Search - Damien Rice :: O/B-Sides

"Cold, cold water surrounds me now..."

Damian Gunn | I am everywhere | 07/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Damien, the Irish wonder, decided to package both his brilliant debut `O' and his follow up EP `B-Sides' together so we can experience his entire masterpiece without making two purchases. Both albums, separately as well as together, are beautifully done and wonderfully executed...so here's a run down of each song on this collection.



1. Delicate



This song has deep meaning for me for listening to it helps express exactly the way I felt the day my first love (not first girlfriend, first love) broke my heart. Damien asks the questions "why'd you sing with me at all?" and that's the same way I felt, staring in her eyes and wondering why she'd pretend for so long only to take back everything she's ever told me. This song perfectly expresses the feelings left when love goes wrong, when everything delicate breaks.



2. Volcano



A song of tortured or maybe even forbidden love ("she's still too young"), or, as those same lyrics could suggest...immature love, this is by far a standout here with beautiful and heartfelt lyrics, and vocals shining by both Damien and Lisa Hannigan.



3. The Blower's Daughter



Thanks to the popularity of 'Closer' this single made Damien a household name. The song, set aside the instant popularity, is well deserving of all the attention. It's a brilliantly crafted love song that showcases the despair of a broken heart and the determination to make love last. Damien laments over the broken condition of the one he loves, but will he ever be able to make her whole?



4. Cannonball



This song is about the insecurities that amount when your falling head over heals for someone. Damien talks of his doubt, his words "it's still a little hard to say what's going on", but it's the chorus that really tells it all. When you're in love it's easy to be hurt because you become so vulnerable. So when Damien sings "it's easy to fall when you float like a cannonball" he so right. When you fall for someone you feel as though your floating high, but that's dangerous for when your that high you have a long what to fall. This is such a beautiful song with such resonance with situations we all have faced.



5. Older Chests



This song dissects the changes we go through as a whole, the way the world changes and, as people stay the same it's unhealthy as the world around then changes and adapts all the time. It's actually quite sad when you think about it. "I'll be fine, just give me time."



6. Amie



Sometimes we meet someone, we know someone and no matter how weird it may seem that someone who we've known for so many years and never thought of passed friendship turns out to be the one you long for. "You know when you've found it there's something i've learned 'cause you feel it when they take it away" and how true that is...One of the most beautiful and intoxicating songs I've had the pleasure of hearing.



7. Cheers Darlin'



When you keep your mouth shut you lose out on the things you long for the most. That's the moral of this song as Damien laments over not taking the chances he should have..."I'm too shy, I should have kissed you when we were alone"...And now it's too late, for she's getting married and at this point there's nothing you can do, for all is lost and your alone. She's something you'll never have, not once, and even if you move on, even if you find love elsewhere, never having her, never having the chance to lose her will eat you up for the rest of your life.



8. Cold Water



Close to my favorite song on the album, Damien and Lisa Hannigan here harmonize beautifully on this song about the feeling of loneliness and the desire to feel needed and wanted. The way Damien sings the first verse, almost as if he's choking...it adds to the feeling of being smothered, of drowning in your sorrow and so you believe him when he says "cold water surrounds me"...brilliant!



9. I Remember



Sung almost entirely by Lisa Hannigan this song is a shining moment for her until Damien comes in towards the end when the music takes a turn and he steals the whole show. She sings beautifully but Damien is so commanding I almost forgot she sang any part of the song. This song goes into losing your grip on your reality when you fall for the wrong person, when you give up all you thinking ability and devote yourself to them, and they use and abuse you and you end up screaming to yourself "I wanna hear what you want what the hell do you want?" I know the feeling well.



10. Eskimo



This is an interesting song concept, translating an opera. It works well and proves that Damien is a freaking genius! This song, while a little strange ("i look to my eskimo friend when i'm down ") it still evokes brilliance, especially towards the end when the opera screams in the background and your drawn into it's grander...



The bonus tracks are worth a listen, especially 'Prague' which is beautifully done and worth the bit of silence it takes to discover. Their rendition of 'Silent Night' is also breathtaking, sung a capella by Lisa Hannigan it will give you chills. I recommend this album to any lover of music for that's what Damien is, a lover of music, and here he's been able to build a musical masterclass!



And now for the tracks originally of off `B-Sides'



Damien starts us off with 'The Professor & La Fille Danse' which is the most effective track here. It's musical arrangement perfectly fits the lyrical message about the using of women for pleasure. The song describes, in a somewhat explicit and disturbing nature, the fact that this man knows nothing about this woman. The line "and the d*ck left inside only half understood her" perfectly (while vulgarly) explains the predicament that this poor woman is being used for a purpose.



The next track is 'Lonelil y', which appeared on the single for Cannonball (another brilliant track) and this song, while not as strong as the previous, has a positive message about love and being with the ones you love. None of us want to be lonely. I like the lyrical message in this song, almost as if they took their relationship for granted and then realized they'd rather be together. The chorus chanting "your coming home" and you believe that.



'Woman like a Man' is one of my favorite tracks by Damien. This song is elegantly done with beautiful harmonizing. The song itself is a little difficult to follow, I'm still trying to figure out what he's getting at, but I think I got it. It appears as if he's pointing out the role-factors of the sexes today, how men and or women want the benefits received by the other sex and that sex alone. That's just my take though...



I LOVE 'Moody Mooday' if not for the brilliant lyrics then for the way Damien tackles this song. There's a track on 'O' that makes me feel this same way, and that track is 'Cold Water'. On that song, Damien sings as if he were drowning. You believe him. Here it's the same. He sings "I find it hard to breath" and he sings this with such strain in his voice you know he's struggling to deliver each word. The lyrics are deep in their simplicity, and wording it the way he has, with "why d'you have to break free" almost as if she was his captive and then "why d'you have to phone" letting you know she left him in an impersonal manor but then his comment "someone else you'd rather phone" leads you to believe it was never personal. I personally think she's a hooker...but that's just my take on the song.



The live cut of 'Delicate' is a little to soft. I just think it was poorly recorded. I know it's live but it's no where near as polished as the live cut of 'The Professor...' It's still a wonderful song; it just loses a bit in the translation.



The album closes out with an instrumental and demo version of 'Volcano' which succeeds on both efforts. The instrumental is beautiful but to me it's the demo that stands out as one of my favorite additions to this album. It's raw and downplayed, slow and passionate and it really adds to the umph you get from the powerful lyrics of an immature and maybe even guilty relationship. I just love the whole feel of it.



So there you have it. Yet another brilliant offering from Damien, and something that should hold us over until his next album...let's just pray it comes soon!

"

Beautiful Folk Music

s.premo | San Francisco, USA | 06/20/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard the music of Damien Rice in the movie "Closer" with Jude Law. I frantically searched at the end credits of that movie for the song "Blowers Daughter." I wanted to know who sang it so I could buy the album. I love folk music and this whole album is absoulutely beautiful. Damien Rice is a master at writing poetic songs.



In particular I grew quickly attached to the songs: Cannonball and Eskimo. I think you will too. I highly recommend this CD. So go ahead and buy it already. :)"

Damien Rice Mesmerizes

Peter W. Kalnin | Riverside California | 05/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once you sample this album, you will want to own it... then it will be all that you want to hear, over and over and over again. Rice's entrancing, poetical, dramatic lyrics and music evoke powerful images and excite intense moods, as only real art can."