Meaghan Ritchey discusses the power of singer/songwriters in her article “The Power Lies in the Performance“:

In a very sincere way, they’ve figured out how to make their work habit forming.  Every performance and song is imbued with personality.

This labor of love, habit forming “personality” is something Matthew Miller explores in his piece “A Passion for the Possible” on the intersection Jakob Dylan’s latest album Women + Country and Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road. The lyrics are explored in detail:

The larger cast of characters in Dylan’s album allows Women + Country to present a more transcendent, mystical sign of hope. God is often only a distant presence, as when the farm laborers of “Everybody’s Hurting” ask “My eyes are open Lord / Where did you go, have we just left you bored?” Nonetheless, on the centerpiece of the album, “Holy Rollers for Love,” Dylan presents a vision of hope-beyond-hope, a wild and even irrational spirit discovered in a world “Filled with canteens and tear gas / From this last voyage of us.” The song’s verses are grim: “Hereafter’s bringing more funerals than fairs / And it’s a book of blank maps / That we’re using to get us there.” Directionless, humanity has brought itself to the verge of destruction, and there seems to be little hope until Dylan’s voice lifts in the gospel-tinged bridge and final chorus:

With battle songs filling their lungs
Move them out down under the sun
Give them tears for cherry red blood
Stack them old, we cradle them young
World is crazy or maybe just holy rollers for love
World is crazy or maybe she’s holy rollers for love
World is crazy and making us holy rollers for love

Do you think singer-songwriters imbue a part of their personality in their craft, like Meaghan and Matthew do?

Is there a special singer-songwriter album or performance that you would like to share?

The comments are open.