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I like all kinds of music, with few exceptions, but William Fitzsimmons’s The Sparrow and the Crow just doesn’t cut it. None of the music on this twelve-track CD showed any originality, and I had a hard time staying focused on the music as I listened.
With a low, whispery voice, Mr. Fitzsimmons sings about heartbreak—both the giving and receiving. Most often, it’s between a man and a woman, but “We Feel Alone” covers children of divorced parents before they move on to a breakup of their own as adults. Other songs, such as “Please Forgive Me (Song of the Crow),” beg forgiveness when a relationship goes south. “Just Not Each Other” is a song about loving again just not with your ex, no matter how much you might want it. I don’t have a favorite to comment on, because none of the tracks stood out as memorable or anything I’d want to listen to again and again.
The music is soft and gentle, almost lullabyish, and it will make you feel sleepy and lazy, which is perfect for a rainy day, curled up on the couch. Unfortunately, you’ll probably fall asleep and miss half the music. I had to fight to stay awake so I could do a review of The Sparrow and the Crow.
William Fitzsimmons wants the listener to feel the sadness of breaking up and enduring a broken heart, but, sadly, he missed the mark. I did, however, take one memorable thing from the CD, and it had nothing to do with the music. It’s in the epilogue, where you read about two birds struggling to fly into the wind.
So unless you like poignant little stories that you have to read off the CD inserts, I’d skip The Sparrow and the Crow and maybe reach for something by Jewel Kilcher, who can sing about heartbreak while, at the same time, giving a hint of hope that your heart will survive.
