Invisible Father Time

Actually, that post title should really be "Invisible—Father Time." I just like the way it sounds/looks when I run it all together like that without punctuation—creates some mystery. (Oooo...)

So I picked up a promo copy of Hal Ketchum's "Father Time" CD (plus a short "Making of..." DVD included) last week at a local used CD store and have been playing it A LOT! Can't seem to STOP playing it. It's been a long, long time since I've enjoyed an entire CD this much right off the bat. Even with artists I like a lot (such as Hal) I usually find only a few songs (if that) that I love so much I end up just repeating those few several more times before putting it away. This one has eight or nine such tunes and the rest are still more than just "filler." These songs have a depth of feeling far beyond 99% of other music out there. Great stories put to great music. The lyrics even work just as pure standalone poetry in many instances and that's always a plus for this lyrically-focused listener.

All that's just my opinion, of course, but hey that's usually what blogging's all about, isn't it?

The back cover says "In stores Sept 9th—You heard it first." But that was 2008, so I didn't really hear it first. At this point, I'm just glad I heard it at all as Hal isn't exactly a big draw artist these days so finding this one used wasn't something I would have expected.

Whether you generally like country music or not I HIGHLY recommend the album. The short samples available on Hal's website don't do them justice. And sure, they're not just a bunch of happy la la la rainbows and moonbeams love-you-forever songs, but I've never been all that drawn to those anyway. Maybe that's just me. I'll take a good honest story song with real feeling any day... even if the feeling is sad, lonely, bittersweet, or diabolical.

Being a promo copy, there were no credits included (songwriting or musicians), nor any official lyrics. I tried to Google some of the songs for the words, but with no real luck as the one or two I found were obviously not even very accurate. So I took the time to listen carefully and write'em out for myself as best I could determine (no guarantee of accuracy). I thought I’d post some of my favorite lyrics from the album for a little while.

Engineer Craig White is quoted in the promo CD insert: "Hal would essentially play a demo of the song for the musicians on his guitar or banjo. They would then write out a chart and in fifteen minutes everyone would be in the studio making adjustments. Usually within about an hour we'd have a song!"

Matt Bjorke, in a review for RoughStock.com, says: "In an era of pro-tools, auto-tune and other forms of digital studio trickery, Hal Ketchum decided to record Father Time the old-fashioned way. In the course of two days, Hal and his crack band of musicians (people like Bran Sutton, Russ Pahl, Aubrey Haynie, Eddie Bayers and Darrell Scott) cranked out 14 tunes that speak to the way records used to be recorded. There are little imperfections in the music just as it should be." I don't know about that last bit, but I guess it's a valid philosophy intended to preserve spontaneity and freshness.

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"Invisible" leads off the album. The line I list below as ending with "hammer spring" sounds more like "hammers bring" to me on the album version, but that doesn't really make sense, so I made it "hammer spring" which sounds better, more logical and maybe even poetic. In the YouTube vid, he obviously sings "hammer ring" which also makes a lot of sense and is probably the best choice imo.

It looks like you should be able to listen (for the sake of comparison) to the official recorded version (I assume) at Hal's facebook page, though I haven't tried it myself. Not that the album version is overproduced in any way (it's not), but the video version seems to be very stripped down, i.e. just Hal and his acoustic guitar. Still a great song either way.

Here's the lyric according to my ears...


INVISIBLE
Performed by Hal Ketchum
From the album Father Time
____________________________

Standing on the corner with my paper cup
Nickels, dimes, and quarters, never near enough
The busy people walk on by
Never look me in the eye
I’ve become expendable... untouchable... invisible

The sign I carry says I'll work for anything
There was a time when I could make that hammer spring
I was young and I was strong
Always thought I’d get along
But I've become expendable... untouchable... invisible

I can understand
Why you don't want to see a man
Who's fallen this far down and out
It might give you room for doubt
I can sympathize
That if you looked into my eyes
You might see yourself on the other side of hope

Expendable... untouchable... invisible

I can understand
Why you don't want to see a man
Who's fallen this far down and out
It might give you room for doubt
I can sympathize
That if you looked into my eyes
You might see yourself on the other side of hope

If you see me on the roadside, please don't look away
I got somethin' precious to give to you today
So take a poor man’s sympathy
The gift of never bein' me
Expendable... untouchable... invisible
May you never be expendable... untouchable... invisible