Paula Cole releases 10th album, makes tour stop in Nashville
by Lauren Means | photo courtesy Tim Llewellyn
If I say the name Paula Cole, the majority of people will think of either missing cowboys or Dawson’s Creek but she is an artist with talent far beyond two moments in 90s pop culture. Cole attended Berklee School of Music, toured with Peter Gabriel and Lilith Fair, is a Grammy award winner, and just released her 10th album. Aptly named Revolution, this album takes us through her personal revolution as well as society’s revolution.
Cole has never been a stranger to releasing music where she speaks to her personal life and thoughts on current events. She is not even afraid to put her political thoughts into words as we heard in the 2003 website release of “My Hero, Mr. President!” which gave her opinion on then-President Bush and the Iraq War.
Revolution is no different. The title track starts with excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”. Cole said this song “ is really an introduction to the theme of the album: That there’s love and there’s self-revolution but there’s also anger”.
“Silent” spoke to me on a personal level. Cole explains the background being about being silent as a bystander, victim, or even when you don’t fit into the “norm” that surrounds you. She also mentions that “Being silent is dysfunctional. It’s dysfunctional to my health, to the health of society, and it disempowers the whole future chain of women, including me”. Being someone who shows up for equality and to speak out against injustice, I relate to feeling like you are expected to be silent but how you cannot be in today’s societal climate because silence is 100% dysfunctional. Over the years I have stepped out of my silent comfort zone into more of a vocal role. “Silent” is a song for all of us who were told to stand down but have finally stood up and said, “No more!”.
On the vinyl release, there are two bonus songs including “Hope is Everywhere”. “Hope is Everywhere” has a ballad feel with an empowering message that ends with a 70s disco club vibe. Cole herself said she released the track in support of the LGBTQ+ community. I found myself repeating the hook “Hope is Everywhere” for days after first hearing the song. It truly does make me feel better about where we are heading as a society and pushes the feeling of hope. Cole said it best with “You can’t stop a hurricane of justice. You can’t stop a hurricane of love!” It is with allies like Cole that we can help get our message along to the mainstream.
Paula Cole will be performing LIVE this Friday, October 4th at City Winery. For tickets and more information visit: https://citywinery.com/nashville/paulacole100419.html
For more information on Paula Cole and Revolution visit https://paulacole.com/
