World Without Tears

Lucinda Williams has had a very productive run of records over the last twelve years. Starting with Car Wheels on a Gravel Road in 1998, she has released five studio albums, all of which have showcased her strong songwriting abilities and her great song delivery. She has been recording since the late 1970’s, but prior to Car Wheels she had only released four records with long breaks generally between. She developed her following early on via touring.

World Without Tears is her seventh studio album and, next to Car Wheels, one of her most acclaimed. The album was released in 2003.

#84 – Lucinda Williams, World Without Tears (Metascore = 87)

At first I was not a big fan of Williams’ voice. “Fruits of My Labor” was too slow to begin with, and her whiny, nasally voice just turned me off. However, “Righteously” changes things. The beat’s faster, and her lyrics are more biting. She’s ticked off about this guy that’s using her and she’s letting him know about it. “Ventura” drags it back down a notch, but lyrically this is a woman that is depressed and is searching for a way out.

“Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings” brings it all back home, though, and is my favorite song from Tears. The music is driving with phased, distorted guitars and a great beat. “Over Time” is a beautiful country ballad about breaking up with someone with quiet drums and phased guitar. “Atonement” has Williams in the pulpit, charging her listeners with sinning and needing atonement.

“People Talkin’” is another country tune about a couple’s need to ignore the naysayers, to defend your lover. I could hear someone like Ryan Adams covering this tune to great effect. “American Dream” is the deepest song in my opinion and focuses on the negative side of life in America, with Native Americans losing their land to homelessness to drugged-out friends. “Everything is wrong” sums up her feelings most appropriately. The title track is a wish for a world without a pain, a world without fears, a world with love.

At times I found this record to be challenging to listen to. I wasn’t totally sold on some of the lyrics Williams sang, especially the first half of the album. Not until I reached “Atonement” did I begin to appreciate the record more. In fact, the last half of this record makes up for the mediocrity at the beginning of the record (with the exception of “Real Live Bleeding Fingers”, which is a great song). How this record achieved as high a score as it did, I’m not sure. However, this is a deserving record for the great songs that make up the second half.