It was eight years before Lucinda Williams put out another album. Eight years! Whether that was due to choice or bad luck, I don’t know, but when she finally did release her follow-up to Happy Woman Blues, it was well worth the wait.
Lucinda Williams is one of those albums with a reputation that far exceeds the success it enjoyed when released. There’s a famous saying about the Velvet Underground’s first album that only 100 people heard it but every one of them was inspired to start a band. And I think the same could be said of this album.
Mary Chapin Carpenter was certainly inspired, and she made today’s song the biggest hit of Williams’ career by covering it four years later on her excellent album Come On Come On.
‘Passionate Kisses’ is a feminist anthem and a yearning love song rolled into one. First, Williams pleads with somebody or something (A lover? God? Fate? Society?) for life’s basic necessities (a place to sleep, food, clothing) as well as “passionate kisses from you.”
The second verse goes a little deeper, exploring the work/family divide from the perspective a woman who writes and performs songs for a living. I adore the line “Is it too much to demand, I want a full house and a rock and roll band?” Such a sweet little couplet that says so much. She also longs for pens to write with and the opportunity to gather her thoughts.
The final verse puts the feminist cry front and center: “Give me what I deserve ’cause it’s my right!” But she still finishes with the deeply heartfelt chorus, again desiring those “passionate kisses from you.”
A sublime mix of the personal and political, this song remains one of the very best things Williams has written.
I want a comfortable bed that won’t hurt my back?
Food to fill me up
And warm clothes and all that stuff
Shouldn’t I have this
Shouldn’t I have this
Shouldn’t I have all of this, and
Passionate kisses
Passionate kisses from you
Is it too much to demand
I want a full house and a rock and roll band?
Pens that won’t run out of ink
And cool quiet and time to think
Shouldn’t I have this
Shouldn’t I have this
Shouldn’t I have all of this, and
Passionate kisses
Passionate kisses from you
Do I want too much
Am I going overboard to want that touch?
I shout it out to the night
“Give me what I deserve, ’cause it’s my right”
Shouldn’t I have this
Shouldn’t I have this
Shouldn’t I have all of this, and
Passionate kisses
Passionate kisses from you
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’ve long been a fan of this song and of Mary Chapin Carpenter, so I thank Lucinda Williams on both accounts. While I know this version, I’m far more familiar with Carpenter’s take, which brings much of the aching and self-empowerment to the surface. I must admit that I like Carpenter’s version much better, but I appreciate that Williams is the songwriter behind this modern day “I am Woman.” Carpenter’s video is also pretty darn cute, if you want to give it a look…
Blasphemy!!!
I like Carpenter’s version well enough, but I find the aching and self-empowerment buried beneath the polished sheen of the production and the too-happy vocal treatment.
I like both versions, but feel the Carpenter version, which is neither over-produced or “too-happy,” has a stronger energy lacking in the Williams version, which sounds more like a demo compared to Carpenter’s. I do like the way Williams undersells the line “Give me what I deserve, cause it’s my right.” That line is anthem-y enough, without a need to be overemphasized.
As for the album, much as I chided you for referring to another SOTD by Williams as a “classic,” I think you are WAY over-exaggerating the importance of this album. Yes, it spawned covers and is critically admired, but it didn’t have the ripple effects that Velvet Underground’s album did. Still, this is a decidedly strong album by a very accomplished songwriter.
“Re-released with bonus tracks after receiving long overdue commercial acclaim for Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Lucinda Williams is an album that has been long been recognized as a classic.” – AllMusicGuide
I don’t mean to suggest that this album changed music the way The Velvet Underground did (and I probably worded that poorly) but it certainly is a touchstone for a whole lot of (mostly) female singer-songwriters, especially in the country/blues genre.