Watertown

I was driving home from work at night recently when I slid on over to the Sinatra channel, which I have set on Sirius XM.

I don't go to it as much as I used to because it feels like it is 75% Others and 25% Sinatra. It's like gambling on roulette; the ball rarely seems to drop on Sinatra. I don't mind if it's Dino or Tony Bennett, but I just don't like a lot of the other stuff they play. Like Eydie Gorme. I am not a huge Eydie Gorme fan.

I struck gold that Friday night. Stumbled upon a program called In Conversation. This one featured a conversation with a guy named Bob Gaudio about a Sinatra album titled Watertown, released in March of 1970. Watertown was produced and co-written by Gaudio.

It is a concept album. Concept albums tell a story; the songs give you different aspects of the story and are meant to tie together.

Ed O'Brien (the interviewer) and Bob Gaudio went throught the album song by song, with Gaudio explaining what the song meant to convey and giving a little history of the writing and recording of it. Then they would play the song.

I love stuff like this because music and poetry are illusive; you take from them what you will. For me, when I understand what the artist is trying to say, it makes the experience more meaningful.

This album is beautiful. It is emotional. The story is about a man from Watertown, New York whose wife has left him and their two boys to chase her dreams in New York City. Sinatra is the man, telling his story from a place of sadness and resilience.

The first song is called "Watertown". It describes the town and creates a mood within which the story can be told. Great line from this song: "Old Watertown, everyone knows, the perfect crime, killin' time". 

The second song is "Goodbye (She Quietly Says)." Devastating. The husband and wife are sitting in a coffee shop, recognizing that they are splitting up, but the conversation has no emotion. They are blowing their lives up but not honestly expressing what they feel.

There is a song called "Michael & Peter." The husband is talking about how the kids, Michael and Peter, are doing. It is heartbreaking.

There is a song called "She Says", which leads you to believe that the husband and wife have been communicating, that the wife has sent a letter saying she is coming home.

The last song is called "Train." In this song you find out that the husband and wife never communicated at all, that the songs that feel like the husband is talking to the wife are really the husband's thoughts. You find out she is not coming home.

The album is beautiful. It is sad. It feels like real life.

You should listen to this album. It might soften you up a bit.