Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle (Drag City)

Posrnuća kao da su preduslov uspinjanja do neslućenih poetskih visina. Tako se u jednoj sentenci može opisati 13. album Billa Callahana.
Ovaj singer-songwriter respektabilne reputacije svojevremeno je gužvao posteljinu sa miljenicima indie publike poput Cat Power i Joanne Newsom (Callahan je jednom prilikom na pitanje o mizoginiji u svojim pesmama odgovorio da "novinari imaju previše kurca u svojim ustima"). Upravo je raskid sa Newsomovom razlog poslednje misli u stihu "I used to be darker, then I got lighter, then I got dark again" u uvodnoj numeri Jim Cain, nazvanoj po Jamesu Cainu, piscu knjige "Poštar uvek zvoni dva puta" koji je svojevremeno skončao u alkoholisanoj bedi, a ovde je iskorišćen za otrgnute stranice Callahanove autobiografije.

Working through death's pain

Last night I swear I felt your touch
Gentle and warm
The hair stood on my arms
How, how, how?

Show me the way, show me the way, show me the way
To shake a memory

I flipped my forelock, I twitched my withers, I reared and bucked
I could not put my rider aground
All these fine memories are fuckin' me down

I dreamed it was a dream that you were gone
I woke up feeling so ripped by reality
Love is the king of the beasts
And when it gets hungry it must kill to eat
Love is the king of the beasts
A lion walking down city streets

I fell back asleep some time later on
And I dreamed the perfect song
It held all the answers, like hands laid on

I woke halfway and scribbled it down
And in the morning what I wrote I read
It was hard to read at first but here's what it said

Eid ma clack shaw
Zupoven del ba
Mertepy ven seinur
Cofally ragdah

Show me the way, show me the way, show me the way
To shake a memory

Callahan za sebe kaže da je jednostavan, prost čovek koji se vezuje za neposredne pojave oko sebe. U prošlosti, dok je nastupao pod imenom Smog (ukupno 11 potpisanih albuma), privlačile su ga reke (npr. LP A River Ain't Too Much To Love iz 2005.) i konji (prisutni i na ovoj ploči na omotu). Na ovom izdanju šou su ukrale ptice (od Orla u naslovu do kompozicije Too Many Birds) i vetar (Rococo Zephyr), upareni zajedno u pesmi The Wind and The Dove.

I looked all around
It was not written down
And so I'll tell you now
I will always love you
My friend

Now I'm not saying we're cut from the same tree
But like two pieces of the gallows
The pillar and the beam
Like two pieces of the gallows
We share a common dream -
To destroy what will harm other men
My friend

I looked all around
It was not written down
So I'll tell you now
I will always love you
My friend

Sa svoje 43 godine, Callahan je izgleda dobrano slomljen namerio da počne životnu priču iz početka, tražeći lek za otrov koji mu je zaparao dušu, za koju kao da je uveren da je na nekom drugom mestu ("...All these fine memories are fucking me down") ali mu upravo ta neugledno-neprijatna situacija u kojoj se našao daje prostora za male trijumfalne opservacije ("I used to be sorta blind, but now I sorta see"). Duboko intimistički, svirački minimalan, raspoložen komplet garniran je sugestivnim Callahanovim baritonom i osvežen suptilnom orkestracijom Briana Beattiea, što uz svemirsku produkciju čini od ove ploče siguran zicer za istinsko uživanje.
Drugi deo ovog ostvarenja otpočinje efektnom & poletnom posvetom My Friend, a kulminira u završnoj Faith/Void (što itekako podseća na Void/Faith - jedan od uticajnijih split albuma vašingtonske hardkor scene osamdesetih, valjalo bi istražiti da li je po sredi (nesvesna) posveta), u kojoj se Callahan maestralno odriče Boga.
Ne sećam se da je ateizam ikada zvučao ovako produhovljeno i ne znam da li ovo mističko iskustvo vuče poreklo od Boga ili od čoveka. To nije ni bitno. Bitno je da postoji.

It's time to put God away

Damnin' the children
Makin' the ill just a little more sick

It's time to put God away
(I put God away)

This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie

It's time to put God away
(I put God away)

For a void without a question is just perverse
A void without a question is just perverse
Like tear gas misters at my grave

It's time to put God away
(I put God away)

For a void without a question is just perverse
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie
This is the end of faith, no more must I strive
To find my peace, to find my peace in a lie

It's time to put God away
(I put God away)