Jerry Joseph cares about two things: music and truth. As a result, Baby, You’re the Man Who Would Be King scorches and stings like a mother. These nine tunes take no prisoners, they burn with an intensity lacking in much of what passes for music these days. The lyrics leave scars, which is as it should be. Sometimes, the truth hurts. In recalling the sessions for the album, recorded in New York City with players whose passion burns, Joseph’s existential joy boils over, “I felt like a little kid learning to blow up shit. It was actually fun for me, and I kept all my fingers!” High praise indeed.
Written in 2020 during the height of the lockdown, he worked from a vintage camper parked in the driveway of his home in Portland. The songs that emerged burrow deep into your soul. Lines hit you like a George Foreman punch, “Slashing and raging and gnashing of teeth/ A coming of age or just out of reach/ I should have listened when you told me to learn how to breathe/ Now I’m waiting for the sun.” All the while, the guitars and drums burn the bridges they cross, the organ comes in, and you’re not sure whether it’s 1968 or 2023.
There’s a touch of Dylan in the harmonica on tunes like “Loving Kindness,” yet the lyrics are more direct, slow and impassioned; the song builds while there’s a sense of what’s at stake in this new age. “Bang your head again/ To help forget/ So you’re remembering/ It’s not over yet.” Despite what you might be feeling, despite the cost, there’s still the possibility for “Loving Kindness” that, though alone, can keep one on the path, whatever path it is.
Stripping away at the features that defy us, Joseph realizes that what’s left isn’t necessarily what he really wants to find. “Time to deconstruct/ The architecture of my mask/ Keep me from ripping out my eyes.” While things may seem bleak, there are also beams of hope, no matter how small they seem. Yet they can also be pretty bleak, “the problem with choice/ Is you have to choose.” This can be a problem since making a choice requires action, and in the 21st century, it can be easier to just look at our iPads and figure out where to eat tonight.
Thinking too hard can be a problem. On Baby, You’re the Man Who Would Be King, Jerry Joseph doesn’t just ask you to think; it’s a requirement. Be prepared!