{"id":24655,"date":"2015-09-14T19:48:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-15T03:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=24655"},"modified":"2015-09-15T07:40:51","modified_gmt":"2015-09-15T15:40:51","slug":"craig-finn-the-hold-steady-has-released-a-great-new-solo-album-watch-the-official-video-for-rending-track-maggie-ive-been-searching-for-our-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2015-09\/craig-finn-the-hold-steady-has-released-a-great-new-solo-album-watch-the-official-video-for-rending-track-maggie-ive-been-searching-for-our-son\/","title":{"rendered":"Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) Has Released A Great New Solo Album–Watch The Official Video For Rending Track \u201cMaggie I\u2019ve Been Searching for Our Son\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CRAIG-FINN_Faith-in-the-Future\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It took a good amount of time to get them through our thick ears, but Craig Finn<\/strong> <\/a>and The Hold Steady<\/strong> finally gave us so many chances to “get” their literate, character-study rock and roll that we finally…”got” them (we wrote about that “get” HERE<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n

Last Friday (on 9\/11) singer-songwriter Finn<\/strong> released a new solo album, Faith In The Future<\/strong><\/em>, that kicks off superbly with track Maggie I\u2019ve Been Searching for Our Son<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0Check the just-released official video below. \u00a0We love everything about the recorded version, including the chugging synth and keys, the live-wire guitar and the ghost-chorus relay. \u00a0But as usual we particularly marvel at\u00a0Finn’s<\/strong> well-wrought lyrics, which frequently mine the Springsteen<\/strong> vein (but with perhaps more attention paid to the poetry-Geiger).\u00a0Finn<\/strong>\u00a0(raised a Catholic) has said this about the song: \u201cIt\u2019s partially because it affects my worldview. I wasn\u2019t raised in a super-strict Catholic house. But we spent enough time in church and also going to all the [Sunday school] classes. So that\u2019s kind of how you learn. By turning you over to the church, that\u2019s one way your parents attempt to teach you morality. So it affects a lot of things in the way I think. In this case, I\u2019m obviously playing with the idea of the son being Christ and the son being someone\u2019s actual son. I thought that song was about someone wrapping up their life and trying to get some closure on things.\u00a0<\/span>A lot of this album was written in the time when my mother passed away two years ago.\u00a0 I keep saying that none of the songs directly address that loss, but the first line of the record is, ‘There\u2019s a darkness in my body’ [from \u201cMaggie, I\u2019ve Been Searching For Our Son]. So I was somewhat thinking about mortality there and leaving this Earth on a good place. \u00a0<\/span>The song is about someone at the end of their time on earth, looking back on their life, but also trying to wrap up a few loose ends.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Maggie I\u2019ve Been Searching for Our Son’s<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0worthy lyrics are at bottom, though you can start with these excerpts:<\/p>\n

“If you’re down and out.
\nIf you still have any doubts.
\nIf you doubt that there’s a savior yet to come.<\/p>\n

Stop doing what you’re doing.
\nClose your eyes and keep on breathing
\nAnd slowly turn your face up to the sun….<\/p>\n

There’s a darkness in my body.
\nAnd I think I might be ready.<\/p>\n

If you’re stuck down South
\nIf you still have any doubts.
\nIf you doubt that there’s a heaven yet to come….”<\/p>\n

For a great glimpse of the song’s lived-in poetics, watch at bottom as Finn<\/strong> perform’s the song solo and unplugged for\u00a0KEXP<\/strong> recently. \u00a0 Go HERE<\/strong> <\/a>to watch the entire KEXP\u00a0<\/strong>session.<\/p>\n

Faith in the Future<\/strong><\/em> is out now on Partisan Records<\/strong>, and is highly recommended. \u00a0Go pick it up HERE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n