Goin' Out Walkin'

Comments (0) By Don Allred Tuesday, Sep 24 2002

Despite the Irish hillbilly twang, "White Trash Wedding" is not a bad girl, or even weird. She's taken (by) the normal course, only really compressed: "JustsayIdoand-kissmequickthebaby'sonitsway." Mama's got a squeezebox, and Daddy better not sleep tonight. "Wedding" is fast enough to be mistaken for her older, rowdier kissin' cousin, "Tortured Tangled Hearts." See, there's this subset of increasingly (are-they-gonna-mush-out-now? There! Oops, not quite yet) maturing ballads, culminating in the (star-as-fan, no BS) Everlys/Orbisonic, bolero-istic, D.C. original, "I Believe in Love," WHAP! Cold wet washcloth, care of those drive-by wisenChicks, cooing, "Bless their tortured, tangled hearts." What a relief, to look back once again, through that third-person lens. You may come away with a black eye, but this 'un'll scrub off. And put a cackle in your twang.

Someone's getting wished "Godspeed," by Chicks and Aunt Emmylou, till they all disappear, behind a big warm bass. While an old man's awake, with wishes piling up, drying like leaves. Strings trickle in, useless as tears. 'Til the bass leads the way to "The Top of the World," and because he's still in it, the old man goes around again, on this aluminum disc. If I play it again, and I will. Right now. In a minute. From the beginning. I want to hear him again, but not too soon.

photo: James Minchin

Climb a mountain, turn around.

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Recent/latest releases from this album's writers include: Patty Griffin ("Truth No. 2," "Top of the World") (also wrote Fly's "Fly"): 1,000 Kisses; Radney Foster ("Godspeed"): Another Way to Go; Bruce Robison ("Travelin' Soldier"): Country Sunshine. Most of the rest are by the Chicks, sometimes with help from heavy friends: "I Believe in Love" and "Tortured Tangled Hearts" were both written by Natalie, Martie, and Marty Stuart—John R. Cash's old accomplice.