Rodney Crowell reflects on intimacy and compassion during solo Free at Noon set

Veteran singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell‘s recent Free at Noon performance was quite intimate, broadcasting from a pocket-sized room of his home as he performed into a single microphone. He seemed tranquil but thoughtful, singing about ideals like love but giving a take that only comes from time and experience.

Introducing the title track to his new album Triage, Crowell said that it was one of the first tracks he wrote for it and it paved the way for the album’s direction: “I think I know what love is,” he sang. “Forgiveness, for a start. Room for those you love to hate somewhere inside your heart.”

These reflections on empathy were contrasted by reflections on the scene-setting detail of “Something Has to Change,” which traces the roots of division through a vignette of “two kids at a stoplight.” Crowell sings “in a nickel and dime world it’s catch as you can,” later arriving at a more pointed takeaway: “it’s greed, it’s not money, through which evil works”

He was also sentimental, particularly on the Dylanisms of “The Flyboy and The Kid”: “here’s to you, here’s to me,” Crowell sang, and reminding viewers that Triage was due out next month, he left a sincere parting wish: “may happiness always be yours.”

Watch Rodney Crowell’s full Free at Noon performance below, and check out the Free at Noon archives here.

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Setlist
East Houston Blues
Reckless
Triage
Something Has to Change
The Flyboy and the Kid