Norah Jones: "We drifted from the shore / With a captain who's too proud to say / That he dropped the oar"

yay, norah... you go, girl...

[O]n her foreboding and magnificently moody new album, "Not Too Late," Jones tackles not just matters of the heart, but matters of state as well. And nowhere does she do that as forcefully or succinctly as on "My Dear Country," a plaintive, understated work that arrives just past the midpoint of this 13-song collection and seems offered as a heartfelt plea for an America beset by mistrust and paralyzed by fear.

After positing that "nothing is as scary as Election Day," Jones sings: "But the day after is darker / And darker and darker it goes / Who knows maybe the plans will change / Who knows maybe he's not deranged."

It's an almost stunning statement of opposition and despair coming from the top-selling female artist of the 21st century (30 million records worldwide and counting, thank you very much). And though it may be a risky career move to make political statements, Jones doesn't hold back. On "Sinkin' Soon," a slow, swampy New Orleans dirge, the singer loads on the symbolism: "In a boat that's built of sticks and hay / We drifted from the shore / With a captain who's too proud to say / That he dropped the oar."

i've always thought she was damn good, as good or better in her own way than diana krall... now, i not only think she's damn good, i tip my hat to her courage and wisdom in speaking out and using her prodigious talent to do it...

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