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Lion Reviews Patty Griffin

Patty Griffin -- Living With Ghosts
1996

Patty Griffin's debut CD, Living With Ghosts, for me, is in one word Convincing. My impression of the CD is that Patty is playing these songs for herself. The tracks fall into two camps: either she sings about herself, using first person singular pronouns, or she is singing about an acquaintance.

The production on this CD is minimal. She performs with her guitar and her voice, but the variety of the songs keeps my interest. In one track, she is writes about her playful experience in a bar, "We were Drinking like the Irish, but we were drinking scotch" and in another track she tells about the "Poor Man's House", which begins "You know you've done enough when every bone is sore / You know you've prayed enough when you don't ask any more." The entire CD plays this way. Six personal songs: "Moses", "Let Him Fly", "Every Little Bit", "Time Will Do The Talking", "Mad Mission", "Forgiveness". And four third person, story songs: "Poor Man's House", "You Never Get What You Want", "Sweet Lorraine", "Not Alone".

The title of this CD, Living With Ghosts, is a line from "Every Little Bit". I contend that this song is about a relationship that ended, perhaps her failed marriage, and she is explaining that she does not blame him for leaving, after all, "it's cold living with ghosts". Patty does not share with us what the ghosts really are, but they were kept from her partner and shielded him from ever getting within "a hundred million miles" of her soul. She contends that only in her travels can she make the painful memories stop. But is this the thesis for the CD? I don't believe it is. I believe she loves the lyric and the image in this song, which are a capsule of the strong lyrics on the CD.

Patty Griffin -- Flaming Red
1998

One critic I read, I do not have the reference easily available now, wrote that Patty created some great work with Flaming Red , the album, except for the title track on the CD, which seemed out of place to the critic. I would have to agree that the track Flaming Red bolts out of the speakers like a race car out of the starting line, but in the same breath, I have measure the song and its placement on the CD based on Patty's goal, to announce to the world that she has arrived with authority. While the acoustic Living With Ghosts is significant and successful for a one person act, Flaming Red is her statement that she can create incredible music with a backup band. Now I am not trying to judge the success of Flaming Red, the CD. I am only trying to say that with the first track, Patty the musician makes what I consider a conscious departure from her first CD, demonstrating that she can also make beautiful sounds in a band. In my opinion, her goal is achieved: she communicates that she can rock, she can roll, and she can write touching, human lyrics.

Once again, her lyrics and melodies are both strong. I think her greatest lyrical achievement on this CD is "Tony", a song about Patty reflecting on a homosexual boy she knew in high school, who took his life with a gun. Patty regrets that she never really got to know this outcast in school, even though she sat behind him, staring over his shoulder "at a map of the world". I hear this and am reminded of the proverb, "Charity begins at home." To abstract a bit, and Patty can correct me if I'm wrong, but she seems to be saying that it is not enough to love the entire world if you do not have love for the people right next to you. To me, this is among the most powerful messages about love I've ever heard.

As discussed above, "Flaming Red" is the title track for the CD and by using this name, it is a declaration by Patty that she can produce music that rocks and music that is hot like a red flame. The song itself is about Patty wearing out the soles of her red shoes, walking and remembering a dressed up woman in red pumps who was murdered because of the way she looked on the outside. Ultimately, Patty states, "me and my red shoes, nothing can, nothing can please us".

So why is this CD named after a tragic killing of an unnamed woman? I believe that this choice is to highlight the outside/inside dichotomy. The moment you realize you know somebody on the outside (i.e. Tony) is the moment you should see there is an opportunity to get to know somebody on the inside. While this is difficult, and while it is not achieved by high schoolers or thugs on the street, it is possible to know your neighbor, and I trust that most Patty Griffin listeners are mature enough to understand her golden rule.

Patty Griffin -- 1000 Kisses
2002

The tracks on 1000 Kisses feature Patty Griffin's expression. In fact, there is so much tenderness in tracks like "Rain" and "Stolen Car" and "Tomorrow Night", that if English were not your native tongue, you may still be moved by her emotion.

"Rain" is well produced. "Chief" is perfect and contains a great blend of guitar, accordian and cello, the primary instruments that accompany Patty on this CD. I cannot compare "Stolen Car" against the original by Bruce Springsteen, but I can say that she sings each sentence with a cornicopia of emotion: pain, sorrow, regret, despair, reflection. "Making Pies" is near perfect, but my complaint on this track is the same for many of the songs on this CD, the pace of the song, like many of the tracks on this CD seems a bit sleepy. "Be Careful" is also slow for my taste--but I don't like the song that much to begin with, so I may be prejudiced here. "Nobody's Crying" is the most difficult track for me to judge. The lyrics are sincere, nearly sad, and from what I understand, can bring at least one female acquaintance to tears. But I think this song would have benefited from having fewer instruments, perhaps just Patty and her guitar. "Tomorrow Night" is appropriately slow and sensual. This could easily be the song that is played for the slow dance at every high school prom in the year 2002, as it could have been in 1955 when Elvis covered the country standard.

The last vocal track on the CD, "Mil Besos", translates to 1000 Kisses, and provides the title of the CD. So now the question I struggle with several times per month--why did an artist give the CD a particular name? The translation of the songs describes a person who obsessively loves someone and is confident that the love of her 1000 kisses will be returned by the lover, when he returns his heart. So why name the CD after a line in this song? I don't see that the tracks on the CD suggest any relationship to 1000 kisses, so it would appear that Patty just enjoyed the lyric and perhaps the concept of obsession.

My overall impression of the CD is that it is consistent in its tone and less playful than Flaming Red. I think that the lyrics here surpass the writing of other artists, and I think the production and composition of each track are well done, and there is no "filler" on this CD (I don't think Patty Griffin is capable of that). So 1000 Kisses, an album with a lot of sincerity and minimal production, would be a great complement to those who enjoy her Living With Ghosts.