Music review: Kenny Chesney – ‘Songs for the Saints’
“This brokenness will heal/This weakness will be strong/Let’s lift our voice together as the saints go marching on,” sings Kenny Chesney on the opening track of his latest album.
“Songs for the Saints” serves as a love letter and source of encouragement to the people of the Virgin Islands who are rebuilding after Hurricane Irma devastated their little piece of paradise last year.
Chesney, who owns a home on St. John, began a relief fund called Love for Love City to offer assistance where it’s needed to help his neighbors recover from the damage left behind.
The new material perfectly reflects Chesney’s love for the island life and Jimmy Buffett influence he initiated back in 2008 with “Lucky Old Sun.”
Being a huge fan of both Chesney and Buffett, it truly warms my heart to listen to songs penned from behind a cool pair of shades with a seemingly endless supply of white sand, clear blue water and cold refreshments to aid the process.
The 50-year-old Tennessee native and converted beach bum offers up 11 tracks about perseverance, hope, faith and love with the help of guest appearances by Buffett, Ziggy Marley and Mindy Smith.
“Got a Caribbean soul I can barely control/And some Texas hidden here in my heart,” sings Buffett early in his career. I always thought this was also a fitting description of Chesney.
There are several comparisons that come to mind that link Chesney and Buffett on the new album.
On “Every Heart,” Chesney compares the heart to an island that we are all trying to reach during the storms of life.
On 1981’s “Island,” Buffett sings, “Island I see you in the distance/I feel that your existence/Is not unlike my own.”
Chesney’s “Pirate Song” addresses the freedom of sailing the sea with Chesney declaring, “I wish I was a pirate out there under my own flag/Running for no reason and no reason to turn back.”
The 1974 “A Pirate Looks at 40” finds Buffett expressing the same sentiment when he sings, “Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call/Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall.”
The two singers even get together for a memorable version of Buffett’s “Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season” from 1974.
For me, the centerpiece of the album comes on the introspective “Better Boat.” “I think I’m stronger than I was/I let God do what he does,” announces Chesney on the stirring closing number that deals with self-examination and working hard every day to become a better person and more equipped to navigate life’s storms.
The overall mood of the album can be summarized in just a few lines from “Get Along.” “We ain’t perfect but we try/Get along while we can/Always give love the upper hand.”
Words we all need to take to heart.
Clint Rhodes is the Herald-Standard music reviewer. He can be reached at clinton43@me.com.