Hallowed Ground by Violent Femmes
Hallowed Ground is the second album by the Violent Femmes, released in June 1984. Like the band's first album, the songs on Hallowed Ground were mostly written by singer/guitarist/lyricist Gordon Gano when he was in high school. "Country Death Song", for example, was based on a true story from an 1862 news article about a man who intentionally threw his daughter into a well and then hung himself in his barn. It was written by Gano during his 10th grade study hall. The Christian-related lyrics on Hallowed Ground were thought by some to be sarcastic, but Gano is a devout Christian. The other two Femmes were atheists, and initially refused to perform those songs, but after their debut had been recorded, they relented and several of Gano's religion-themed songs were recorded for Hallowed Ground.
After the incredible artistic success of their debut album, the Violent Femmes were left with the difficult challenge of following up an album of such singular mystery with something that wouldn’t disappoint their ardent cult following. <i>Hallowed Ground</i> is an emotive record that takes the brilliant, threadbare arrangements of their first work and fills it in with a sense of gospel noble truths that only the son of a Baptist minister could successfully challenge. “Jesus Walking On the Water” hits the floorboards of Americana and the title track injects more accessible pop sounds into their pitchfork militia. “I Hear the Rain” rallies the voices for a dizzying warning. “Country Death Song” plays with banjos and death like they belong together. “Black Girls” adds John Zorn and the Horns of Dilemma for some uptown action. But it’s the brutal seven minutes of “Never Tell” and the accompanying five of “I Know It’s True But I’m Sorry To Say” that deliver the knockout punch. Each song builds around singer Gordon Gano’s existential woes until he can do nothing more than let it blurt.
