You will miss sunrise
if you close your eyes
and that would break
my heart in two
Choosing to cover Townes Van Zandt is pretty popular these days. But when you do it beautifully, as Carrie Rodriguez and Ben Kyle do on their new album, We Still Love Our Country, it sounds as fresh as ever. To me, “If I Needed You” should be the gold standard for any songwriter trying to achieve honesty in his or her lyrics. Its simplicity has always spoken to me, no matter who is singing its words; it’s undeniably timeless.
Smartly, Rodriguez and Kyle don’t try to invent the wheel here. Their version is gentle, and Rodriguez’s harmonies are in that Emmylou Harris category — you know, the kind that softly linger in the back of your mind for days. Frankly, Rodriguez is a star in my book, and she’s only getting better.
We Still Love Our Country is available now. I’d recommend giving it a shot.