Sheryl Crow Returns As Eco-Activist
New album, Detours. Shine Over Babylon released

Mar 10 | archive | subscribe

 

The first track released to the public, is at iTunes now. Crow told Billboard.com this summer that the song "is very environmentally conscious, in the tradition of Bob Dylan."

"I'm really encouraging artists to write about what's going on, because we seem to be very distracted by some lightweight topics," she said. "I think it's time to start writing about the reality of what's around us."

In additional comments on her Web site, Crow describes the single as "an every way a desperate cry for understanding. Perhaps it is even a battle song in the face of fear."

"The songs are very inspired by the last three years of events in my life," Crow said of a time that found her battling breast cancer and splitting with partner Lance Armstrong.

The fearlessly outspoken singer/songwriter continues a journey of self-discovery that has increasingly appealed to both the head and the heart. The most significant change to Sheryl's life in the last year has been the birth of her son, Wyatt Steven, 10 months.

“Two days before Wyatt came, I finished a Stop Global Warming college tour. When a baby comes into your life, the environment becomes so personal. Having him around, this little innocent spirit, really made me fearless about writing what I wanted to write and about not being afraid of who I was going to piss off. It created a lot of urgency about that.”

The first 'official' single to be released is Love Is Free. This song was inspired by the people of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Gasoline, from “Detours,” is set in 2017, and foresees a nightmarish future when the world runs out of gas, she sings: “Cause you can’t make it very far - When your tank is on empty”.

Crow’s song sends the message that we’ve built our whole way of life on a shaky foundation that’s bound to crack when we run out of gas. Towards the end of Gasoline, she sings: “I’ve got a message and a megaphone, and I’ll scream it to the death…”

Will a post-petroleum scenario set to music get more Americans reflecting on the fact that there’s only so much oil in the ground? Crow certainly hopes so. theoildrum.com