(music notes) randy newman – bad love

speaking of poses, what is one to make of the persona newman chooses to don? the over the hill aging rock star conscious of his own disintegrating body, desperate to find what he can call love by seducing gold diggers and who knows that his talent at its best lies way back in the prime of his life? and then there is the other person whose clothes newman takes on at other times- the right wing reactionary, caucasian, american, capitalist, rich male who apologizes to karl marx because the world failed his idealism.

both acts are very convincing and hilarious because newman in his 60s knows them both from personal experience. he is able to make them real because curiously he knows the shortcomings of everyday people (and himself), their racism, selfishness and stupidity. the songs are bitter and ironical, brilliant in their observations and can be very funny. his wit lies undiminished. in some of the earlier albums, sentiment tended to soften some of his innate sarcasm, but here there is no letting go. there is no denying though, that each song is in some form a story with a moral at the end of it. it is a relief though that the message is sung by the wicked witch rather than the princess in the tower, because while we can understand the wicked witch, we can merely admire the princess.