I Drive a Valence: The Collected Lyrics of Bill Callahan

by Bill Callahan

Until we have a feature film in which Bill Callahan’s words are spoken by the true and deep characters who exist within the songs, the best format will be this lyric book — wait, no, the best format will always be the albums featuring the songs, since they are sung by Bill Callahan, the author and singer, in his own inimitable and completely individual fashion. I Drive a Valence, however, which spans two decades of Smog/ Bill Callahan songs, is a fairly unforgettable look-see; in fact, it’s a definitive-yet-concise trip through the mirror, collecting the lyrics to 70 songs and pairing them with 116 dreamy inkwash images by the man himself. The nuances and ambiguities within plain-spoke expression are at the exquisite center of Callahan’s gift, and the plain fact of words on paper nails them down in a concrete fashion that signals eternity somehow more concretely than sounds in the air can conjure. I Drive a Valence does this for the listener — makes him/her a reader, while putting Bill Callahan’s songs
on another shelf where they sit just as entirely as they do on LP shelves around the world.

Genres: Music, Poetry

198 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2014

About the author

Bill Callahan, also known as Smog and (Smog), is an American singer-songwriter. Callahan began working in the lo-fi genre of underground rock, with home-made tape-albums recorded on four track tape recorders. Later he began releasing albums with the label Drag City, to which he remains signed today.

In July of 2010 Drag City published Callhan's Letters to Emma Bowlcut, which is an epistolary novel told through a series of letters.

Reviews

[Eric Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One can not help but read these lyrics in Bill’s deep voice. They stand so well as poetry I almost forget how swinging some of Bill’s songs can be. These stark ink-wash illustrations really grabbed me as well, often paired accordingly with a given song’s lyrics. I found them to be beautiful and oddly alluring, more so than I expected. Would hang on my home’s walls! Together with his style, humor, and figurative imagery, this book really was a page turner for me. Got my mind going in all sorts of places...loneliness, dreams, love, justice, and more: a great autumnal mood piece.

[M. Sarki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful lyrics, interesting drawings, and what more can I say? Bill Callahan is an artist of the first rank.

[Adam Geisler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been an ardent fan of Bill Callahan’s music for many years. This compendium of his lyrics (which does not include his recent stellar album Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest), along with his own original illustrations, has enhanced my appreciation of his songwriting. Callahan has drawn some critical attention over the years for his songs that often tell a compelling story. There are frequently recurring themes that find their way into his tales: Rivers and horses. Ships and birds. Brambles and redemption. His characters, sometimes presumably autobiographical, wrestle with the world around them, and usually spin a good yarn along the way. Callahan’s wordplay is enhanced by the delivery of his once tenor, now aged into baritone, vocals. His sleepy cadence is missing when the words are alone on the page, but the lines don’t lack any potency. Instead of the musical arrangements, he elected to add accompanying ink-wash drawings in this book. The brushstrokes are broad, resulting in images both whimsical and direct. The themes, while not directly correlating to the lyrics they accompany, do often match the mood of the words. This volume left me an even deeper admirer of Callahan. Songs that might not have grabbed me initially now have more resonance, having viewed the words in their naked truth. A great example is “Drinking at the Dam,” from his final album under the pseudonym Smog. In a line that most resembles a chorus in a Callahan song, he pens, “drinking at the dam / holding back what I can / but the power is so much.” These subtle metaphors can be found throughout Callahan’s writing, and this collection gives his fans the chance to savor his lyrical brilliance.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some days I think Bill Callahan is the greatest lyricist of the modern age. And I particularly think that on the day when I finish reading a collection like this. Wow. Just wow.