Like most artists, Rosanne Cash has been stuck in her home for the bulk of the past year. But unlike some singer-songwriters who feel creatively paralyzed by the moment, Cash has been able to process what’s happened throughout 2020 — a deadly pandemic, an uprising for black lives, a looming election — into art. “My tour was cancelled, and I was off the road, sequestered in my own home, with time, a stack of writing journals, and a recording studio in the basement,” Cash says. “The only thing to do was write songs.” I’ve been a bit quiet lately, as I’ve been working on something really important to me. The vortex we find ourselves in at this moment of suffering, fear, outrage, but also a faith in our better angels, led me to write the lyrics to a new song called “Crawl Into The Promised Land”. John Leventhal wrote the music.
The first of those songs, “Crawl Into the Promised Land,” which she recorded in her home studio with John Leventhal, is a cautiously hopeful anthem that preaches the hard work of dissent and patriotism. “50 years away from here/60, if I run,” she sings. “Deliver me from tweets and lies/and purify me in the sun.” Sarah Jarosz and Jakob Leventhal provide backing vocals. “We can get back to our dream of America, where the ‘enemy’ is an individual burden, inside each of us, aching for a truce,” Cash says in an essay accompanying “Crawl Into the Promised Land.” “Were exhausted. We’re disoriented. But I know we have the strength and will to deliver ourselves.”
The sublime Sarah Jarosz was kind enough to sing background harmonies and was joined by moody indie icon Jakob Leventhal. Lift your head and raise your hand, my friends.
The Fat Angel Sings 