CD Review: "Blackbird Ballads" by Brian Michael Tracy

To quote Seamus Heaney at a reading I once attended: "Oh, no! Not another blackbird poem!" This was his introduction to two of his own (most famous) poems that both feature that cliched bird. Unfortunately, I must trouble you with more. However, that is almost the only cliched thing about "Blackbird Ballads: Poetry and Music in Three Acts" recorded by Brian Michael Tracy, Andy Hill, and Renee Safier.

From my earliest days as a poet, I have wanted to create a marriage of poetry, music, and photography that would launch poetry back out of the sidelines of popular culture and into the fore of public consciousness in a way that would be unignorable and change the general perception of poetry forever. Older cultures than our own readily acknowledge that poetry and song are one and the same, but the issue remains a matter of debate in America and Britian. Such a composite work would give a strong argument that would force itself to be considered. But I have never had the means to acheive it. This CD makes an attempt at this idea. I applaud this most enthusiastically.

Essentially, what we have here is the poetry of Brian Michael Tracy framing and weaving in and out of renditions of popular songs performed for this recording by Andy Hill and Renee Safier. Among the songs reworked for this project are "The Rain King" by the Counting Crows, Robbie Robertson's "Broken Arrow", and Sarah McLachlan's "Angel". The over-all effect is charming, but, I believe, falls short of the intentions for it.

The songs included are beautifully sung. Most of the musical reworkings tend to strip down the originals and give them a feeling of the country genre. Though this opens these songs up to an airiness and breeziness that suits the vision of blackbirds at wing by the ocean, it also defeats what the combination with music could have done in grounding the poetry as worthy and equal with pop culture. Still, it has a sort of provincial charm.

Which brings us to the second cliche of the CD: how the poet chose to read his work. Tracy reads very precisely, being very careful to note every intended pause and line ending so that one can see the written forms in one's mind even while listening. The words are crystal clear but devoid of human emotion. This juxtaposes rather uncomfortably with the emotionally laden performances of the music. No doubt, Tracy intended these to complement each other. If he had read as if speaking to a peer he would have succeeded. Examples of the kind of conversationalist reading that I am thinking of in this instance would be Bono's recitation at the beginning of Andrea Bocelli's "L'Incontro" and his superb reading of Brendan Kennelly's "God's Laughter".

That being said, there are beautiful phrases peppered throughout the poetic segments of this CD. The words do not lack potential for rich emotion. Some favorite lines include:

"Take the ocean to our lips and play as if it were a saxophone/ as if we were drowning, as if the moon/ was all that could float without wind, without wings." - "The Wings of Blackbirds", "Enough to have been,/ or dreamed to have been,/ before, or since, or again." - "Dreaming Blackbird", "Weary, the moon rests/ like a thin man in the arms of stars." - "Returning Blackbird"

Although this CD does not acheive what it could have, it is a very pleasant listen, particularly at evening. It would make a wonderful gift for a special someone to whom one might wish to communicate with on a deeper level than the usual.