Motel Blues

This new recording of "Motel Blues," and all of the songs on the CD Recovery, are a pleasure to listen to. Longtime fans of Loudon Wainwright III will enjoy the solid reworking of these classics. A new fan can appreciate both the great young talent who created these tunes, and the mature musician who is revisiting them from a very different perspective. The label "entertainer" is perfect for this eminently talented and insightful singer-songwriter.

There really is two separate things to consider in reviewing this song. First, there is the music: the song is fairly simply, yet builds in a mid-80's era Bob Dylan style. Nothing spectacular but that really isn't the point of the song. The production is clean, with all instruments clear yet allowing the focus to remain on the vocals, exactly where is should be.

The primary focus of the song is in the lyrics. Wainwright paints a verbal picture of life on the road, and the desperate loneliness that walks hand in hand with it. While the lyrics bring other groupie songs to mind, such as "What's Your Name", what really separates this is the lack of glamor in the road lifestyle and how the day after day life in motel rooms can drive a musician to despair. I think that at the beginning of the song, it is easy to dismiss it as another getting laid song, but on a closer listen you can hear the effect that road life has on him, and how he is willing to say or do anything to not have to spend another night alone.

Really an accurate view of what the road can do to you, bringing to mind other real road classics such as "Turn the Page" and "Faithfully", but from an entirely different perspective. Worth the download, but you have to listen to it a few times to really get it.

As with many of the reviewers, I got this as a "freebie" from Amazon (thank you, Amazon, for introducing me to a lot of new music!). The guitar and rock beat are very typical. The vocals are good, but not exceptional. I think it's the lyrics that make this song a piece of art. It's a story that is open enough that the listener can draw their own conclusion as to the real meaning and ending to the story. It's edgy and takes a chance. Not bad, but I don't know that I would pay for a closer listen to a whole album.

When I first listened to this song, I thought it sucked, just another song about a geezer trying to get laid. But when you hear the last line of the song, it all changes, or does it? I'm siding that the desperation in his voice real. It makes me want to hear the rest of the album.

...but reviewing a song based on the 30 second clip seems a tad pretentious. I think it's a great re-recording utilizing Loudon's older, deeper tone. I defy you to find another song that encapsulates the male psyche in all its fragile glory better than "Motel Blues." At the present, it is free as well, so download it already. I think it's important when aproaching Loudon's work to realize some of his stuff is tongue-in-cheek and some of it is about a heartbreaking reality. I don't usually review stuff, but I was a little ticked off by the other review. Cheers!