NEW MUSIC 6.20.06

DEAD MAN WALKING SOUNDTRACK * LEGACY EDITON

"Dead Man Walking," Bruce Springsteen
"In Your Mind," Johnny Cash
"Woman on the Tier (I'll See You Through)," Suzanne Vega
"Promises," Lyle Lovett
"The Face of Love," Eddie Vedder and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
"The Fall of Troy," Tom Waits
"Quality of Mercy," Michelle Shocked
"Dead Man Walking (A Dream Like This)," Mary Chapin Carpenter
"Walk Away," Tom Waits
"Ellis Unit One," Steve Earle
"Walkin' Blind," Patti Smith
"The Long Road," Eddie Vedder and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
"Dead Man," Eddie Vedder


Quite possibly the greatest soundtrack ever...well, Wonder Boys is pretty damn good, but I discovered so many amazing artists when I bought this for the first time back in 1995. Tom Waits, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett. I'll admit, I picked it up simply because back then I would buy ANYTHING that Eddie Vedder was doing a song or two on. But man, my life changed for the better after I heard Lyle Lovett sing "Promises." The sadness that fills every silent pause. The way he sings as if he, himself is on death row. It's as powerful as the film itself.

If God is my witness
Then God is my savior
But if you are my judge
Then I'm already damned

And words are like poison
That sinks down inside you
And some things you do
You just don't understand

And would if my fingers
To cut off and give you
Could gain my redemption
I'd cut off my hands

But words are like poison
That bends you and blinds you
And some things you do
You just don't understand

Listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Eddie Vedder on "Long Road" is another beautiful moment I'll never forget. I had already heard him and Neil Young perform it on Merkinball but adding Indian chants really takes it into the realm of the after-life.

If you have never picked up this album before, please, do yourself a favor and grab this Legacy Editon on your way home. It's remastered and comes with a DVD of the 1998 NOT IN OUR NAME concert. Although, (I'm guessing for legal reasons) Tom Waits' performance is totally removed, it's still an impressive line-up:

"Ellis Unit One," Steve Earle
"Promises," Lyle Lovett
"L.A. County," Lyle Lovett
"Lungs," Lyle Lovett with Steve Earle
"Crime for Crime," Ani DiFranco
"Up up up up up up," Ani DiFranco
"Fuel," Ani DiFranco
"Walk Away," Tom Waits (NOPE)
"Gun Street," Tom Waits (NOPE)
"The Fall of Troy," Tom Waits (NOPE)
"Goin' Out West," Tom Waits (NOPE)
"Yesterday Is Here," Tom Waits (NOPE)
"Trouble," Eddie Vedder
"Dead Man Walking," Eddie Vedder with Jeff Ament
"The Long Road," Vedder, Ament, Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Dilder Hussein, John Densmore, David Robbins
"The Face of Love," Vedder, Ament, Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Dilder Hussein, John Densmore, David Robbins
"The Ballad of Billy Austin," Steve Earle