Jones tells lackluster stories on new release

By Jess Camp

Published Jan. 30, 2007

I didn't quite know what to expect when I was asked to listen to Norah Jones' new CD, Not Too Late. I had never listened to her before and had no idea what kind of music she made.

I was told that she had a nice jazzy vibe to her. When I think of jazz, I imagine a bunch of old men sitting on a dusty porch belting out tunes in shaking croaks. The image is not at all pleasing.

You can't deny that Jones has a great voice, but I found that most of her songs were boring. You can tell she wants her songs to have deep meaning. She wants the listener to think about the words and let them sink in. I chewed on those words, I swirled them around in my mind, I looked up some phrases in Urbandictionary.com and I have concluded, for the most part, her songs are shallow and confusing.

On this album, Jones tries her hand at political opinion in the song "My Dear Country." And she fails. Miserably.

I am not a fan of political songs, and this one disgusted me. A good political song should talk subtly about the current administration. The perfect example of this is John Mayer's "Waiting on The World To Change." But Jones' song shoves her opinions in your face.

She claims the day that scares her more than any other isn't Halloween but Election Day. She goes on to say the newsmen are shady and don't know what they're talking about. She prays she's dreaming and hopes that she will soon wake up screaming.

Not only are the lyrics unimpressive, but also the tune is easily forgotten. If the song had had a faster tempo maybe I would be less likely to hate it, but sadly, that is not the case.

One of the better songs is "Not My Friend." In it, Jones is sad and dismayed to find that someone she considered to be a great friend is taking pleasure in the fact that she is going through a rough patch in her life. Although it's hard, she is finally ready to admit that she can't pretend that this person is her friend. She learns that you can't change people and that eventually you have to move on.

The song is very relatable. Everyone has had a friendship that has gone sour and you realize said friend is a backstabbing liar. Although you want to help make him or her a better person, you can't, and you just have to move on.

Another highlight is "Sinking Soon." The song evokes images of a lady in the 1920s strutting down a winding sidewalk with a parasol over her shoulder as she looks back and maintains a mischievous, threatening and foreboding gaze at her lover who is following her every step.

Jones begins this track by talking about how she and her man are perfect together. They go together like "honey and tea." The song sounds like it's happy, but then takes a turn. She informs the lover that the love is sinking fast, and she alludes to pride as the cause of the break-up. She sounds slightly bitter in the song.

This is the best song on the album. Whether you love or hate the idea of relationships you will dig this song.

Jones is a good storyteller, but all of the tracks are just long stories set to a song. Unfortunately, they are not very good stories. They are also very depressing. Of the 13 tracks, only four are worth listening to. The ones you like, you will love, but there just aren't enough to save this record.