Only you...

Today was Mother's Day here in the UK. I went to see my Mum. Whilst at her house, my husband and I browsed the shelves of my old CDs - the ones I left behind when I went to Canada to get married eight years ago. They brought back some memories, and I thought it would be neat to take some home and give them a long-overdue airing.

When we got home I immediately put one on. I listened to one track then switched to another CD. This happened 8 times before I finally put them all away and put Oh Mercy back in the stereo. I listened all the way through as I was making dinner. No switching. No skipping. It felt like coming home.

I have been listening to Oh Mercy almost exclusively (apart from the odd dip into Modern Times) for a couple of weeks now. On my iPod, on my stereo, on my PC... I get the yearning for an album and it stays with me for a while and I have to play it out. Last month it was Blood on the Tracks which was fairly emotionally draining there for a spell.

I love Oh Mercy for many reasons. There is the sound that hits you first - quiet and seemingly creeping up on a person, but powerful beyond belief. It is quite a 'political' album in a way as well. Not party political, but in terms of the original etymology of the word 'politics' - affairs of state and society. As the opening song of the album says, 'We live in a political world'. It is also an odd mixture of cynical, sad, tender and sweet.

Some of the songs hearken back to old doo-wop and rock & roll sounds. Where Teardrops Fall and Shooting Star in particular. Bittersweet; sad reminiscences reflecting maturity.

There is the country ballad feel of Man in the Long Black Coat, which is deeply allegorical and layered in meaning. When I play it on the guitar and sing the lyrics myself, I find myself putting inflections and pauses in different places to Dylan who is quite staccato on this track. Very broken phrasing and selected images pop out. Beautiful vocals (throughout the album actually). My problem with playing that song myself is that I have a young female voice, when an older male voice is necessary to convey the meaning. Dylan's vocals far surpass those of any other singer around in my opinion.

Most of the Time almost makes me cry. Some of Dylan's songs give you an ache in the gut because they hit home with such power. The repetition of that simple phrase 'most of the time' is so resonant and completely contradicts his statements of him doing fine after a relationship ends - but without denying anything outright. It is so human. Most of us get on with life after upsets and trauma. We follow our daily routines and we function - but then moments of weakness and memories always seem to come back to haunt us.

I tend to give an ironic smile when I hear What was it you Wanted?. This must be a brief foray into Dylan's world, where it seems like everyone is after a piece of him for something. In the song he leaves in the middle of the conversation, comes back, asks for the request to be repeated because 'he forgot' what it was... the person making the demands seems a little unsure themselves. Then there is the religious imagery of betrayal with the 'kiss on the cheek', which is almost thrown away. The vocals are quiet and almost whispered in parts. To be honest, if I needed something from Bob Dylan, I don't think I would have chosen that particular moment to ask!

As to the religious content of the album, you might have thought that an atheist like me would have problems with it! I don't - but I will explain my views on this in the next post...