Between wars, economic crises and natural disasters, it has been a rough few years. There are two schools of thought as to how music should deal with times like these. The first theory is that music should reflect the times and tell the stories of people while they are living them. Independent music tends to err on the side of this. The other theory is that music should be light and fun fluff that people can use to escape their problems. Most mainstream music tends to swing towards this theory. Cutting through both sides is Mary Chapin Carpenter, a rare voice who can look clear-eyed at everyday life and find the optimism. Her latest, The Age of Miracles, sweeps from Ernest Hemmingway’s first wife to Tiananmen Square, while always managing to come back to hope.
Carpenter spends many of the songs on The Age of Miracles toying with the idea of home, of settling into one life in one house with one other person after a lifetime of wanderlust. “I find myself between two choices, to settle or to run,” she confesses in Holding up the Sky. In “The Way I Feel” she is barreling down the highway “the radio playing I Won’t Back Down” on a trip that might last hours or days. The catchy “Last Night I put My Ring Back On” finds her coming back from a fight that sent her over the brink. Mrs. Hemingway finds Hadley Richardson looking back fondly at the time she spent among The Lost Generation. June 4, 1989 is the story of a once teenaged solider looking reflecting on his role in the Tiananmen Square massacre. The title track ties all these themes together, fusing e personal and global quest for peace. “Greenland is melting and the West is on fire, but don’t ever stop praying for rain,” she advises.
While record label marketers may debate whether people listen to music for confirmation or for escapism, they do have one thing right. In times of crises, people turn to music for comfort. This is where albums like Mary Chapin Carpenter’s The Age of Miracles help. Carpenter is nearly unique in her ability to see life as it really is, tinged through a lens of hope. And, in times like these, tht is music we can all use.
You can support Mary Chapin Carpenter by purchasing this digital album at Amazon | iTunes.
You can pick up the physical CD copy of the album at Amazon.
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