Otis Taylor, a blues singer, guitarist, and banjo player who was born in Chicago and raised in Denver, started in music in the late sixties and seventies, and then gave it up for a while to become an antiques dealer. He came roaring back with ten albums in the last ten years, though, and his new one, “Otis Taylor’s Contraband,”is full of sharply rendered songs about a wide range of subjects, including the Jim Crow era, slavery, and romance.
That’s from the New Yorker. And whoever wrote it uses far too many commas. Here are the lyrics:
If I follow the ocean, would it take me home?
If I follow the stars, would I get lost?
Look to the side, I’ll be near
If I climb the mountain, would I get there?
Look to the side, I’ll be near
If I followed the ocean, would I get home?
Look to the side, I’ll be near
Look to the side, look to the side…
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