Prayer of a Common Man, again

So really, guys? Honestly? It pains me to say this, A LOT, not only because I ran out and bought the CD on the release date, and not only because after the first track I thought, "Hmm, a little weird, but MAJOR potential," and not only because the poor guy just (relatively speaking) got a divorce and one of the best songs on the whole album was co-written by his ex-wife in what seems to have been some unfortunate foreshadowing, but because I. LOVE. PHIL. VASSAR. I love him quite a bit. I've seen him live TWICE, and I can't recall seeing any other major label performer more than once. I own each of his CDs, even the Greatest Hits, because HI! New recordings of songs I love by the man who wrote them! Who could resist?! Not me.

But this new album? This Prayer of a Common Man? It is a disappointment.

Believe me, I tried. I left this CD in my car stereo for weeks. I listened to it over and over, while I was packing, while I was studying

I'm not saying there aren't a few good tunes. The first track, "This is My Life," is one of those great working man tracks complete with Vassar-style word play and melodies, and his token "heeeeey-ee-eh-yeahs," and "whoa-oh, whoa-ohs." It also features some production techniques, and even moreso, arrangements atypical of country music, and therein was where I heard the potential. I didn't immediately jump for joy, but I thought to myself, "This could grow on me..."

The next track was so TYPICAL Phil that I could have sworn I'd heard it somewhere before... perhaps, oh, I don't know, American Child? And, folks, AC was arguably his weakest album. Sophomore slump and all. Of course, the song hasn't been anywhere before, but it's just got that sound, that melody, those lyrics... Did he perhaps dig into his archives? Not out of the question, but couldn't they have done something new with the arrangement, at very least?

"My Chevrolet" one of those nostalgia songs. Not bad, but I liked "Amazing Grace" better.

"Love is a Beautiful Thing" is a song I'm actually quite in love with. I defended his cover of the tune (Paul Brandt did it some time ago in the '90s) assuming he'd penned it, considering the style and all, and knowing Phil is a songwriter... it seemed a safe assumption. But no, it's a Craig Wiseman/Jeffrey Steele tune. At any rate, it's a great song, and sung well by Phil. My only complaint with this tune, a complaint I've had from the beginning, was the backseat the piano took to everything else (is that an electric pedal steel? what is that?) in the arrangement. Dude plays piano! Come on!

"Prayer of a Common Man" is a decent tune, and I think maybe my lack of appreciation for this one is just the subject matter. I don't relate. I think a lot of people will though. It's a well written song, I can hear the piano, and the vocal performance is stellar.

"I Would" is presumably the next single. It's one of Phil's upbeat songs, and it's decent, but it's another of those songs that sounds like every other Phil song. With each of his other albums, there were the songs I loved, and there were the songs I would have labeled "filler." Not bad, never gonna make it to radio, just there to take that track space that needs to be taken. The tracks I loved were usually nine or ten, and the filler tracks only two or three. Unfortunately, I've only taken you through six tracks so far, and this is the third filler track I've heard so far.

And now begins the "I Don't Know What He Was Thinking" half of the disk. Retro Rock? From the '50s? Seriously Phil? REALLY?

Okay, I'm not sure that's completely fair because I don't know my old music well enough to go putting labels or decades on all of it. Let's just say, this sounds OLD.

"Why Don't Ya?" is the first of these songs. Brainless lyrics, doo-wop backup vocals and all.

"It's Only Love" starts with a very early Beatles vocal, and then inexplicably morphs into Phil-filler material. Something Phil isn't really great with is sarcasm or snark. I spoil myself with Brad Paisley, I suppose, who is master of humor and wordplay in country music. Phil tries here, though. He's being ironic, and the words work, but the music doesn't fit. Brad's funny with the words AND the music--he makes them work together. Phil doesn't quite have that. It's a little disappointing.

Thank God, back to another great song: "Let Me Love You Tonight," The Ballad I Always Fall In Love With on this album. He's always got at least one great ballad on every album, and I'm SO glad that I didn't have to be disappointed with at least that part this time around. The most heartbreaking part of this whole thing is that he wrote it with Julie, his ex-wife, and it's completely and totally about breaking up. I can't believe they wrote it together. It makes me wonder when and under what circumstances it was written. It's truly heartbreaking.

"Baby Rocks" is just awful. It's just not even... good. "Hoo-hoos" reminiscent of Kenny Chesney's "Young" (and someone knows how much I hate those), no real melody, kind of old sounding but not really, stupid screaming in the beginning, and a very, very cheesy hook: "my baby rocks like a rolling stone." Hmm. Have I heard that before? The one thing I do find interesting about this track, and I'm not sure if it was purposeful or not, is one of the riffs in the instrumental. It sounds like a foreshadow of the melody of the next song. If that's true, whoever produced this did so with the ALBUM in mind, and I love thinkers like that...

"The World is a Mess" is another "old" sounding tune, and I'm not a huge fan of it, but it does have its moments. When you hear it, if you do, tell me if the line "I need the money honey" doesn't make you just wanna sing/scream at the top of your lungs. Just tell me, really. I do like the feel of this one in the verses, it's the chorus that just leaves me scratching my head and going, "huh?"

"Crazy Life" is a good closer, a good Phil tune, not so typical that I feel that I've heard it before, but it's got enough of him in it that it really reminds me why I love him. It's also really simple--great piano, and only piano for more than a minute. Even when the rest of the arrangement comes in, it's really simple, lovely, acoustic, mandolin, a little guitar, and subtle drums. This tune is truly lovely, and I wish the album was full of more tunes like this one.


So to finish, I'd say I guess I don't regret picking this album up, but after Shaken Not Stirred, I was just expecting... better. Shaken Not Stirred changed a lot from the first two albums, so it's not that I'm bitter about the change from that one to this one. I loved the change. It was brilliant, really, and I was excited to see where else Phil could go. Unfortunately, he didn't take a path that really excited me, but hey, maybe that retro mumbo-jumbo will work for someone else...

Also, after I listen to something again so I can rip on it, I usually find I didn't hate it quite as much as I remembered. So there's that.

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.

Yes, when you read this you might hear some "Space Case!" whispers, but in his own way, he put into words exactly how I feel about my own songs sometimes.


These songs; take them. Share them. Own them. Make love to them. Cook to them. Eat with them. Buckle them up in the car and blast them during your busy city commute. Sleep with them on in the background. Send them to your dreams' ideal setting. Maybe steal a little of me for those moments. I love traveling. With the songs new life I'll imagine myself being spread around like a good flu.

I've said it in a million interviews already. The songs don't belong to me. They are bigger than I'll ever be and they'll certainly live a lot longer than I will. That's why this album is less about me and more life in general. It's an album about awesome times, celebrated by real people, sexy people, and waking up to smell their sweet sweat still lingering in the air.

Someone once passed me a stack of books and said enjoy. And when you are done, pass them on, for they do not belong to you. They belong to the world. And that is what I'm doing with these songs. They are of the world and for the world.

Even the personal songs about my family and factual love stories, I will not take credit for writing them. It is my duty to simply sit and listen to a frequency that anyone can hear; a station perhaps from space, commercial free, broadcast in the clouds. I don't ask. I sing-a-long to that station nonetheless, and happen to record the phrases and melodies from time to time, and still they are not my own. Maybe I am a receiver, but just an instrument in that sense. My body is just hardware. Some other wonderful force is playing the song.

Whatever "being" is to the human, whatever air is to the bird, or what water is to the fish. Whatever force decides to make our hearts beat and food digest. That mad divine scientist is who is responsible for these songs. They are a gift for all of us.

I am so grateful and so I project and we share the sweetness.

I am glad you're listening too. Enjoy the new album.

--Jason Mraz

I am enjoying the new album. It's lovely. It's definitely more Mr. A-Z than it is Rocket, but not quite as out there as A-Z was. A little less self-indulgent. Features Colbie Caillat and James Morrison, and a Jason who seems to have come back down to Earth--maybe not all the way, but who needs to plant their feet in the ground? Not me.

And on a slightly related note, his journal is actually fun to read again. Did he change or did I? Both, perhaps?

Like Johnny and June

New music to discuss at some point in the near future:

Michael Buble's Call Me Irresponsible

Jason Mraz's We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things
Phil Vassar's Prayer of a Common Man, revisited...

But for now, I just turned on country radio, something, as you know, I only do on occasion, and heard a song I'd been told to keep my ears open for: a song called Johnny and June.

The song is the latest from Heidi Newfield, former front girl of Trick Pony. I spent the entire song trying to figure out who that voice belonged to, and never really put my finger on it, because the style is definitely different than the Trick Pony style. However, it's a great song, and the lyrics are just... well... perfect.


Heidi Newfield: Johnny & June EPK