The second studio album of adult alternative pop rock band Counting Crows released on October 15, 1996. Recovering the Satellites offers what Stephen Thomas Erlewine for All Music called “a self-consciously challenging response to their unexpected success” with the bands debut album August and Everything After. Today we look into the songs of Recovering the Satellites on the heels of the 25th anniversary of the album’s release.
Catapult open Recovering the Satellites, having been written by Adam Duritz, David Bryson, Charlie Gillingham, Matt Malley, Dan Vickrey and Ben Mize. Much raw emotion present in the lyrics, speaking of insecurity while looking for emotional and personal direction.
Angels of the Silences was the opening single from the album, getting into the notions of success felt after the success of the opening album for Counting Crows. While it’s possible to interpret the lyrics as a statement to fans and success, the questioning done with the lyrics tend to work better if considering a relationship with a love interest.
Daylight Fading was another single released in support of Recovering the Satellites, with writing credit going to Duritz, Gillingham and Vickrey. There’s a definite yearning for the romantic connection of love and understanding of private moments, which doesn’t quite arise for lyricist Adam Duritz with this track.
I’m Not Sleeping reinforces the notion of longing for love and peace through drifting to dreams when sleeping. There’s a despondent note to the perspective with the need for answers elevating both from the accumulated feeling of the album plus within the song itself.
Goodnight Elisabeth is a lullaby written by Adam Duritz for a legitimate love interest that Duritz had during the band’s success during the early to mid-1990s. The song is one of a love lost, with city names serving as signposts for places where different perspectives of loss and hopefulness manifest themselves.
Children in Bloom offers an additional slice of sadness in emotionally navigating the confusing prairies of flowering of adulthood and grown-up relationships. The notion of seeking, nurturing and making those are the focus of waking up, emotionally, to putting the singer’s self out into the world.
The seventh of fourteen songs on the Retrieving the Satellites album is Have You Seen Me Lately? Songfacts confirms that the “song is about [Adam Duritz‘] strange trip into celebrity,” wherein Duritz had difficulty dating other celebrities. Looking at things from the perspective of those the Counting Crows‘ singer dated, I can confess that the feelings underneath the lyrics are a bit bemusing.
Miller’s Angels offers a bit of a subdued ballad, leading the album with more than 6.5-minutes of writing from Duritz and Dan Vickrey. The song’s length might be a bit long for the musicality and lyrical quality brought forward of looking for absolutes in a world where finding comfort there seems like a losing effort.
Another Horsedreamer’s Blues brings back the notion of a lost faithfulness in things and life, as we raised when pointing out the notion of unexpected success in the opening of this review. Mixing the notion of a lost love, Margery, with the notion of betting on horses seems likes a mixing of messy means of seeking the stable love that, still, that Duritz is seeking through the songs of Recovering the Satellites.
Recovering the Satellites, the tenth song and title track of this Counting Crows album, is among the clearer songs for the album in addressing the notion of coping with the emotional fallout of success, access to relationships and lifestyle, and the cycle people see of a rising star that eventually returns from where it started; or worse. The song does feel to me to be focusing strictly on relationship questions.
Monkey relates something that, in 2006, Adam Duritz called “a misguided love song.” The point was that sometimes women can be unpleasant, yet more to the point that there are “girls who are actually worth it.” So yes, there is optimism in the sea of angst that is Recovering the Satellites.
Mercury begins a relatively clear look into a romantic relationship where Duritz‘ love interest is perhaps captured with understanding through the song’s lyrics. The singer seems to capture the absence of consistency and the responses he brings to the confusion that results. The empathy that closes the sentiment shows a sweetness that I appreciate.
A Long December is perhaps the most complete song on Recovering the Satellites. The place of emotion that inspired the song, let alone the clarity of the metaphor, pain and empathy delivers something whole from a place that was clearly anything but complete. The fundamental optimism and clarity of growth and memory combines with a musicality, lyricism and sentiment that shines above anything else on the album, in my humble opinion.
Walkaways steps up with an album closing sound every bit the equal of A Long December from an individual perspective. The structure is simple, acoustic and brings a contemplative feel to the journey that album has delivered. The album’s message of success faster than expected resonates. The notion of wanting the long lasting, legitimate notion of aspiring for self-actualization in love, success, quality feelings are all underpinnings for what I feel the album says. With simple lyrics and music on Walkaways, the writing of Adam Duritz and Dan Vickrey for this song meet the mark.
Matt – Saturday, October 16, 2021
Matt Lynn Digital 