A nice companion piece to Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, The Freedom Sessions offers seven early versions of songs from that album in a more stripped-down form. Also included is a cover of Tom Waits' "Ol' 55."
On paper, Ol' 55 reads like a song to be sung with screaming guitars, a heavy drumbeat and wind in the hair. But it's really a song about the dream of those days; youth, and the dream of the American road. The dream of the endless goodbye. The frontier, the sun coming up, promises of the new that fade into greasy diners and wasted love. It's always been one of my favorites. Sarah MacLachlan's v...