Ashley Cleveland: Before the Daylight's Shot Transcript

UMC.org Music Review

Label: 204
Sound/Style: Gritty, guitar-fueled gospel rock

By Steve Morley

UMC.org—In a culture teeming with young performers, carefully manicured good looks and equally primped-up pop music, mature singers like Ashley Cleveland are hardly commonplace. And this is the secular world we’re talking about. In the realm of Christian music, where the earthy singer has carved out a sizeable niche, Cleveland’s unapologetic adult rock is very nearly without peer: "Wrestle with the devil, that’s a losing game/ Baby, run for the blessing now/ He’ll come back to you by a different name/ Run for the blessing now."

Remaining true to her uncompromising muse has meant limiting her success somewhat, but in Cleveland’s case, this is like focusing a laser: it doesn’t burn the whole house down, but it defintely penetrates the spot where it’s aimed. Her CD Before the Daylight’s Shot finds Cleveland once again doing what she knows best—‘70s-influenced rock with minimal cosmetics. To her credit, she presses on despite the opposition she’s encountered from Christians who prefer their music free of ragged edges. If it weren’t for those edges, she’d have little left to show. Her confessions of weakness and failure on "Streams of Mercy," for example, are what give the chorus its cleansing sense of release: "Strong arms are waiting/ The lovers of my soul/ Who will let me live where streams of mercy flow?"

In "Deeper Walk," she exposes her rebellious nature in a couplet so honest it might even elicit a knowing laugh: "You know I hate authority, but I can’t resist your love for me." The relentless pursuit of the Lord expressed in her lyric is given real-life resonance by her later reference to a 12-step sobriety chip—a very real token of her recovery from years of substance abuse. Her familiarity with that battle informs the track "Satisfied With Drowning." Cleveland delivers the record’s most tender and compassionate vocal on this cut, directed to another who has yet to conquer addiction: "Baby, don’t be satisfied with drowning/ Won’t you consider yourself? / For every drop of pleasure worth counting/ There’s a gallon of misery as well."

Cleveland, who takes writer credit on eight of the ten cuts, doles out utilitarian melodies and no-frills rock that tread no new ground. She excels, though, as an emotive singer and lyricist who tells it like it is, faith-wise, and manages to avoid predictability. "I Need Jesus" starts with a wish list for a satisfying life, but affirms that none of these in themselves will satisfy the deeper cravings for oneness with Christ: "I want enough sleep and a roof over my head/ I want to be free, I want to live like the Bible said."

Her verse and chorus sections distinguish wants from needs but adhere the two into a seamless whole. This neatly illustrates how Jesus, when He becomes our highest priority, sustains us whether or not the wish list gets checked off.

"Queen of Soul" is a tribute to Aretha Franklin that combines themes of womanhood, romantic love and Franklin’s massive legacy and ties them to the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. She likens the Samaritan woman’s relational history to that of the search for relational fulfillment personified in Franklin classics like "Chain of Fools" and "Respect." Cleveland then implicitly credits the legendary singer with showing women how to break the chains of unhealthy relationships. In another sense, the song tells Cleveland’s own tale—that of finding God’s grace after a series of destructive choices. This is key to her ability to speak convincingly to believers and non-believers alike, and throughout Before the Daylight’s Shot, it makes for powerful ammunition.

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