth the few bucks it costs. Lucinda's pipes sooth my miles on the road like few others can. When she sings "it's a sweet old world," I believe her. And when she sings that "he never got enough love," I know she believes him, even though his excuses are a crock. Lucinda is the kind of lover we fragile types admire; she loves us despite our failings. Whether we're "drunken angels" or blow our brains out with a .44, Lucinda sings with compassion and understanding about us. To my mind, she's the sexiest singer / songwriter working. She does it for me, even from "six blocks away."