This is a great CD ! I like it a lot and am going to point out some songs which did catch my attention and which I have listened again and again already when I have only heard the title track once for the moment.
- Not that it is not a good song but "Not so much to be loved as to love" is the unmistakable Jonathan song, meaning also it is a predictable song, nothing new. I am also preferring the second version of this song which appears as the last hidden track in its naked simplicity.. Jonathan wanders in Boston nearby the reservoir.. (Is this why there are dogs on the booklet?)
- "Sunday afternoon", I considered as a filler until I heard some chords which reminded me of a song by the Velvet Underground, "Sunday Morning". There are other references to the Velvets on this CD, no coincidence !
- "Vincent van Gogh" revamped version is energetic and lively.. I nearly prefer this version to the original.
- "Salvador Dali" is my favourite song ! It starts like "19 in Naples" as Jonathan tells us that when he was 14 he was depressed and that Dali's paintings were the guide to the world of dreams, and the opening key to freedom. When the instruments start to play, I noticed a powerful bass line knitting a neat groove which extends itself like a mantra to climax in a perfect chorus at the end of the song. I look at the booklet, the bass player is no one else but Greg "Curly" Keranen, from the Modern Lovers #2.
- "Behold the lilies of the field" sounds like Lou Reed singing a lost song from the Velvet's Loaded album. I love this kind of Jonathan song where he uses the influences of his youth to express a mature man's feelings.
- With "Abu Jamal" Jonathan has written his classic-to-be protest song. Do you remember Dylan's "Hurricane", well "Abu Jamal" ranks at the same level. And what flabbergasted me, was to hear this Indian organ, the same as the one Nico was using .. delivering this monochromatic sad sound..
- "Les etoiles" and "On a du soleil" are merry songs a la Charles Trenet, they have become popular when played live.
- The two hidden tracks are very good. The first one is about the sea asking Jonathan to come home and he gets scared and feels like dying , again the Nico organ is the only instrument heard and Jonathan sounds gloomy, The other hidden track is the aforementionned title track with a live in studio only treatment.
Jonathan remains the eternal troubadour, the Bostonian wanderer, the prince of dorkness.
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