Who’s in love with this girl? Me too. Okay, moving on.

So, the general consensus on Joanna Newsom’s latest album, Have One On Me is that, yes, it’s brilliant, but also a bit of an undertaking. To clarify, Have One On Me’s two hour sprawl can be a bit difficult to ingest, but well worth it. Her lyrics, her instrumentation, and her songwriting are all well beyond what we thought she, or any artist for that matter, was capable of creating. And, though her beauty and mystery may swallow the thought at this point, when we look back in twenty years, Joanna Newsom will be considered one of the greatest songwriters of this era.

Now, for those with short attention spans or, well, a life to live, soaking in this entire album is just not in the cards. Thus, I’ve created a shortlist of songs from Have One On Me that are essential.

“Good Intentions Paving Company” sounds like a soul version of an American pride song, sung in a dusty, Mid-Western saloon during the war. But, it’s a twisting love song that dodges the arrow virtually all the way through until we find her struck by love – “I only want you to pull over and hold me, ’til I can’t remember my own name.”

“In California” may be the greatest song she’s written. Her voice has never sounded more gorgeous, particularly because she has never sounded so endearingly vulnerable. You can hear it in her voice and you can hear it in her words. “But when you come and see me in California, you cross the border of my heart. Well I have sewn on tidy furroughs, cross my soul, but I am still a coward, content to see my garden grow so sweet and full of someone else’s flowers. Sometimes I can almost feel the power. Sometimes I am so in love with you, like a little clock that trembles on the edge of the hour, only ever calling out cuckoo.”

“Does Not Suffice”  is something of an “In California” reprise. But, it’s very much a song to take note of, simply for the twist. You see, “In California” is a song about falling hopelessly for someone. Despite attempts at shielding such vulnerability for the sake of preventing a broken heart, there is no barrier that can combat the strength of being in love. But, in “Does Not Suffice,” we find a girl that has built enough strength to walk away from a relationship in which her love is not reciprocated. And, musically, a gorgeous, somber tone hovers over the entire track, representing the pieces of a broken heart that lay on the floor. But, it also harnesses a tone that is indicative of the slightest amount of strength that is being used to pick up those pieces.

Also, listen to “Go Long” and “Baby Birch” – two more disarming tunes.

Get this album from Drag City.

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