No Tears featuring Leela James
Pete Rock
Soul Survivor 2, 2004

This is another song that is very close to the top of my iTunes “playcount” list, I’ve listened to it 31 times (and counting). As I think I’ve said before, I’m someone who listens to music much more for the sounds then the words. This is one of those songs that conjures such a distinctive picture that I have to stop and listen to see if the lyrics actually describe any of what I see or whether it’s just the power of the music.

The track starts with a faint “off in the distance” sample of the intro percussion to Bobbi Humphrey’s lovely “Jasper Country Man” (sound clip). “Jasper Country Man” may also sound familiar as Digable Planets’ “Blowin’ Down” (sound clip). The Jasper sample is joined by record static, strings, some sort of sonic “ping” sound and a piano riff that just spills into the headphones. All of this adds up to a rainy day in a cold apartment when it’s getting dark and you can’t tell whether the clouds are getting more dense or if the sun is actually going down.

Despite being fairly repetitive, Leela James’s voice makes the song seem to end too soon each time. I love the call and response on the chorus, especially her inflection on “I know” and the closing “it won’t be long, so don’t you worry, cause trouble don’t last always, nah no nah no, joy come in the morning.”

And of course true to Pete Rock’s “I got beats comin’ out my ears” steez, there’s is an unrelated :15 instrumental interlude tagged onto the end along with some dialogue. Feel free to set iTunes “Stop Time” to 3:15.

>> songs are available for two weeks [5.3 MB]

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 30th, 2005 at 4:47 am and is filed under Music Appreciation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.