Search - Jack Hardy :: Omens

A BARD FOR OUR TIMES

Larry L. Looney | Austin, Texas USA | 05/07/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jack Hardy is a bit of an anachronism, but a most welcome one -- a bard working in the modern world. His art goes back to the day when the traveling minstrel, the raconteur, the troubador, was welcomed with the stories and news he brought of other people and places. Jack's songs are incredibly well-crafted, and, I think, definitely in that tradition. The characters and events they contain are brought alive for the listener through his songwriting skills -- his words, his melodies...and that unmistakable voice. An acquired taste for some, Jack's voice is a little raspy at times -- but it conveys such depths of emotion and insight...and a special reality, one that cuts right to the heart of whatever subject he's on. It's the perfect instrument with which to present these songs.There are songs on this album dealing with many subjects, from several time periods. The opener, 'I ought to know' is a great example of self-examination. 'I ought to know more than I know,' Hardy sings, about the things that matter, that move and shape our world. Unfortunately, if one looks only at the view presented by the mass media, many things that really matter are shoved aside and forgotten. In 'I can't love you', he speaks of the love that can be lost if we ask too much of it, if we turn away from the beauty of the moment as we search for something that we hope can be eternal -- much is missed in the blink of an eye. Images of magic and mystery -- often found in Hardy's songs -- are present in a love story of a different kind, 'Eclipse'. In this song, as in most of Jack's work, the power of the poetry is compelling and beautiful -- almost frightening the way the words themselves take on a life force of their own.Next is 'Sile na gCioch (Sheila)', again with images of the travelling people of Ireland, the tinkers, as one of them courts a local girl, attempting to lure her away to a life on the road: 'Sile, a traveller you would be, if this dark and flowered dress you would wear...'. There are images here also of the prejudice, misunderstanding and fear held by the church toward the travellers: '...though the priests turn you away, I could love you well if you would only dare.' 'Siar on nDaingean (West of Dingle)' follows, a beautiful song of a woman leaving Ireland for America, and of all that she leaves behind. The image in this song of her playing her fiddle to bid farewell to her home, to all that she has known, is a poignant one. The next song, fittingly enough, is 'Memory' -- Jack speaks of remembering someone who has gone (a lover perhaps), and at the same time addresses the question of what makes up memory, which parts of it are important and real. There are many alusions to the natural world in this lyric, as in many of his works.It's difficult for me to pick out favorite songs that Jack has written -- I have so many -- but one of my all-time favorites is 'Only one sky', some of the most purely beautiful, evocative poetry I've ever heard in a song: '...and only one time will I embrace you in this way, and only one time will time unlace this passing day, when all the time we hold within our hands slips on through the cracks of feelings we try and understand...' If we allow love to carry us, instead of trying to mold it to our own preconceptions, then it can become eternal.His imagery is amazing, his gift of the language, for want of a better word, is breathtaking. These songs are infused with humor as well as pathos -- the entire range of outlook and emotion is alive within them. Jack's songs are crafted as a jeweller would cut a diamond -- all aspects are there, shining before us, and nothing is left to chance.This album, like the two before it, was recorded 'live' with his band in the loft where he lives in New York City (not live before an audience, as the header suggests). This recording technique has served Jack and his music well -- the recording is well-engineered, with everything full and clear, but the spontaneous feel of a live recording is present, adding a further edge to the performances.If you've never heard Jack Hardy, you owe it to yourself to let his music into your life. It'll make you smile, it'll entertain you, it'll break your heart and mend it again...and it'll most assuredly make you think."