James McMurtry - Childish Things

James McMurtry released the universally praised Live in Aught-Three in 2003 and his first studio album in more three years, Childish Things, was released in 2005..

While Childish Things isn't an overtly political record, the centerpiece has to be We Can't Make It Here, McMurtry's commentary on the current state of the union. 'I've always been a little put off by activists. So you know it's a dire situation when I have to become one myself,' he explains. McMurtry made the song available as a free download on his website during the 2004 election. Stephen King described the song as 'stark and wrenchingly direct, this may be the best American protest song since Dylan's Masters of War'. Childish Things marks the first time the track is available on disc without FCC-sensitive words censored.

Entertainment Weekly noted, 'His erudite guitar work fills out the melody, and there's plenty of excitement in his densely withering portraits and wry asides' while the hometown Austin Chronicle raved, 'Like McMurtry's lyrics, this is no-frills, freak-flag rock. Turn it up.'

Listen to samples:

• See The Elephant
• Childish Things
• We Can't Make It Here
• Ole Slew Foot
• Bad Enough
• Restless
• Memorial Day
• Six-Year Drought
• The Old Part Of Town
• Charlemagne's Home Town
• Pocatello
• Holiday