Certain Songs #2485: Steve Wynn – “Grace”

Album: Dazzling Display
Year: 1992

. . .

I didn’t think that Steve Wynn’s second solo album, Dazzling Display, was as good as his first solo album Kerosene Man, but it most certainly had its moments, my favorite of which was “Grace,” which opened with the guitars of Wynn and Robert Mache soaring against each other before the first verse commences.

She walks into the room with a grace of a panther
And she doesn’t see anything at all
Spills coffee on a pure white rug
Smashes the cup against the wall

At this point, everything disappears from the mix except for a (very) (quiet) acoustic guitar, over which Wynn sings the chorus.

She says
How can I turn it on and off again
How can I turn it on
How can I turn it on and off again
How can I turn it on

And that chorus is the cool part of “Grace,” as Wynn deploys it slightly differently whenever it comes around. And so the second time, there’s a screeching violin, but not much more. And the third time — and this is after a couple of long guitar solos — it’s the violin and the acoustic guitar.

But it’s the fourth time, which comes right after the third time, where Wynn finally delivers the chorus over the anthemic music it seems like it deserves, screaming “How can I turn it on and off again” over roaring guitars and crashing drums, finally giving you what you knew you wanted just as the song ends.

“Grace”

“Grace” Live in Los Angeles, 2018

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