Ben Sollee - Prettiest Tree on the Mountain

“A robin flew by my window, I thought it just might be you, judging by the color of its breast and the sound of its song.” Beautiful line to introduce what sounds like a love song, but turns out to be a thoughtful meditation on how the economic conditions our nation faces does not allow for lasting relationships. He speaks of the girl he loves living in what was once termed fertile California, “but when I came not a single fertile patch could be spared for you and me.” I know what he’s talking about because I left California expecting to return, but when I tried to return the prices of the land would not allow a person living on a schoolteacher’s wages to survive. So life goes on, and as the narrator walks “back home, I don’t care if it takes years or more,” he can’t keep the thoughts of the one he loves out of his mind. The story is well written, and fun to listen to, but I also have to shout out the playing on this rock album. Its rock played on instruments I’m not used to hearing, and it turns out wonderfully. Ben is an accomplished cello player, and on this cut he takes a finger-picking solo on the cello that blows me away. Huge shoutouts for A Few Honest Words, which tells another story about the land we live in, and Panning For Gold, which has lyrical and musical poetry speaking brilliantly about the way we are destroying our planet and turning it into something unrecognizable. Thanks Ben, for both a new way to rock and roll and for the clear messages you have to share. “We don’t choose our leaders, they choose themselves. Tell me again about democracy.” Ben Sollee