Josh sticks

I've really tried but I can't stop listening to this song. Sometimes a song just gets in and there's nothing you can do to get it out again. Nick Hornby, writing in 31 Songs, describes first hearing Nelly Furtado's "I'm Like a Bird" and having to listen to it again and again until he 'solved' it. That's how I've been with Josh Ritter's 'Right Moves' for the last few days.

Recently I started going through a series of concerts that npr in the states has made available for downloading. There's a great archive of live shows there and I've been dipping in and out. Some are better than others but so far I've found real belters from Nick Lowe, Cat Power and Arcade Fire. And now, added to the lsit, is Josh Ritter. I bought Ritter's first album 'Golden Age of Radio' about 5 years ago. I think he's from the Amrerican mid-west but he was touring regularly over here and getting a bit of attention. It's a good album but it never made enough of an impression for me to stick with him. Since then, he's been over here dozens of time and released several records but apart from the odd thing on the radio I've not heard much of him at all. The radio broadcast from Washington is from last Autumn and features a decent cross section of work from his catalogue to date. He seems to be an engaging live performer who, as well as having a fantastic band, appears to have a strong bond with his audience and a nice line in self-depracating storytelling.

So in the middle of the show comes 'The Right Moves'. I'm not saying it's the best thing I've ever heard and I'm not saying I'll even remember it 6 months from now (actually, I suspect I will) but have a listen and tell me that it's not great. I know it's deeply unfashionable and certainly doesn't sit comfortably in any current music trends but as pop songs go I think it's a cracker. It's got horns! It's got a fantastic bass line (check out the bass player's moustache too)! It's got a chorus that could amost be a Dolly Parton song (and that's a good thing) Better still, it's got a band that actually seems to be enjoying the experience of playing it! No miserable self-concious shoe-gazers here..

And check out the lyrics.. So it seems that our hero has been dumped by a girl but she's come back to him for a second chance. He treats her suspiciously and asks her where she's been and what she's doing back in town. While he's dithering, she kisses him and he's right back to where he started. The last verse is where all his insecurities and fears revisit him..

I heard the night birds picking up the song
You threw your hair back and sang along
And I realized that I might lose you, you might lose me
Drift apart in the night and never know why and not know how
I said what if we are like the Northern sky?
What if there are things that come between us that we cant take back and we cant make right?
You said I don't know darling, but I'm here with you
and were coming to the chorus now!

I love the way, right at the end, when the listener is expecting an answer or a promise from the girl, Ritter steps away from the narration competely and directs us to the chorus. There's no easy solution or happy ending. Instead there's ambivalence and a little faith. And isn't that just the way that it works in real life too? Now, perhaps he just didn't know how to finish the song and copped out of ending it properly but I think it's fantastic. Perhaps I've just been drinking too much happy juice lately!

Again, it'll probably pass in time and I'll never want to listen to it again. That's ok. The thing is that this weekend it's brought me a lot of happiness and isn't that the point of music anyway?



Enjoy.