In a new video from Kyle M Meredith’s The Weekly Feed, singer-songwriter Matthew Ryan discusses his music, his influences, and his latest CD In the Dusk of Everything (2012). The CD is the third album in a series about how humans relate to each other, with the other two CDs as Dear Lover (2010) and I Recall Standing As If Nothing Could Fall (2011). The interview takes place backstage at Terminal 5 in New York City.
We have featured Ryan’s music in other posts, but it is cool to hear his thoughts on his music. Although he is somewhat evasive about a personal event that influenced him, you have to respect his goals of wanting his music to reach something more universal than himself. My favorite quote from the interview: “There’s a time for KC and the Sunshine Band and there’s a time for. . . Blood on the Tracks.” Check it out.
In its glowing review of the In the Dusk of Everything, Split Lip Magazine discusses poetry’s influence on the album. They describe the album as “a collection of vignettes revolving around choices made by a man and woman together or as individuals, and their choices are the things that cause conflict.”
If you want more music, in this video from American Songwriter, Ryan performs “The Events at Dusk” from In the Dusk of Everything live.
What is your favorite Matthew Ryan song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
I have already discussed on this blog how I am a fan of Matthew Ryan’s music. His recent album I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall (2011) captures his trademark sound of a combination of gravely voice and hypnotic music with a touch of despair. On this CD, Ryan uses a number of friends and collaborators to help create an excellent sounding album. Check out the tracks here.
The album came out several months ago, but Ryan’s website is selling the CD download for the low price of $5.00 if you like it. (I have no affiliation, just providing the links because I like the music.) I particularly like the opening track, “The Sea” and the full-band songs like “All of That Means Nothing Now.” The beautiful lyrics range from the heartbroken to the political, assuming wishing for peace can be qualified as political. On “I Want Peace” he sings:
You know the facts are being murdered By the din of politics And in the ways that we avoid each other While the big clock tics There’s a violence in doing nothing As if the plot could be ignored Just because you’ve picked your poison Doesn’t mean the wolf’s not at your door I get no thrill from bringing bad news I’d much rather make you smile But I refuse to be a passenger As we smile And swallow up the miles
Cause I want peace Yeah I want peace Cause I want peace Yeah I want peace For you And for me For you and me
Near the end of Thomas Wolfe‘s short story “One of the Girls in Our Party,” Wolfe writes of summer’s end, “flaming maples,” and “frosty stars” — “and of words unspoken and the quiet heart, and nights of the old October that must come again, must come again, while we are waiting, waiting, waiting in the darkness for all our friends and brothers who will not return.”
Even out of the context of the story, which like much of Wolfe’s writing tends more toward poetry than narrative, the repeating lines about how October “must come again” reminds us that winter is approaching and there is nothing we can do to slow down time.
“3rd of October”
By contrast, Matthew Ryan‘s song about today, “3rd of October” off of East Autumn Grin (2000), does not mention October outside the title. But it still evokes an October emptiness as in Wolfe’s words.
I have previously written about how much I like Matthew Ryan’s music. I particularly love his louder songs off of albums like his debut album May Day (1997), the follow-up East Autumn Grin, and his recent album Boxers.
There is no clue in “3rd of October” about the link between the lyrics and the title date. The song is about a troubled relationship or the end of a relationship as the singer wails, “I don’t want to lose you.” But he also notes, “I don’t want to be pummelled by the truth / I can’t hold you now.”
Maybe the song is about one of Ryan’s relationships that ended on October 3, or maybe the date reflects the autumn of a relationship heading for winter. Either way, it remains one of my favorite songs, for the power of both its music and its lyrics.
Disintegration, I don’t understand; Disintegration of the morals, Disintegration of the heart, Disintegration of common sense; Now I’m broken, But ain’t everyone broken?
Like Wolfe’s use of repetition about October coming again, Ryan similarly repeats lines in his song. But while the aching in Wolfe’s words is of a quiet heart, Matthew Ryan’s pain in “3rd of October” roars.
Matthew Ryan’s Explanation
Several years after this post was originally published, Matthew Ryan posted a link to this article on his Facebook page. We were honored he had read this post. But we were even more excited that he was still writing something beautiful about the wonderful album.
In his post, which you should read in its entirety, Ryan explains the important issues he was tackling on the album: “It struck me that in the things that we see between nations and races and classes, we can also see within the intimacies of ourselves in love and hate.” The album is about the challenge to love “despite the darker parts.”
As for the date in “3d of October,” Ryan explains, “I’m not even sure what the date was that brought the revelations that brought that song was, but it felt like The 3rd of October.”
Additionally, he confirms that the date is key as being a transition between summer and autumn: “The beginning of the end leads to Spring. Know what I’m saying? That’s why I love autumn. Because it dares you not to. And it’s so vivid in its march towards winter.”
I especially like his comment about the dare. It reminds me that as bad days or anniversaries of sad dates roll around, we must still choose to accept the dare to continue to live and love life.
For whatever reason Ryan’s song is titled after the start of October, this month is the perfect time to listen to this excellent song (and curl up with a good book by Thomas Wolfe). May you have a good October 3rd, and may you accept the dare to love autumn in the face of the oncoming winter.
Leave your two cents in the comments. (This post was updated in September 2016.)
The first day of May reminds me of one of my favorite albums, Matthew Ryan’s May Day from 1997. Ryan — who grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania and later moved to Tennessee — has recorded more than ten albums with his gravely voice and unique music. As explained on his website, “His songs tend to be about girls, socio-political issues, people on the edges, breakups, brotherhood, hate, love, fighters and hope. Sometimes all in the same song. He prefers to think of them as songs for humans.”
If I think of albums with great opening tracks, one of the first ones I think of is May Day, with its powerful rocking opener, “Guilty.” I love the guitars, the drums, the voice, and the lyrics.
‘Cause lately I’ve been dreaming of angels and cranes, In some kind of purgatory dodging the CIA, With a head full of soot, waving black flags, Throwing off the bodies just to cut down on the drag; Take ’em to the desert or take ’em to a dried up well; Tell ’em they’re in heaven and mutter, “welcome to hell;” I’ve been guilty of all these things.
Matthew Ryan has recorded several excellent albums, but has yet to become the big star that he should be. I prefer the rocking sound in some of his earlier work to the softer songs that predominate several of his albums. As a recent USA Today review noted in a positive review of his album Dear Lover, “Some rockers must scream when they plumb emotions at this depth. Ryan rarely has to raise his voice above a raspy whisper.”
But I like it when he raises his voice, as he does on the outstanding 2014 album Boxers. And for me, he may never surpass the opening song “Guilty” on his debut album, although he has come close. But that is not a bad thing, because very few artists have set such a high threshold with their first song.
Ryan also recorded an excellent acoustic version of the song in 2010.
What is your favorite opening track on an album? What is your favorite Matthew Ryan song? Leave a comment.
from 1997. Ryan — who grew up in Chester, Pennsylvania and later moved to Tennessee — has recorded more than ten albums with his gravely voice and unique music. As explained on 
, “Some rockers must scream when they plumb emotions at this depth. Ryan rarely has to raise his voice above a raspy whisper.”