Ian Fitzgerald: A Bard & his ’Former Glory’
Don DiMuccio
After taking three full passes at the new Ian Fitzgerald CD Former Glory, I came away with only one certainty... I can’t quite put my finger on this guy. Is he laureate or jokerman? Genius or put-on? Rather than stopping at simply emulating Bob Dylan’s nasally vocally delivery, he also seems to carry on the poet’s tradition of confusing the over-inquisitive listener, who insists on asking who-what-where-why almost always in vain. What is not in doubt is Fitzgerald’s keen sense of wordplay, which is evident throughout the eleven tracks on Former Glory.
Much of the album’s lyrical content consists of doleful and dark imagery. "There’s money in the marrow if you’d only break your bones - Like in tales of ancient heroes who burned angels for their gasoline blood." This sardonic streak runs somewhat contradictory to Fitzgerald’s hilarious and often self-effacing biographical and web site content. He writes: "With zero critical acclaim and just as much audience interest...Former Glory feels like the wordiest recording since Johnny Cash released his audio book version of the New Testament." Now that’s hilarious. And, in many ways, reminiscent of a self deprecating streak artists like John Lennon or Bob Dylan would often show in just about every situation except their recordings. And like those two examples, he perhaps does so as an insecurity of sorts, possibly self-conscious of the truly imposing lyrics he’s assembled throughout. Then again, armchair psychology is way above my paygrade, so we move on...
Let us not lose site of Ian Fitzgerald’s strong suit - the songs. Granted, many of the arrangements are sometimes annoyingly derivative of Dylan circa ’72-’75. But at a mere 24 years old, it’s admirable that he clearly takes much inspiration from such a lofty artist. Some standout tracks include "The Thin Line at Midnight" which includes the lines: "Don Juan pawns off responsibility for his role in the death of courtly love." Now to go back and illustrate that humor mentioned earlier, Fitzgerald’s homepage includes the following Q&A entry:
Q: Why do you mention Courtney Love in one of your songs?
A: Since none of my songs contain references to the Cobain widow and former Hole frontwoman, I can only assume you misheard the words..."
At the risk of repeating myself, THAT’S funny! However there’s little levity in the text that accompanies tracks like "Emma Brown": "Even the gentlest breeze can blow a body down - There’s a cabin in the valley where they buried Emma Brown... Napoleon and Josephine are setting wedding dates - For the citizens of prison camps whose love has been delayed."
As I’m often to say, it is only for lack of space that I don’t continue citing the great examples of young Ian Fitzgerald’s writings. I sincerely hope that as this budding artist begins to develop and find his own voice, he will treat us to many more releases, exploring avenues not even thought of on Former Glory. Frankly, we could use him.
