The empathetic “I Had One One Time” is about a homeless man who lost the very things we take for granted. On “In My Dreams” the singer puts aside visions of fortune and fame, preferring to pursue his woman’s domestic ambitions of “a front porch, a screen door, the sound of bare feet runnin’ and cartoons.” He warns listeners to resist the siren song of Satan’s “Long Black Train” and instead find “victory in the Lord” (“Cling to the Father and His holy name”). With “She’ll Go on You,” Turner advises men to redeem the fleeting time they have with their daughters, wives and mothers (“This precious little thing that we call life, she’ll go on you”). “The Difference Between a Woman and a Man” respects the unique way each is wired. Romantic reconciliation is the goal of “Unburn All Our Bridges.” A man tired of wasting good love on a dead-end dating relationship asks his girlfriend to attend Sunday school with him on “Good Woman Bad.” Her response? …
She calls him a “d–ned old fool.” A line on “What It Ain’t” alludes to a jilted guy drinking wine. Two pool hustlers draw blood on a remake of Jim Croce’s 1972 hit “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” (“He was cut in ’bout a hundred places/He was shot in a couple more”).
Minor hiccups, but what’s strong on this disc is terrific. Turner’s rich, often deep vocals convey a back-roads sincerity that seals the deal.
