The Ride Is A Good One

It's been three years since Sheryl Crow gave us her last studio album, Wildflowers.

A lot has happened to Crow in that time: she and Lance Armstrong called off their engagement, Sheryl was diagnosed with breast cancer (and is currently cancer free), and in 2007, she adopted baby Wyatt.

How has this affected the songs on this record?

Sheryl says having Wyatt has made her "fearless". I believe that.

She also says, 'This is the most honest record I've made. It's about being forced to wake up.'

And back to help Sheryl is Bill Bottrell, the producer of Tuesday Night Music Club and part of Sheryl Crow (they split during the recording). Sheryl decided she didn't want the pressure of having to produce this record, as she has the past five records, so she called Bill to see if he would be interested.

His response? 'I've been waiting for this call for years.'

That's good news for everyone, as Bottrell knows all of Sheryl's idiosyncrasies, and knows how make them both marketable and memorable.

The Record, Part One

Detours can be divided up into two CDs. Tracks one through six are the socially conscious/political/peace be upon us songs, and tracks seven through fourteen are the personal tracks.

So if you're in the mood to think about the world and be entertained as well, you've got it. If you're not, skip to track seven and start there. On with part one...

God Bless This Mess

This song was recorded on a cheap audio cassette recorder with just an acoustic guitar. It's a story song, and a good one.

I got a job in town selling insurance on the phone
With Robert and Teresa and two con men from back home
But everyone I call up doesn't have the time to chat
Everybody is so busy doing this and doing that
Something has gone missing and it makes me kind of sad...

God bless this mess...

The war and 9/11 are also referenced, but it's the "God bless this mess" part that continues to resonate. And it's a soft set up to the aural kick that is

Shine Over Babylon

This song storms out of the gates with lyrical couplets that bring Dylan to mind, and a melody that grabbed me immediately. You know, the great thing about YouTube is that you don't have to believe a word I say, you can just go over and watch this video for yourself, and I'd recommend it. In Crow's words, this is "the best song on the album," and I agree.

And my favorite verse -- because she leaves out one of the choruses, and just builds this great momentum while taking on a bit of Chrissie Hynde-like inflections... this song is just cooler than cool:

Sanskrit message from the mounts
Leave your possessions, hope abounds
There's nothing here for you to cry about
We're all just followers from here on out

I take the stage, I walk the planks
I sing these songs with little thanks
I wait for shouts from crazy cranks
I stand amidst the brown shirt ranks

I found my way to Alexandria
Where gurus bubble up on Ganges (*sounds like "ganja")
Scavengers, they run up and hand ya
All the junk that should have damned ya

You make me wanna shine over Babylon

Bottom line, it's great music, and incredibly well-written.

Go to YouTube and see this!!

Love Is Free

This was the first single, but it didn't do much for me. It IS catchy and jangly and filled with great lines about the spirit of New Orleans, I'm just not always in the mood. However she channels another great one -- Rickie Lee Jones -- in my favorite lines in the song:

You go to church... and pray to God for no more rain
A Cadillac, a paper sack, hey there Jack, you want some
bourbon for the pain? Hey tambourine...there ain't no music in the street... With the voodoo what do you do when the radio just plays on anyway?

When you haven't got sh*t, and the government don't care, what do you do? You make love because it's free. I guess that has to make one smile.

Peace Be Upon Us

This one works for me sometimes, but at others, it's a little too different and "new agey" for me. In other words, it's not my usual Sheryl, and I'm not head over heels for it. I do love the message, and there are some strong moments, I just can't always do it.

If we speak in tongues of love
But we kill in the name of God
How can we profess to own his name
And still be so lost... and still be so lost

Crow is joined by Ahmed Al Himi on vocals, and I could find nothing out about this person, but I do think it adds validity to the message here, which is the title.

Gasoline

This is tied for first-place favorite, and it might even edge out Shine Over Babylon. Crow's storytelling stunned even me, as she's looking back on the year 2017 when revolutions took place over gasoline, and everyone demanded that it be free.

Bob Dylan is probably drooling, as well as laughing his butt off at the stories she has come up with, even though the underlying message is very sobering. Sorry, but that's genius to me.

When the mounties stormed the palace
Of the Saudi family
They held them up for ransom
Without disturbing their high tea
But their getaway was shaky
They stalled in the Riyadh streets
'Cause you can't make it very far when your tank
Is on empty

For the full lyrics on what is one of the most clever feats in songwriting in a very long time, please see the end of the review where you can read them if you want to.
Brilliant song and Sheryl at her finest.

Out Of Our Heads

This starts like an electric Mideastern disco tune, and you expect to see Shakira with the wind blowing her hair as Sheryl pulls this new sort of vocal on us.

If you feel you want to fight me
There's a chain around your mind
When something is holding you tightly
What is real is so hard to find

Another verse and then she goes into the chorus which sounds like she's being accompanied by the Children Of The World choir. Quite the dichotomy to say the least. And really, if the lyrics to the chorus were stronger, it might have really worked.

Detours, Part Two

Other than Shine Over Babylon and Gasoline, this is stronger of the two parts, although I respect and admire what she did on part one.

Detours

This is not quite a ballad, and not quite mid-tempo, but something pleasantly in between, and the quality of Sheryl's vocals here are beautifully captured.

It's the never ending quest to find love that lasts, and why can't she, mom?

Mother, can you hold me together
It's so dark and I'm losing my way
I took all of these detours to find love
But when I did it just faded away

And a final plea to her mother:

...teach me to love with a paper-thin heart

A fine example of the Sheryl we know and love.

Now That You're Gone

Opening with a smooth groove with just a dash of jazz/blues, this is classic Sheryl again. And it's not about Lance she says.

'Cause now that you're gone
I can breathe
Now that you're gone
I am free... free to make a mess of everything
'Cause nobody's watching me

Excellent.

Drunk With The Thought Of You

This could be about new love, or it could be about a new child.

Backed by just acoustic guitar, Sheryl pours out her heart here on whoever this lucky guy is:

I could wait my whole life for this moment to come
With a long list of beautiful chances I've blown
Well this time I'll toast to your name till I'm blue
I get drunk with the thought of you

Not my favorite, but solid nonetheless.

And then we have the much discussed Diamond Ring.

Let me clear a few things up here: this song is a parody of sorts, a "faux" slap in the face to Lance, the song everyone thought she would write in the midst of the breakdown she must have had. But if you know Sheryl at all, and listened to all of her songs, listen closely to her phrasing. There's a beat between nearly every word, and it is meant to be over the top, people!

We (beat) made (beat) love (beat) all day
In (beat) our (beat) little hideaway
But I blew up our (beat) love nest
By ma-king one lit-tle request...

*And the over the top vocals come in*

Diamond reeeng.... diamond reeeeng...
Don't mean anything...
Diamond reeeeng.... diamond reeeng
Should not mean... a thing

And later on that last line is f*cks up everything.

Break-up, slap in the face song done to perfection.

Motivation

This is a great little rock tune for all the Paris Hilton wannabes.

Well I dropped out of school when I was 17
'Cause I didn't have time to study my magazines
'Cause there's a lot to learn from the privileged few
Like how to build a brand wearing high heeled shoes

Oh why even try?

Got no reason to b*tch
Ain't no parties I've missed
Got to have it that way
'Cause baby I've got... MOTIVATION

Great lyrics I've left out, this one should be the next single.

Make It Go Away (Radiation Song)

With an acoustic guitar and a finger snap keeping beat, Crow shares her deepest thoughts on going through what we all fear the most.

Sometimes I wonder which hurts worse
The thought of dying, or reliving every hurt
Was love the illness and disease the cure?

Thoughtful pause...

Make it go away... make it go away... make it go away

Love Is All There Is

Sounds too simple to be any good, but it's one of my very favorites.

Over a flawless pop arrangement, this one builds to a great chorus and asks the questions we all ask and answers with the truth.

Every now and then there comes a time
Someone comes along to change your mind
You believe it's unwise to give in to careless dreams
You believe it's a prize you'll never win

Does anybody want you, does anybody need you?
The question is...
Does anybody want you, does anybody need you
The question is...
All I really know for certain, babe
Is that love is all there is

Incredibly well-done and well-written.

And finally we have the

Lullaby For Wyatt

This song is a little too mannered for me as far as Sheryl goes, but I don't know her as a mom, so I guess that's why it doesn't really move me as maybe it should. I think it's the "my dear" part. :) But the sentiments are lovely, nonetheless.

How do I keep you from losing your way
Hope you'll go out and you'll come back someday
But love is letting go
And this I'll know...
Is you were mine... for a time

Overall

Crow's strongest outing in years, dating back to Sheryl Crow if you ask me.

It's ambitious, it's honest, it's got tons of flavors, it's passionate, loving, and most of all, filled with heart.

I don't hear one false note on here. Whether you like the "socially conscious" songs or not, you know she believes in them, and loves them. It's part of her make-up now, as a mother and as an artist.

If Sheryl believes she sings these songs "with little thanks," she's wrong. I'll say thank you right now. For sharing your views, your soul, and the deepest parts of your heart.

Exceptional:

Shine Over Babylon
Gasoline

Excellent:

God Bless This Mess
Detours
Now That You're Gone
Diamond Ring
Motivation
Make It Go Away
Love Is All There Is

Good:

Love Is Free
Peace Be Upon Us
Out Of Our Heads
Drunk With The Thought Of You
Lullaby For Wyatt

Thank you for reading, and for lyric addicts like me, here's the full lyrics for Gasoline:

Way back in the year of 2017
The sun was growing hotter and oil was way beyond its peak
When crazy Hector Johnson broke into a refinery
And the black gold started flowin'
Just like the Boston tea

It was the summer of the riots
And London suffered sweltering heat
And the gangs of Mini Coopers
Took the battle to the streets

But when the creed was handed down
For no more trucks and no more cars
They threw cans of Petrol through the
Windows of Scotland Yard

And they yelled "gasoline will be free, will be free"

When the Mounties stormed the palace
Of the Saudi family
They held them up for ransom
Without disturbing their high tea

But their getaway was shaky
They stalled in the Riyadh streets
'Cause you can't make it very far
When your tank is on empty

Final can of gasoline was loaded on a truck
And driven through the streets of Agra to the palace aqueduct
You see, all the majesty of worship
That once adorned these fatal halls
Was just a target for the angry
As they blew up the Taj Mahal

And they yelled, "gasoline will be free, will be free!"

Gary ran a market way down in New Orleans
Where all the farmers got together
And talked about this great country
But when the government turned its back
On the farmer man, what I hear
They dragged the pumps out of the ground
With a big vintage John Deere

I've got soldiers on my payroll
Standing guard on my front drive
Snipers on my roof
Poised at those who didn't want me alive
'Cause they audited my taxes
And my family under threat
'Cause I've got a message and a megaphone
And I'll scream it to the death

Gasoline will be free, will be free!!

You got the farms in Argentina
Making fuel from sugar cane
You got the bastards in Washington
Afraid of popping that greed vein

'Cause the money's in the pipeline
And the pipeline's running dry
And we'll be the last to recognize
Where there is sh*t there's always flies

Fades out with laughter

Songwriters who can write like this are far and few between. If you can think of anyone else besides Dylan and Rickie Lee Jones, let me know.