As I get older, I find myself getting more and more cranky and critical of the music I hear. My first introduction to Joan Osborne was "One of Us," which I immediately wrote off as a nauseating little exercise in minimalism, packaged and sanitized for popular FM radio. Then I heard "St. Teresa. . ." Sometimes a person can get sucked into buying a CD on the strength of one cut and regret spending the money after hearing the whole thing. Not so with "Relish." Osborne got herself on the map with this masterpiece, and rightly so.
"St. Teresa" absolutely touches the soul, both musically and with the images it paints. The subject of this song is a junkie who sells herself on the street corner to get high ("just a little crime"). As St. Teresa flies "higher than the moon," Osborne's voice and Eric Bazilian's nifty mandolin transport us with her, away from the trash-filled street corner that is her other life.
Osborne has made a reputation of crafting insightful lyrics that transcend the "Oooh baby, I sure love you" tripe we have become so used to. Sample her haunting description of depression and agoraphobia in "Crazy Baby" if you think this gal writes run-of-the-mill lyrics: "Oh, you know you ought to get yourself together, but you cannot bear to walk outside your door, no you cannot bear to look into the mirror ... anymore." The song is from the perspective of a lover (perhaps) who is both frustrated: "Well, you know you're getting really hard to live with . . ." and afraid of witnessing a suicide: ". . .try to hold on tight, oh my crazy baby, don't put out the light."
Collaborations with guitarist Bazilian dominate and highlight this CD. "Right Hand Man" and "Ladder" are frenetic love songs, and both received heavy airplay after "One of Us" (which Bazilian wrote by himself) drew attention to "Relish." "Pensacola" and "Dracula Moon" are both musically pleasing and knockout-descriptive. In the former, a woman finds the father she has never known, destitute, living in a trailer, and desperately turning to evalengelical religion for something to believe in. The latter tale is told by a woman who is "falling from grace" as she leaves a secure relationship for one that "doesn't ask for your permission." Other notable tunes include "Man In The Long Black Coat," a great re-make of a Bob Dylan work, "Spider Web," which has Ray Charles trading his musical talent for eyesight, and "Lumina," which ponders Eve's role in the original sin (was it really that bad?): "Babies that put things in their mouth never heard of sin . . . What is wrong with this, here is the place, now is the time, let's invent the kiss."
OK, I still don't like "One of Us," however it propelled Osborne into the musical spotlight, so it has that merit. In my opinion, "Relish" is a standout piece that will stand the test of time.
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