2 of 2

It's "The Trapeze Swinger," the final track (on the LP or mp3 versions of the album) that sums up Iron and Wine's oeuvre, a bittersweet and evocative ten-minute farewell litany that imagines the human predicament as a circus balancing act, "a frightened trapeze swinger" somewhere between "God and Lucifer, a boy and girl / an angel kissing on a sinner," and "a monkey and a man." And while that may not be how we all see this life, it's an apt picture of the confusion in which we as a people often find ourselves. Like "the Trapeze Swinger," Around the Well is, ultimately, sad and wise and just the slightest bit hopeful about the breakups and breakdowns that plague us as we fumble about for grace.

Copyright © 2009 Christian Music Today. Click for reprint information.

first page |  2 of 2