Black Cadillac
Label: Capitol
Rated: NONE
WorkNameSort: Black Cadillac
“The day breaks, your mind aches, there will be times when all the things she said will fill your head, you won’t forget her”; The Beatles’ “For No One” could have been the alternate title track to this sad requiem of sorts from undercover superstar Rosanne Cash. For years, she’s been one of Nashville’s smartest singer-songwriters, able to pen a golden hook like nobody’s business. Here, Cash expresses the deep pain and sorrow resulting from the recent death of her mother Vivian Liberto, father Johnny Cash and legendary stepmother June Carter. Tracks like “House on the Lake” and “Good Intent” are finely wrought reveries on what it means to lose most of your family in a short span of time. Cash’s consummate songwriting skills give the music a weight that rises above mawkish sentimentality, creating a life-affirming tribute to what could have been a simple reason to cry.
This article appears in Jan 18-24, 2006.