Ginger Wildheart
It took me a while to finally get round to picking up a copy of Ginger Wildheart’s latest album. Historically I have this image of Country & Western music being depressing and this generally draws me away from it. I don’t know why that has been the case, perhaps it is a perception I have built over the years through mis-representation and falsehoods. Maybe similar to strange beliefs some people have about mental health based on mis-conceptions and false perceptions.
With Ginger having had some public battles with his own mental health over the years, I wondered how this would play out. Ginger playing C&W – would it work?
Ghost in the Tanglewood
So, as I gingerly lifted the tonearm and placed the needle onto the shiny new vinyl of Ghost in the Tanglewood, I was feeling slightly apprehensive. I have always found Ginger’s music to be uplifting – from the punk-edged rock of The Wildhearts, to the joyous pop rock of Hey! Hello via the noise rock of Mutation and everything in between – his record breaking 555% pledge album, Silver Ginger 5…. You get the point.
I the end, I needn’t have worried at all. From the open bars of The Daylight Hotel, the music, the delivery and hearing Ginger’s familiar hearty Geordie accent were stirring. The steel guitar, fiddle and guitar all come together and its warm feel good music.
The Daylight Hotel
Straight away I notice a contrast. When you listen closely to the lyrics you realise how deeply sincere & personal this song is. The subject matter (as with many of the tracks on the album) deals with mental health issues and particularly his time receiving treatment in the “Daylight Hotel” in question and his experiences. This song is far from depressing though, despite its subject matter. There is positivity in the tale.
For anyone who has suffered from depression, anxiety or other mental health issues, you know it is not a lifestyle choice. No-one chooses to go to that place, despite what some people who haven’t been there may think. Ginger brings this message out well in this song, “Come on down, bring your monsters all you angels Yeah, We all just wanna be well”. Last line, “Your mind is your cell, ‘til your demons have been expelled” sums a lot up for me.
Paying it Forward
Next up another upbeat number with what you might consider to be a standard Country guitar intro (remember I’m no C&W expert). The tempo ramps for the positive message in the chorus “It only takes one person, to teach one person, to reach one person, to help them along, by making this chain, you’re Paying it Forward”. This time a song of realisation that no-one needs to be alone, or feel that they have no-one to talk to. The message and music are both inspirational. The song has a tasty guitar break, with the chorus repeating again to fade.
As I listen to the next few songs and listen carefully to the lyrics, I’m struck by the quality, sensitivity & insightfulness and the intensely personal nature of the song-writing on the album. The tenderness and emotion that comes across in songs like Minus You (which is initially reminiscent of Geordie in Wonderland) and the determination to prevail in Golden Tears is breath-taking but somehow at the same time the songs are exhilaratingly uplifting.
Depresssion
The stimulating nature of the songs to me dispels one of those old myth that people who suffer from depression and anxiety are weak and miserable. There is an incredible strength and honesty in the songs. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying he has produced in this album an inspiration to anyone listening that has ever been visited by the black dog.
When people like Ginger or Sinead O’Connor are castigated and lambasted on social media when they have through periods of poor mental health, I never cease to be shocked and angry. Or when there are indefensible comments made when someone like Chester Bennington or Chris Cornell decide they can no longer face living. That speaks volumes to me of people who do not understand the impact depression has on an individual, regardless of who they are or how much they appear to have going for them.
Anything that people do to raise public awareness about mental health is a great thing and I include this album in that.
My Old Friend, the Blues
Even listening to a well-kent song like Steve Earle’s My Old Friend the Blues (previously also covered by The Proclaimers) takes on a new resonance when listened to amongst the other songs on this album.
The album continues in the same vein, the subject matter of depression, and for good measure the penultimate track covers both death & depression:
“You can fight with depression for your whole life through
If you fall in battle there’s no medal for you
No one calls you brave, no one said you tried
You won’t be a hero in anyone’s eyes”
Despite this, musically, The Reaper is one of the most life-affirming songs on the album.
Don’t Say Goodbye
The album starts with a very personal song, and ends with the touchingly beautiful autobiographic Don’t Say Goodbye. With yearning pedal steel guitar and a heart-breaking lyric about missing his son grow up while he was constantly out on the road touring.
In summary, I don’t really know what I had to be tentative about. Ginger is hard-working and genuine and makes a great racket whatever style of music he puts his mind to. This album is no exception, a tremendously uplifting experience despite the subject matter. Ginger confronts his demons on this album giving them a massive two fingered salute, it is a defiant statement of honesty, in which he shows a determination that he will not be beaten down.
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