- Randy Thompson
That's Not Me
Jackpot Records
By Al Kunz
 I've
always been into music that's real. I like music that's raw
rather than overly produced or processed, and I like songs that
sound like they're torn from some ones life rather than being
overly sentimental or slick. For me, music is about emotion and
what we feel in our daily lives. It's not just entertainment.
Randy Thompson
Reading the bio on Randy Thompson's web site I was struck
by how well this description of the music that moves him articulates
what I look for myself. Thompson explains that his goal is for
someone to hear his songs and say, "Man, I know how he feels."
For me this is what "shining a light upon music that matters,"
the Rockzillaworld motto, is talking about. Music that's
real. Music intended to connect with real people. Not music
designed as non-offensive filler between commercials for the
local car dealer and the traffic report.
Each of the nine songs on That's Not Me can almost
be viewed as a chapter in a novel. I'll give you the synopsis
if you'll allow me a bit of literary license and some reading
between the lines. Probably too much reading between the lines.
Steve Young's "The Whole World" (the disc's only
cover) is the prelude. Here we establish the relationship between
the male protagonist and his lady. For convenience I'll call
them Mike and Sandy. Sandy is the center of Mike's life. His
top priority is Sandy's happiness as indicated in the song's
final line, "the world's alright with me when it's alright
with you," possibly at the expense of his own happiness.
Chapter one opens with Mike hitting the road in "Sound
of the Rain." ("Drivin' down the highway, feelin'
what's been done"). Why he's leaving isn't clear. Maybe
he's taking a shot at a country music career in Nashville. The
reason doesn't really matter. What's important is that it's
something he feels he has to do in spite of whatever objections
Sandy may have voiced. He hopes she'll understand, telling her,
"if you send me thru this storm alone / I just hope I make
it back to you."
Then the predictable happens. Absence doesn't always make
the heart grow fonder. First comes denial in the title track
followed by "The Lovin' Shown," where Mike tells Sandy
how much he needs her. Meanwhile Mike's using his music as a
way to cope in "Dance Until Dawn."
Inside a song, I'll take you along
There's no care, if you stay there, inside a song
And everything goes your way, just as long as the music plays
Inside a song
The big showdown comes in "If Love is What You Want"
when Mike tells Sandy, "if love is what you want / you'd
better hang on tight to me." But he's also considering
what he's giving up being so far from home. In addition to losing
Sandy he's also severing the close connection with his roots.
Well if you go down, Virginia town
Well I'm gonna tell you son
It's the same red blood, as your own
Down in Virginia mud
Despite his best efforts Sandy ends the relationship and Mike
mourns its demise in "If That Wasn't Love."
If what I felt down in my soul
That wasn't really you
And if that was not your heart
Just beatin' right in tune
Hey, if that wasn't love
Maybe I'm nothing' but a fool
I love you enough to let you go
But that sure ain't what I want to do
A novel will typically tie up any loose ends in the final
chapter. But the final tune here, "Only One Way,"
doesn't tie things up all that neatly. Mike appears to be moving
on, albeit reluctantly. Yet a glimmering of other possibilities
leaves you wondering. Real life doesn't have neat little endings
either.
In spite of Thompson's comments quoted earlier there's a danger
in assuming lyrics that strike you as real are autobiographical.
Johnny Cash didn't really shoot that man in Reno, although he
convincingly put himself in that fictional man's mind. But after
That's Not Me has had a chance to sink in you might feel
like telling Randy Thompson, "I'm sorry man, I've been there,
and I know just how you feel." Hopefully the title was
intended as a disclaimer of sorts.
www.randythompson.net
is one option to order your own copy. Look on the contact page
for the address to send sympathetic emails.
Contact Al Kunz at kunz-at-rockzilla.net
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