There are a number of songs which bear the amateur ear-mark of shoving too many lyrics into too little rhythmic space instead of settling on something more simple and memorable. Too often Farrar sounds like he has too much to say and a less than keen sense for editing himself. If this sounds a little jumbled, it certainly is and reveals one of the shortcomings of these tunes. Vocals accompany the descent and lyrics are jumbled together, vying for a little room to dictate all that must be said. The latter method is further evidenced in “Action” which tumbles about a descending guitar riff. What can be delicate and introspective can as easily be conveyed in rough bombast. The repetition of “we’ll know when we get there” furthers the resolution of the textual journey plotted in the title. There are elements of Warren Zevon and E, of the Eels, in the singing and this becomes something of a troubling realization, but more of that later. This leads into “The Picture” which noisily subsumes any melancholy with driving, infectious horns. It serves as a fine initial guidepost along The Search, which is littered with heartbreak but must be an ultimately purposeful affair. The words are almost morbid and yet the instrumental accompaniment that builds, and the resolution that builds in the vocal leave a hopeful taste to the lament. There is a lonesome tinge to the piano and to the strain in Jay Farrar’s voice as he begins the track’s mantra vocal of “feels like drivin’ ’round, in a slow hearse”.

A delicate, echoing piano chimes a couple chords before indicating the spry melody of “Slow Hearse”, the first track on Son Volt’s The Search.

Son volt lyrics