“Juggler’s Logic” is the latest album from Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame member Gary Burr. Released February 3rd, all songs are solely written by Gary and only one has been previously recorded, “In Front of the Alamo”, a single in 2007 by Hal Ketchum with Leann Rimes. I bought the cd off Gary’s website but it’s also available on I-Tunes and the Blue Sky Rider’s website. (BSR is Gary, wife, singer/songwriter Georgia Middleman, and Kenny Loggins.)
The BSR album, the fantastic "Finally Home", was released just over a year ago and a follow-up album is in the works. To fill the void, we now have "Juggler's Logic". Since over a month has passed and I haven't found any reviews on line, I'll give you my non-professional, senior's slant on the cd. It's very good. The cd did not include lyrics and they're not available on-line. After about twenty listens to each song, I jotted down some of my favorite lines to give you a better feel for where the song is going. Here they are, some with a comment or two thrown in:
Track 1. Love Is Out There - "but you gotta go get it". Described on Gary's website as "an optimistic romp of banjos and mandolins", it begins:
"if it came in the mail in a cardboard box
i'd be waiting at the door when the mailman knocks."
2. Honk If You Love Jesus - "turn around if you love me". She's leaving him but ...
"I'm leaning on a sign
I'm hoping against hope
that in your restless heart
there's room to love us both."
3. If This House Was Her Heart - "you'd look and say it's falling apart". He left her but she keeps up appearances. "She even mows the lawn".
"there's not a door that sticks
she's oiled every one
the things he used to do
they still get done."
4. Run Along - "little heartache, run along little cloud, I had a heart where you were welcome, but you're not welcome now." Thankfully, another website description (less for my old brain to think up): "an expression of the surprise felt by someone who suddenly finds himself not needing the tears anymore."
5. Inside Your Head - it may take time, but he's going to win her in this mid-tempo tune. "make a little room for me inside your head, cause i'm not ready to move out just yet".
6. Find Me - "if I lose my will along the way, or forget where I belong one day, I will leave a trail behind to say, find me, and bring me home."
7. It Gets Late Early - "in our little town". He left but came back. The city life was not for him. Love the melody. "Main streets rolls up and the 7-eleven shuts down".
8. Twenty Bucks Says - "when the lady goes home, the lady goes home with me." But who is that lady? a song with attitude. He and his girl do this every Saturday night to make a little money.
10. The Whole Time - "I was thinking about you, the whole time", lamenting a lost love. He can't get over her.
"nothing I do, nothing I see
can ever be enough without you here with me
baby that's where you're supposed to be".
11. Still a Desperado - "somewhere in my soul, I'm still a desperado". The song begins: "I used to be the one no law man could catch, no jail cell could hold". After getting older and falling in love, he's reduced to saying
"but just yesterday I ran a yellow light, didn't slow down at all". Final website description: "a song about maybe losing a step or two as we get older but still seeing a rebel when we look in the mirror." When I look, I see wrinkles and thinning hair - and now I think of this song every time I go on yellow.
Before I get to track 9, a few general comments on the new songs are in order. As I mentioned about Brandy Clark's "12 Stories" album a few months ago, there are no run-on songs here, 3 minute songs stretched to 4 or 5 minutes for no good reason. The album is not over produced. As BSR fans and those who have seen Gary's Bluebird shows know, he doesn't need gimmicks. The man sure can sing. Finally - and thankfully - there are no songs about pickup trucks and getting drunk on a Friday night with a hottie in tight jeans down by the lake.
Track 9. In Front of the Alamo - Allusions to one of the most famous battles in American history are combined with the story of a woman’s love gone bad because of her husband’s infidelity. The couple met as tourists in front of the Alamo. The second verse ends “she wanted trust, she wanted truth, the two things he found hard to do. So forever was shorter than she planned”. (The lives of the defenders of the Alamo were shorter than they planned.) She returns to the Alamo so that she can move on. The bridge begins “she didn’t come for inspiration or to breathe the mighty dust of heroes lost” and concludes “She just felt the time was right, at this random traffic light, to say ‘enough is enough’ and move on”. The third verse ends “maybe something in the air makes the timid braver there, to cross the line that they’ve drawn in the sand”. The tag chorus completes the analogy “they held on she lets go” (they were brave by holding on she by letting go) and concludes “in front of the Alamo, that’s a pretty good place to make a stand”. (From "Favorite Songs by Favorite Songwriters: Gary Burr, April 11, 2010 on CountryUniverse.net)
I have all Gary's earlier albums, “Lime Creek” (1996 – all songs written with Joe Henry), “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One …” (1997 – 18 songs including That’s My Job, What Mattered Most, Time Machine, She Can’t Be Really Gone, etc.) and “Marianne’s” (2004). I would highly recommend them all.
Almost forgot. What is Juggler's Logic? I found Gary's explanation in the "Shop" section of his website promoting the album:
"You always drop one in the beginning of your routine. You let it slip through your hands so the crowd is that much more impressed when you do it full speed and perfectly at the end. That is called 'Juggler's Logic'."
Before stumbling upon this explanation, I had searched using "logic of the juggler" as well as "juggler's logic". One of the first items to come up was forums.na.leagueoflegends.com /board/showthread.php which mentions an old logic puzzle about a juggler crossing a bridge. He's got 3 balls but the bridge will only support him and 2 balls. How does he cross in only 1 trip? Start your search engines!
Related posts:
8/31/08 Davy Crockett Sundaes In Front of the Alamo
12/21/09 Meldiburpho
6/3/10 Burr Songs
8/9/10 Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before
10/17/10 Georgia's Table
2/21/11 Things I Never Thought I Knew
7/20/11 Blue Sky Riders, Headliner Opening for Himself?
11/7/11 Lime Creek
12/12/11 Christmas Truce
3/15/12 A Thousand Wild Horses
2/1/13 Blue Sky Riders, Finally Home
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