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No wonder Hollywood “discovered” Randy Newman; the nephew of not one, but two film composers he was also the childhood friend of a one time Warner Brothers president. Right about the time of his film compositions beginnings, came “Land of Dreams.” This, cherished reader, is a bona fide collection of songs that, taken together, make one of the best pop albums ever. As touching today as ever, these songs can’t be bought individually for 99 cents but, must be taken as a package deal. This music must be biographical because no one could possibly get this personal without having lived through most of it. Although extremely personal, most of these songs translate across time. Dixie Flyer, New Orleans Wins The Ware, and Four Eyes blend into one another giving a glimpse into the magic and realities of childhood. New Orleans is particularly cutting, showing the amazement of youth; both racism and balloons are equally as wondrous through a small child ‘s eyes. Four Eyes makes the listener genuinely fear for a kindergartner, until further listening brings back long forgotten memories and the realities of grown up. Falling In Love is beautiful in its naiveté and innocence. It is an upbeat, happy tune, that really takes you in as you listen, but, remember this is Randy Newman, things can’t stay this way forever. Something Special is one of those songs Hollywood was quick to pick up probably because of its unique perspective and pop-ness. It is another song that fools you with its optimistic tone and lyrics. Bad News From Home doesn’t get much press, but it is a deeply moving and dark song which takes you beyond anything on this album so far. Roll With The Punches brings back the brutally realistic Randy Newman we know and love. Newman takes the role of the callous antagonist once again. Some say Newman takes on these personas and cannot tolerate him for it. I tend to believe he uses these characters to raise a mirror to their real life personalities and reveal them to the world, as well as to themselves. Masterman and Baby J is a ludicrous and silly rap song that is pretty annoying. I can’t believe that Newman intended this to be a good song, but instead, a lesson that rap cannot be done by middle ages Jewish composers. Billy Joel pulled this off, but only in a slightly better variation of the same concept. Red Bandana is along the same vein as the previous song. Annoying, with a message in there somewhere. Some reviewers say it is a song about gangs. I think it is on the subject of the things that we place values on in our youth that seem so imperative, but, upon reflection mean little at all (hey, maybe it is about gangs). If this were not the man who also wrote God's Song and Mamma Told Me Not To Come the ultra-patriotic would surely have latched onto Follow The Flag. Here Newman is genuinely sincere. Its Money That Matters was the big hit that came from this album. Similar to some songs from this period it is an anthem to the greed of the time. Like Peter Gabriel’s Big Time, many people who just loved this tune had no idea that it was a joke, and they were the punch line. It is another example of the satirical nature of the Newman tune. Listen closely and you can hear a great guitar rendition from Mark Knopfler on the guitar, an inside joke on his own Money For Nothin'. I Just Want You To Hurt Like I Do is an great explanation for every ass hole you have ever met. You feel the sorrow of this character and the album ends with the opposite emotion that it began with. ELO’s Jeff Lynne helped produce this album and you can hear Tom Petty somewhere in here, too. You can listen to this album over and over, digging deeper and deeper, and still never come up empty handed. These are some of the best lyrics and music that have ever come from pop music. |
Regressive Music Review