Sheryl Crow’s Latest Detour
I’m a big fan of Sheryl Crow the person. Breast cancer survivor and role model – not to mention survivor of relationships with guys like Eric Clapton and Lance Armstrong – she’s growing more beautiful with age. I like her laid-back California attitude and her activism for cancer research and the environment. And I love that’s she’s a former music teacher that made good. I’d date her in a heartbeat! (Who can resist a beautiful woman with a guitar in her hands?)
But her music has never blown me away. In fact, I’ve found her hits vapid and overly produced. But I’ve enjoyed a number of her albums because there’s always been deeper tracks on them that have been real standouts. Unfortunately, that’s not true of her latest, Detours. I bought it a while back when I went into “Crows†frenzy, buying new records by Counting Crows, The Black Crowes, and tossing this one in from Sheryl Crow all in the same day.
I listened anxiously for those songs that rose above the mediocre ones, the ones that would never get radio play, but where you could tell her heart and soul really were. I never heard them. In fact, after one listen through it, I almost gave it away. I mean, it’s not a complete disaster. You’ll like it if you’re a big Sheryl Crow fan (after my third and fourth listen – it was the only disk in my car for a week – I found some redeeming qualities). But this one’s probably not going to bring in any new, serious-minded music fans.
She does sing a little in Arabic. And she does have a strong environmental bent on this one. But the songs are too obvious and all over-produced, with the exception of “God Bless This Mess,†which actually is a poignant, quiet, little song about the post-9/11 world we’re living in. That one resonates a lot better for me than her more grandiose attempts like “Shine Over Babylon,†which has a standard Sheryl Crow hook, but not much else.
I won’t criticize every track. If you like her, you’ll like the album. If you’re on the fence about her music, this one isn’t worth getting. But a song like “Diamond Ring†sums up my conundrum over this record. It’s got a horrid, monotonous melody. But the lyrics are ambiguous enough to get me thinking:
We made love all day
In our little hide awayBut I blew up our love nest
By making one little requestChorus:
Diamond ring
Diamond ring
Don’t mean anything
Diamond ring
Diamond ring
Should not mean a thingYou could say I do
Hide your negative reviewsYou love me you say
But you can’t even face the day[Chorus]
Some say love is blind
I say it’s only in the mindDiamonds may be sweet
But to me they just bring on cold feetSomeday you’ll be like me
With someone who just wants to be free[Chorus]
I honestly can’t tell if she’s talking about some guy who jilted her because she wanted to get married or if it’s the opposite: that she’s the one who wants to love and let live, someone who wants to keep her independence and be free. If it’s the latter, call me, Sheryl! I’m sorry I couldn’t “hide my negative review,†but I’ll be honest with you every time.
