Sea Change

Look up the definition of "sad" in the dictionary, and you might find Beck's picture. You might have similar luck with "remorse," "regret" and anything else that speaks to the reflective melancholy of "Sea Change." Beck is known as a virtuoso with words, a creator and purveyor of the avant-garde but here, he temporarily directs his lyricism to expressing just how downcast he is, which is quite a bit. It's been said Beck created the album after a breakup with a longtime girlfriend and there is much sorrow to be found in the span of an entire album, a reflective journey into the heart and soul, always difficult but always honest.

Taking time to express himself with just an acoustic guitar and an almost country twang, we are taken on a journey to the corners of Beck's mind and the aching of his soul. The lyrics express an almost sickening feeling, a yearning for the nostalgia of the past or better days in the future, which we have all had at some point. There is a drowsy, lethargic quality to his voice that expresses so pointedly the recognition of the feeling of knowing what we once had but can no longer grasp onto. Songs such as "Almost Dead" reflect this longing, and others like "Round' the Bend" have a plodding, world-weary quality that burns slowly and methodically throughout.

Look to "Side of the Road," the album's final track, for something unfamiliar to the album's concentrated gloom. It's a shimmer of hope, an image of a more composed man taking a long drive down a desolate dirt road on a warm summer day, reflective but not sad, perhaps even cognizant for the first time that things won't always remain the same, even when our pain tells us otherwise. Here is a journey in which we take on the pain of the human condition because we want to, and feel grateful for the opportunity.