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We who revere Rickie Lee have
watched--or heard--her change, from a sassy girlfriend to a wry, honky
tonk demi-angel with lessons to teach. It is with a sigh that she advises
in "A Stranger's Car" on her 1993
Traffic From Paradise album, "If your parents kill you year by year/Here's
the time to say Goodbye."
Traffic displays Jones's genius for weaving instruments into rich, moving
tapestries. Her lyrics display a
honed sense of human darkness--and light. In "Running from Mercy,"
Jones, accompanied by Lyle Lovett,
both affirms an inner spirit while digging religion and government: "Little
acts of kindness/And little
words of love/Make our earthly home/Heaven above/And there is no sorrow/Heaven
cannot heal/A fire
within/No Cross/No Crown."