Lucinda Williams Little Honey

Genre rock Publisher Lost Highway

At first listen, Lucinda Williams’ voice sounded forced and unpleasant on her new album Little Honey.   But by the time I had finished listening to the entire CD, she had won me over. 

Little Honey is full of original, relaxing music that will please any Williams fan.  Grammy Award-winning Williams holds to her typical bluesy sound, mixing country, rock, and blues to create a new genre of music.  The listener can feel Williams’ longing for contentment.  However, in her latest album, Williams finds the happiness she has searched for in her previous music.  In one song, she declares that she has found “Real Love,” which seems to contradict her sad, longing tunes.  This is Williams’ sound to the core, however.  You can’t have Williams without that bluesy feel.  It’s the only sound that fits with her voice.

Little Honey opens with the more upbeat song, “Real Love.”  “I found the love I’ve been looking for,” she sings.  “Standing up behind an electric guitar.   It’s a real love, it’s a real love.  And all the time I was thinking no way.  And all the time I never thought I’d say I found the love I’ve been looking for.”  These lyrics are the story of Williams’ life.  After several bad relationships and after releasing several CDs with more depressing music, Little Honey is a tribute to the love she has found with Tom Overby.  Overby is not only her manager, but also her fiancé.

Williams says Overby inspired several of the songs found on her latest album, including “Tears of Joy” and “Plans to Marry.”  She fills the album with positive love songs.  In “Circles and X’s” she sings about an unchanging love for a married man.  “Nothing left to be sorry for,” she says.  “The morning hears you sigh and sunlight reflects off the silver on your finger.”  “Tears of Joy” crowns her queen and her lover king, “Honey Bee” covers her tummy with her little honey bee’s honey, “Knowing” teaches her what love means, and “Plan to Marry” conquers the evil things of this world with love.

While most of her songs cover Williams’ love life, “Little Rock Star” pays homage to her career.  “This is not all that it’s cracked up to be,” are the lyrics.  Full of guitar backgrounds, the song conveys the problems that come with stardom, the desire to persevere, and the attachment Williams has to her music.  “Will you ever know happiness, Little Rock Star?” Williams sings, “Or is your death wish stronger than you are.”

Little Honey does not lack in heart treading songs.  “Well Well Well” goes back to Williams’ Bluegrass Country roots with lyrics like “If you hang around trash you can’t come out clean,” and “If Wishes Were Horses” begs a lover to give Williams a second chance.  “Jailhouse Tears,” “Heaven Blues,” and “Rarity” are also along these lines.

Williams pairs with Elvis Costello for “Jailhouse Tears.”  Costello’s voice has a nasally tone and does not match Williams’ voice.  The duet is one of the few setbacks of Little Honey.  Williams screams rather than singing in some of the upbeat songs, such as “Honey Bee” and her version of AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top,” but overall she is pleasant to listen to.  While her bluesy sound attracts most of her fans, the real treats are the lyrics.  In “Plan to Marry,” Williams sings, “When… the fruit trees we planted are withered and rotten… why do we marry....?  Because love, love is a might sword.  Love is our weapon.”

After listening to the moving lyrics and music of Lucinda Williams’ Honey Bee, even fans that aren't into country or rock will enjoy most of the album.