Loudon Wainwright III - Older Than My Old Man Now

Loudon Wainwright III - Older Than My Old Man Now VBR

Year 2012

Tracks
1. The Here & the Now
2. In C [Explicit]
3. Older Than My Old Man Now
4. Double Lifetime
5. Date Line
6. All in a Family
7. My Meds [Explicit]
8. Interlude
9. Over the Hill
10. Ghost Blues
11. I Remember Sex
12. Somebody Else
13. The Days That We Die
14. 10
15. Something's Out to Get Me

During the first few tracks I couldn't help but smile - even more so when I read in the generous liner notes that all 4 of his children and 2 of his former wives (sadly Kate McGarrigle is no longer with us) sang backup on the first song The Here and the Now, an easygoing autobiography in 3 minutes and 43 seconds. The next track, In C, sounds deceptively simple but ends up showing a lot of emotion. Then we get to the title track which begins with a straightforward and very effective recitation of a piece written by Loudon Wainwright Jr. who died in 1988. The ensuing song is a rather weird and bittersweet rant about LW3's reaction to living longer than his father did. By this point I was definitely sensing a pattern but went along with Track 4, Double Lifetime, in which Loudon and Ramblin' Jack Elliott gleefully surmise that they have finally figured out this thing called life and are ready to give it another go.
This album definitely took a lifetime to produce. The wives, the children, the evolving relationship with the deceased dad - certainly not music he could have produced 30 years ago, and often moving. However, the ruts are pretty well worn by the end. LW3 thinks he is old and fixin' to die. His friends and loved ones are dying off one by one. Having sex is a memory (the track I Remember Sex with Dame Edna is pure burlesque - OK if you're in the mood for that sort of thing, but if you're not it's fairly annoying). Likewise, My Meds, about all the drugs older people take and their various effects and side effects and contraindications. LW3 writes in the notes that he invited Tom Lehrer to contribute to this song and Lehrer graciously declined. Maybe there was a message there.
Loudon Wainwright III does not hold back. He clearly loves his family and, in his inimitable way, loves his life. However, there's a fair amount of shtick contained herein. By the end I felt like this guy only has a few themes in him, at least for the purposes of this album. It's almost as though he has been writing these songs in his head for decades and just waiting till he was old enough to bring out this record. Established fans are going to absolutely love it. Personally I'll probably only bring it out when I'm in that mood, perhaps when my own mortality is hovering nearby and I need some cheering up.