I Have No Idea Why This Is Good

Well, better than good, really. It’s kinda great, though I feel funny saying so, because I don’t understand why I liked it so much. It’s an odd choice for the singer, but she was always trying to bang her square peg into any round musical hole that caught her attention. Way back when, I wanted to see Jaco Pastorius play the bass, so I had to go see her stand in front of him to do it. I guess if you swing for the fences all the time, you strike out a lot, but the music world has plenty of solid singles already. Why not go for it?

The funny thing is, it’s the only version of Trouble Man, except the original, that’s any good. Hell, Marvin Gaye’s live renditions of the song aren’t very good. He just treats it like any other uptempo R&B number he’s doing. But the song itself is sublime, orchestral, moody, even though it was composed in service to an unwatchable seventies movie. It sounded like you were getting the straight skinny from someone who knew all about the three things for sure: taxes, death, and trouble.

The audience is getting off on it, and applauds at odd times, and Joni can’t help but smile just a little at them. Then she remembers what she’s trying to do, and gets serious about it again. What’s she doing? Beats me.