A review of Maraqopa by Damien Jurado
In ‘Where I May Lay’, he sings, ‘So I laid in the grass/ I felt a hand of love/ Telling me to let go of all fear.’ Jurado is refreshed and has reconciled his faith.
Artist: Damien Jurado
Album: Maraqopa
Reviewed by: Johann Badenhorst
American singer-songwriter Damien Jurado has been noted for his flexibility and consistency since the early 2000s, and has always had a penchant for the concept album, many of them breathtaking in scope.
Maraqopa is a concept album about a strange dream Jurado once had, and is one of his most focused albums to date.
In this dream, a young man goes on a road trip and happens upon a group of people living in the Nevada desert, waiting for the second coming of Christ, who they believe will arrive in a space ship. This was profound for Jurado as he is a committed Christian himself and felt he needed to write about it.
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The album never dips too much into the surreal, but sees the narrator reflect on his failing relationship, and reconciling his faith.
The opening track, Nothing Is the News, is the loudest album on the track with loud guitar blues riffs and pounding drums, which could be interpreted as the protagonist being overwhelmed by the noises and stress everyday life, which might have lead to his impromptu trip into the desert.
The track that follows, Life Away From the Garden, makes reference to Adam and Eve’s being kicked out of the Garden of Eden.
Every line that Jurado sings in the song is followed by children repeating that line, making it sound like a sort of mantra that this group repeats.
The title track is about the narrator’s fear of death, juxtaposed to the groups anticipation and embrace of it.
Later on in the album, the narrator reflects on a failing relationship, especially in tracks like Museum of Flight and Working Titles.
The first half of the album, the singer sounds weary, tired and depressed, with claustrophobic guitar strumming accompanying him.
However in the second half, after So On, Nevada, the singer sounds refreshed, and the music itself becomes fuller, more spacious and upbeat.
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It seems as though the singer’s encounter with this group has given him a new perspective on life.
In Where I May Lay, he sings, ‘So I laid in the grass/ I felt a hand of love/ Telling me to let go of all fear.’ Jurado is refreshed and has reconciled his faith.
The singer is gifted new perspective on life and death.
Most concept albums are an exercise in self-indulgence, and tackle big ideas that the musicians don’t seem to understand too well. However in Maraqopa, Jurado strikes a perfect balance between the concept and the message.
The ‘message’ itself is mostly ambiguous and it is left to the listener to make their own interpretation of the lyrics.
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