Richard Shindell - Not Far Now '2009

Tracks list

Tracklist

01. Parasol Ants
02. A Juggleer Out In Traffic
03. Gethsemani Goodbye
04. ¿Que Hago Ahora?
05. Bye Bye
06. Mariana's Table
07. State Of The Union
08. One Man's Arkansas
09. Get Up Clara
10. The Mountain
11. Balloon Man

On Not Far Now, his first album of mostly new original songs in five years,
Richard Shindell continues to write and perform musical short stories that
examine the lives of society's outcasts in terms of political and spiritual
hierarchies. In the leadoff song, "Parasol Ants," a thief lies on the ground
only to discover that, as far as the ants marching by are concerned, he is God,
able to scatter them easily. It's a good introduction to Shindell's other
character studies, which include the perspective of "A Juggler Out in Traffic";
a woman who sells food to workers ("Mariana's Table"); a junkie trying and
failing to kick the habit ("State of the Union"); a man in Roman times egging on
his mule ("Get Up Clara"); and a lonely man on a balcony identifying with a
"Balloon Man" he sees below him on the street. Frequently, Shindell is concerned
with perspective, with one character looking at another. The image of President
George W. Bush giving his State of the Union speech looms over the junkie in
"State of the Union." In "Bye Bye," the songwriter himself attempts a sequel to
the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home," but finds he can't do it: "I could bring her
back to them/But that's not how the story ends." In "Gethsemani Goodbye," the
narrator describes his failure to find the monastery in Kentucky where the famed
monk and author Thomas Merton once lived. Thus, to Shindell, the personal always
seems to have political and/or religious implications, but those associations
never seem to help. There are no happy endings, but really, there are no endings
at all. The songwriter simply provides precise, closely observed descriptions of
the characters and their circumstances, and then moves on. He sings the songs
sensitively, often using the upper register of his low-tenor/high-baritone voice
over restrained folk-rock arrangements. Not Far Now is a subtle, low-key
collection of musical portraits in miniature, which makes it consistent with the
rest of Shindell's repertoire.



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