‘Sweet Side,’ from Lucinda Williams’ raw and sadly beautiful World Without Tears album, certainly means well.
If you just read the lyrics, it’s a poignant (though overly rhyme-y) letter to a damaged person who’s been turned cruel by decades of abuse. It ends on a hopeful note, as Williams looks past the rough exterior to the wounded innocent inside.
Had Williams paired these lyrics with one of her simple acoustic guitar melodies, things could have been swell.
But for some reason she decided this was the time to try her hands at rap. OK, maybe spoken-word blues is a better description, but whatever… it’s all wrong.
And as annoying as the verses are, the repeated chorus is even worse.
I’d love to hear this song with a completely different delivery and musical treatment. Until then, it’s the most skippable track in Williams’ catalog.
You feel bad when you done nothin’ wrong
Love got all confused with anger and pride
So much abuse on such a little child
Someone you trusted told you to shut up
Now there’s a pain in your gut that you can’t get rid of
No one heard your screams when you were nine
When bad dreams filled your summertime
So you don’t always show your sweet side …
You’re tough as steel and you keep your chin up
You don’t ever feel like you’re good enough
You’ve had the blues ever since you were six
Your little tennis shoes and your pick-up sticks
You were screamed at and kicked over and over
Now you always feel sick and you can’t keep a lover
Every Christmas there were presents to unwrap
But the things you witnessed when you were five and a half
So you don’t always show your sweet side …
Someone deserted you, the damage is done
Now you don’t deserve to be loved by no one
Hands that would feed you when you were two
Were the same hands that beat you black and blue
You get defensive at every turn
You’re overly sensitive and overly concerned
Few precious memories no lullabies
Hollowed out centuries of lies
So you don’t always show your sweet side …
I’ve seen you in the kitchen cookin’ me supper
I listened to you bitchin’ I watched you suffer
I still love you baby ’cause I know you
Don’t mean to do the cruel things you do
I’ve seen you sewin’ buttons on your shirt
I’ve seen you throwin’ up when your stomach hurt
I’ll stick by you baby through thick and thin
No matter what kind of shape you’re in
‘Cause I’ve seen your sweet side …
Meet Me In Montauk 
The cadence here is far more rap than spoken-word blues and I agree it doesn’t work. It would be interesting to hear her just sing this rather than rap it. I suspect it would be a whole lot better.
Good message if not great music, This is my fervent wish for our world, to stop child abuse.
Huh. It never crossed my mind to not like this one. I figured it was like early rap, the way Blondie did it years ago. Anyway, I enjoy the lesson contained in the song about why women will go for the bad boy almost every time.
“Most skippable track” unfortunately is true: It’s the only one with a scratch on it, not because it’s a rap but because I once failed putting the CD into the player… Having listened to the “Live@The Fillmore”-version I’d like to speak about my theory why she presents it this way: The song is about a loving woman that knows everything about the bad childhood of this guy and tries to convince him that he can trust her anyway. He seems to be not able to trust her and realizing this makes her angry. I think the song is about her feeling of being helpless about the situation and that’s why Lu decided to play it rather rough (“no lullabies”).
I don’t think that it’s all wrong with this, maybe she was simply too ambitious.
On the other hand: I like it.
Haven’t been there discussions about “Wrap My Head Around That” in the US? When a guy (not me, but it could have been me) wanted to hear this (rap?-) song in Cologne (“West”-Tour) she seemed to be very surprised, told about these discussions, smiled, sang/rapped it and made the audience happy.