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| Robert Cray's "Twenty" Depicts Disillusioned Soldier; The Robert Cray Band’s forthcoming album Twenty is set for release on a week bookended by the May 24 birthday of one of this generation’s most eloquent protest songwriters, Bob Dylan, and by Memorial Day, May 30. The dates are significant when one considers the subject matter which defines the album’s title track, “Twenty.” “The song is about an innocent young guy, who, after the events of 9/11, wants to do his part for his country,” Cray explains. “He doesn’t know he’s going to end up in Iraq, watching the horror that’s going on there…and he ends up losing his life. It’s a subject that needs to be spoken about and is in some ways, a continuation of one of the songs we did on the last album.” While Cray has generally focused his writing on personal relationships, his song “Survivor” as well as co-producer and bandmate Jim Pugh's “Distant Shore,” both on Cray's 2003 CD Time Will Tell, were also inspired by concerns about what was, at the time of their writing, an impending war in Iraq. Robert Cray is a five time Grammy winner who grew up on military bases in the U.S. and abroad. His father served in Vietnam so Robert has personal knowledge of the effect on a family when one of its members is serving abroad. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |