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Loudon Wainwright III
So Damn Happy
(Sanctuary)
The Music Box's #8 specialty package for 2003
First Appeared at The Music Box, October 2003, Volume 10, #10
Written by John Metzger
"The only reason for the existence of a novel is that it
does attempt to represent life."
— Henry James
Loudon Wainwright III has a gift for making people laugh out loud even as he
breaks their hearts. It’s a strange juxtaposition of emotions, one that is
incredibly difficult to achieve on a single song, let alone throughout 20 albums
strung along a 33-year career. As consistently strong as Wainwright’s recorded
output has been, however, his concerts are even better. It’s no wonder he has
had a second career as an actor, given how well he parlays his poetic musings
into emotionally turbulent performances, leaving the audience hanging upon his
every word.
On So Damn Happy, his third concert recording, Wainwright is supported
intermittently by the instrumental brilliance of Van Dyke Parks, guitarist
Richard Thompson, and multi-instrumentalist David Mansfield. Even without Parks’
ambient accompaniment on Dreaming, Thompson’s disquieting lead on The
Home Stretch, or Mansfield’s playful fiddle on Heaven, however, So
Damn Happy would be a successful endeavor. The reason is simple: Wainwright
is a genius who uses his own personal experiences to connect with his audience
on familiar ground.
Though taken from two separate shows in January 2002, So Damn Happy
folds together to form a masterfully cohesive set. By linking five new songs
with 12 older selections, Wainwright takes his audience on an introspective
journey into the nature of human relationships. Even on less personal tunes,
such as Tonya’s Twirls and Something for Nothing, he wrings truth
out of his observations on the state of the world in ways that strike close to
home. Still, it’s his more familial offerings that hit the hardest. Heartache
hangs in the gentle jazz-folk air of Much Better Bets, and sarcasm drips
from the title track. Westchester County is a fond recollection of his
own childhood, while The Picture is a wistful reflection on the passage
of time as well as the death of his father. On the melancholic A Year, he
shares his own parental fears, tendering an apology of sorts for missing his
newborn child’s first annum, and he follows this with the astringent You
Never Phone, sung as a duet with his daughter Martha.
For all the sadness, all the sorrow, all the pain, suffering, and regret that
fills Wainwright’s songs, beneath it all are also some cherished memories and a
wicked sense of humor. Through his words and music, he shows us a reflection of
life itself, and this is the very definition of what we call art. 
So Damn Happy is available
from Amazon. To order, Click Here!
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2003
The Music Box
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