David Baerwald - Bedtime Stories

The little sticker on the shrinkwrap says, "You may remember David Baerwald from David & David's Boomtown ..."

You bet, I remembered David Baerwald. Back in 1986 Boomtown was an album with moments of sheer brilliance. The whole album may not have been as top shelf as the first few tracks, but that didn't matter - it is an excellent album. I waited for a follow-up ... and waited, and then in 1990 it was a solo David, David Baerwald, who dropped Bedtime Stories. I snapped it up.

"All For You," the opening cut, is still my favourite song on the album. It was mesmerizing. I'm not sure if the song got any airplay, it may have, but that may have been wishful thinking on my part as it was on a lot of mix tapes at the time and I heard it a lot in the car.

The CD had a great booklet with all of the musician credits and lyrics. Oddly, when I found a sealed copy of the record (a great score), it just had a plain paper insert - the picture of David walking with his dogs was nowhere to be found. I always loved that photograph.

Anyway, it was the music that matters. David's songs are hard to describe, they're rock enough to get my head moving, and there's often a hook, but it was different. It was weighty without being heavy, it wasn't trying to crush the listener with its pretentiousness and adherence to employing more artistry than art. There are some who may disagree.

This was a singer songwriter masterclass in pop majesty. Yeah, that's a lot of hyperbole, but dagnabbit, he didn't release a lot of solo music, and when he did it was worth taking some time to listen to what he had to say.

It's funny though, as I write that I'll also admit to being at times a fairly superficial purveyor of the "arts," and unless I have something to sink my teeth into from the onset I'll often move on to the next shiny thing. However, on Bedtime Stories David opens with "All For You" and set the hook deep, and I read along to the lyric sheet as each song revealed a different story.

As I sit here listening to the record and the twelve songs, I realize it's been a long, long time since I've taken the time to take this in. This is a wonderful album, and while I am partial to the opening track, mainly because it was featured so often on my mix tapes, I had forgotten how consistent and moving the songs were.

There was really only one dud for me, and that was the song "Dance," that should have worked as it had a great groove and a snarly guitar part that was infectious. It just fell apart when he shouted "Dance" and it just sank the song. Then it would get good again, and then the dance part would come around again and the cycle would repeat itself.

Heck, David enlisted Joni Mitchell to sing counter vocals on "Liberty Lies," and it's a stunning song. Funny how all those years ago I didn't have the same appreciation for her as I do now.

I still find David's voice an emotional gut punch. There's something about his delivery that just gets me in the feels. His music was an interesting bridge between genres. I was drawn to rock, and here was a guy who wrote intricate pop songs that had an edge.

If there was an album that should have propelled him to the forefront, this was it ... however, that wasn't the story, and unlike many bedtime stories this one didn't have a happy ending. 

A couple years later he'd release Triage, an album that was even more challenging and equally awesome. Then he'd move behind the scenes helping other artists.

As good as he was, for me his later works were an experience in diminishing returns. I still sought them out, but as they came out I was older and didn't give the releases the time they deserved. The correlation between youth and the relative impact of music can't be denied. However that's a story for another day.

Night night. Lights out.