As we approach the end of this rather strange and turbulent year, there is still so much relevance I hear in a song like 20th Century Promised Land – so much so, I thought it could actually be renamed “2020 Promised Land”.
“Great times in commotion. Here comes every day, it only lasts an hour.” Oh, how we’d have wished for every day of 2020 from about April onwards to have only lasted an hour! “Count out evenings and stars, how fast can these things move on?” Not fast enough, Mr Kerr, you adorable wordsmith, you!
So let’s hope the “reason for fear *is* moving on” and the “speed of life *is* moving on” to take us into better times for 2021.
Because 2020 certainly has been “Some time.” The most “troubled time.”
“Unhappy the land that has no heroes. No, unhappy the land that needs heroes.” – AMERICA, ANYONE? America in 2020, more so! (Of course, these lines aren’t actually Jim’s.)
Anyway, I shall stop quoting lines from the song and let you go read them, and listen to that amazing voice be just…incredibly expressive and convey the story. I absolutely ADORE the way Jim sings on Sons And Fascination/Sister Feelings Call. He says in latter years he’s most happy with his voice but … there is a way in which he sings back then – I think it’s all in the enunciations of words and the (largely) fragmented and ambiguous style of his writing. I can feel it when he talks in the past about trying to use his voice as another “instrument”. I know it sounds as pretentious AF, but I honestly don’t think he meant it to sound like that. Because he talked about using some words just based on how they sounded. Like..that he just liked the sound of them and how they would sound and blend in with the music. Yeah…it does sound pretentious AF! Lol
I spoke to Bruce Findlay recently and he made me giggle talking about how he’d read the band reviews and get all downcast about anything negative written. “More so than Jim would”, he said to me. “I remember reading one review and the guy had said Jim’s lyrics were pretentious. I told Jim what had been written and he said ‘Of course my lyrics are fucking pretentious! I’m a pop star, for fuck’s sake!’” ????
Anyway, just….enjoy the wonderful splendour of 20th Century Promised Land.
