Dummy was my Album of the Year in 1994.
For me, it has never been less in the listening. Instead, it is an example of that which is evergreen for me.
The other night, I played the record for someone who had never heard it (or of the band), and I was so very pleased to witness them open-mouthed and gobsmacked. They didn’t have words, and were well and truly beside themself.
And as any single song from that album goes, Roads is titanic in my heart and mind. All that is required for a knot in the throat and tears in my eyes are the four opening chords. Twenty-eight years of cutting me to the quick, and never a whit less sharp.
That song is where being crushed becomes a pleasure, because I am relieved of my doubt, and I am certain I am alive. Suffusion in various shades of feeling becomes an affirmation of being.
Still So Wow,
Ian