Leave the Light on

I am known for shopping in the CD store. I can spend hours deliberating on what emotion could possibly exist under that beautifully difficult celophane wrapper. About five years ago while in the used CD section I came across an interesting find: it was an autographed copy of Screaming for my Supper. I didn't know the artist and none of the songs sounded familiar but the fact that it was signed had me sold.

I took it home not expecting much, I figured if someone had an autographed copy and traded it in, it had to be awful, but I played it anyway. The first song started off slow but it moved me. It moved me enough not to miss my 6.00. I appreciated the songs for what they were although the first track is still my fav. A few years passed and I got Rhapsody service and one of the first artists I looked for was Beth Hart. I noticed she had another album, I figured why not. That's when the love affair began. Her sound was sultry and bluesy and it touched me. Call it cosmic interference but I knew exactly what she meant when she screamed "am I the one?" She wasn't just singing she was really expecting an answer. I feel like that is what good music is all about. She asks the question we hate to ask for fear of how we will be perceived. Blame the Moon It's all the moons fault and her second album Immortal explains why.

Of course most artists beyond their time don't get the appreciation they deserve, so just like the first two it was by chance that I happened upon her most recent release Leave the light on. On this Album Beth sounds like she is straddling the line between who she is and who she knows she should be (spiritually) and the reasons being the two are so hard.

Cause I wanna love
I wanna live
I don't know much about it
I never did,
I don't know what to do, can the damage be undone
I swore to God that I'd never be what I've become
Lucky stars and fairy tales
I'm gonna bathe myself in a wishin' well
Pretty scars from cigarettes
I never will forget, I never will forget
I'm still afraid to be alone
wish that moon would follow me home
I leave the light on
I ain't that bad I'm just messed up
I ain't that sad but I'm sad enough
God bless the child with the dirty face who cuts her luck with a dirty ace
She leaves the light on, I leave that light on

This album offers much more to be admired. She hits the high notes on her third effort and stays true to everything she's done so far. The questions are still there and her spirit is still fresh in every lyric. She is telling the stories we need to hear to remind us, we are not alone.

Music in itself is powerful. Its artists like Beth Hart that make stop, walk to the porch and leave the light on.