As the quarter comes to a close, I sit alone in my room dimly lit by red light bulbs hanging from my defective ceiling fan ignoring my final papers and tests that demand way more attention than I am willing to give them. I do this with practically no alcohol in my system, thinking about how much I’ve grown. My mustache turned into a full-blown beard, my blazer replaced by black travel jacket, and my youthful optimism turned comical pessimism. But for some strange reason, I don’t particularly want to get completely tanked and have casual sex with a broken-in breezy at a bar. It is strange because this is what any young man should do under any circumstance. In fact, I encourage this behavior. But, I fail to practice what I preach. Instead, I sit in my room and throw on Will Oldham’s newest opus under the moniker Bonnie “Prince” Billy called “Beware.”
“Beware” is strange as is illustrated by “Beware Your Only Friend,” which starts off the album. The first two seconds are gloomy. Then it picks up to a toe-tapping tempo, which elates the spirit. Then, about seven seconds in, Will Oldham throws me off in his best country voice with one of those “I want to be your only friend,” followed by a backing choir asking “Is that scary?”
I didn’t really know what to think. It’s kind of like that time I was 12 and I asked a girl I met on a field trip to the aquarium if she’d like to go to the spring dance. Except, replace 12-year-old me in my navy blue school uniform with a 30-year-old, bearded, balding man in a baby blue Juicy Couture track outfit and the aquarium with a lonely motel inexplicably located in the woods. It’s not actually that creepy but it is that eccentric, weird and oddly adorable. It’s the kind of thing you’d swoon to should it be in a Fox Searchlight production.
Slowly but surely, the album warms up to my heart in the way dark, odd couple-buddy comedies teach you invaluable life lessons about friendship and being yourself.
Songs like “You Don’t Love Me” is like the girl in a movie that everyone knows is wrong for the main character, but he idolizes her despite the way she is subtly abusive as devaluing his affection.
“I Don’t Belong To Anyone” is like the quirky friend that tries to cheer up the hero by trying to get him to go out and enjoy the single life as he sings a nostalgic and gentle “It’s kind of easy to have some fun when you don’t belong to anyone.” And the album’s single, “I Am Goodbye” has a music video featuring a rejuvenated Will Oldham as he triumphantly strolls the streets singing as happy as he possibly can, like his character has learned discovered his potential and that he does not need the emotional baggage that comes with his previous, unhealthy relationship.
The album and the artist are beautiful entities that have folk and country charm that will soon bless our lovely neck of the woods in Los Osos thanks to our friends at Folk Yeah. The show will be on Tuesday, March 31 (Cesar Chavez Day) and tickets are on sale now. It’s going to be sweet.
Also, Lake and Quiet Life will be performing at the SLO Art Center this Friday the 13 at 7 p.m. thanks to our good friends Pocket Productions. Super fly!