A handful of potentially positive tunes deal with relationships, but context and true intent are cloaked in a lyrical haze.
The artist and “Mr. Jones” fantasize aloud about beautiful women and fame while they pass around a bottle of booze. “Rain King” espouses a misguided theology involving “a sea of pens and feathers . . . faith and sex and God in the belly of a black-winged bird.” “Perfect Blue Buildings” paints life as meaningless. A depressed, suicidal woman “parks her car . . . takes her clothes off, says she’s close to understanding Jesus” on “Round Here.”
The band’s obscure, symbolic poetry (delivered with gritty Bruce Springsteen- and U2-style vocals) leaves a lot to the listener’s imagination. But taken at face value, certain problematic lyrics would indicate that the Crows are for the birds.
