Hawk & Steel – I Want You (To Break My Heart)
Out here, outside of the real world, things are getting pretty cosy and safe. The fire’s burning away in a corner, and we’ve been feeling its warmth for so long that we’re nearly all asleep. Out here nobody worries about anything important, nobody thinks that they should try and change things, and all that they fear is that things might change.
And then, love walks into the room. But it’s not the kind of thing that only happens in a Sammy Hagar and ends in a chant-along chorus. It’s an overpowering, embarrassingly loud affair that leaves you howling at the moon. It’s everything we’ve been told, out here, to fear. But Hawk & Steel dare to ask what life would be without it.
“I Want You (To Break My Heart)” echoes alt-country stalwarts Whiskeytown not just in title but in spirit as well. This is an Earthy, folkie ballad about getting your ass handed to you by love and daring to try and do it all again. The song perfectly captures the fear and the anticipation of the whole ordeal. And, what if Hawk & Steel are right and you’re just playing it a little too safe?
Kyle Bagwell – Love’s Gone Again
In his book of tips and tricks on songwriting, Jeff Tweedy, former singer of alt-country stalwarts Uncle Tupelo, says that there’s one sure way to figure out if a particular song is any good or not. He argues that those rare compositions are the ones that manage to say something that seems incredibly obvious, but that nobody else has been able to articulate in the same way.
I’m no Jeff Tweedy, but I humbly agree. Each day, I listen to hundreds of songs that utilise a million tricks. Guitar solos go off, drums play complex rhythms, and the singer yells about some French philosophy book that they’ve read. What are they hiding? The truth, or rather the fact that they haven’t been able to locate it.
Kyle Bagwell’s “Love’s Gone Again,” on the other hand, has only the truth and reality on its side. This is a classic country blue-hearted ballad in the style of Merle Haggard. And it’s not so much a song as a plea to listen to one man’s story. This ain’t a tale of bravado. It ain’t a collection of pretty lies. This is the truth about a love affair that comes and changes everything once it is no more.
