Last year, Charlie Parr released Last Of The Better Days Ahead, described in these pages as an engrossing, captivating album from a tireless innovator.
In his review, David Pratt notes that this release marked something emphatically new in his illustrious career. That transformation is an intense focus on the word, with his poetic lyricism afforded the opportunity to shine as it takes prime position in front of the sparse and spartan music production, best explained by the man himself, “These songs feel more like poems to me than songs, and I’ve kind of let them have their way in that respect. The music serves these lyrics, rather than the other way around, which is the way I usually organize songs.”
One of those songs is Bed of Wasps for which he has just shared a video made by Polecat Productions. In the liner notes to the album, Charlie says in his introduction this song: “The best parts of my life have all taught me backwards into knowing that I don’t actually know anything at all.”
If I could embrace the eternal moment
And shrug off the past like an unwelcome blanket
If only the future didn’t haunt my dreams
I awaken too early trying to figure what it means
Are my nightmares actually what’s real
I sleep in a bed of wasps
So it goes
Last Of The Better Days Ahead is available now via Smithsonian Folkways and all good record stores.
For all of Charlie’s latest tour dates, visit http://charlieparr.com/shows.html