Submitted by Don Graham
Eric Andersen, one of the founding fathers of the great American Folk Family, continues to evolve and reinvent himself. It’s as though he has an unquenchable thirst to create new works and adapt the works of other literary icons of the past. For me that is the mark of a true artist, constantly moving the finish line and looking for new ways to express himself and not fearful of taking the great works of others and translating them into song in his own undeniable fashion.
And that is just what he has done with Albert Camus, the great French-Algerian 20th Century philosopher. The paintings of Oliver Jordan were what first inspired Eric to reinvestigate the works of Albert Camus which in turn inspired him to write the songs for The Shadow and the Light album. Camus, whose productivity was from 1935 until his tragic demise in a car wreck in 1960, was similar to Eric in that they both sought the truth in their words.
Andersen managed to take the text of Camus and expertly transform them into four songs; The Plague,( Song of Denial) The Stranger, (Song of Revenge) The Rebel (Song of Revolt) and The Fall (Song of Gravity). Kind of like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Each song is haunting in its content and production with the sincere, honest vocals that have become Eric’s stock in trade.