Rod MacDonald Tale Of Two Americas CD

produced by rod macdonald and mark dann in new york city and woodstock, ny. rod macdonald/guitar, vocals, harmonicamark dann/basssteve eriksson/guitar, mandolin, dobrowords & music by rod macdonald, blue flute music (ascap)except 'with god on our side' by bob dylan and 'love is the common ground' by rod macdonald, susan flaherty, dan grove, walt michael, scott ainslie, bob greenReviewed in Folkwax 7/26/05 Thought-Provoking Honesty The American release of Rod MacDonald's A Tale Of Two Americas on Wind River Records contains eighteen songs - sixteen MacDonald originals (including a previously unheard pair from 20 years ago), one co-write, and a cover of an early Bob Dylan tune - while the Swiss Brambus Records version has one cut fewer. Both discs contain enhanced media, as well as links to a number of Rod MacDonald associated websites. The opening cut, "Ray & Ron," recalls two Americans who recently died in the same week. Ray Charles passed at the age of 73 on June 11 last year, while President Ronald Reagan left from this mortal coil six days earlier, albeit with a two-decade head start over "The Genius." Across five verses, featuring the positives and negatives of both lives (and including the consistently silly public statements made by one in particular), MacDonald closes with the consensus that Ron should have the common sense (nay, the magnanimity) to suggest that "Ray had so much soul it filled him to the brim, instead of naming all this stuff after me they oughta name it after him." Yeah, right! MacDonald's 2002 studio collection, Recognition featured a pair of songs that referenced 9/11, namely, "My Neighbours In Delray" and "For The Good Of America." Between then and now, America has undertaken bloody, body-counting excursions in Afghanistan and Iraq and in "Terror" Rod delivers reflections upon those events and their repercussions back in the homeland - "Using fear for advantage you're doing more damage than even your enemy does." Later in this set, and drawn from the same well of inspiration, there's "Beloved Enemy" - which can be summed up by "if we didn't have any enemies, we'd sure as hell invent them (merely for the profit they bring)," while Rod opens verse two of "Sacrifice" with "Ah but those who say you have to go and fight/Never send their own to battle," and later "As long as there's enough poverty/There'll be volunteers for the military/While the ones who run the show sit back and watch their millions grow." While not averse to penning love songs, MacDonald's lyrical approach has consistently been one that reflects upon a broad spectrum of social issues at home and abroad. Track two, "Missing," is inspired by the photographs of runaways that are displayed Stateside on milk cartons (and on posters in supermarkets and featured in public service commercials). This single issue remains an ill in modern American society that simply won't go away, and around one million missing child cases are filed annually. Abductions whether by family members, friends, or strangers are also an integral part of this issue (although statistics indicate they only contribute to 10% of the total), while 90% of the youngsters simply chose to run away because of difficult conditions within the family home. "The Governator" is a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the current Austrian-born Governor of California, and that rib-tickling vein also threads its way through the "what if this world was a much fairer place to live in" scenario painted in "Smoke." Social issues apart, MacDonald is also adept at delivering an engaging lyric based upon his own personal experiences. His 1999 song collection Into The Blue contained material inspired by his then-recent relocation from New York City to the sunny shores of Florida. Here, "I'm Your Dad" - "Hello there little girl, welcome to the world" - finds Rod reflecting with heartfelt affection upon the recent arrival of a small female person in his and his wif