Broken Lady (2:39) - This moderately slow song opens with the first line sung a cappella. After the first 20 seconds, a tambourine enters. Other instruments include a mandolin. According to Larry in his autobiography, not only did his brothers Steve and Rudy sing behind him on this tune; so did their sister LaDonna. As for the lyrics, they depict a woman who gives her all to a husband who turns out to be less than wonderful. The "fortress" (her marriage) has become a prison, and now she is "broken," waiting for someone to "mend" her. The song closes, the tempo decelerating, with a few lines sung a cappella.
Statues Without Hearts (2:43) - This song plays at a similar pace to the previous one. Larry's character sings to his special lady about the tendency of loving couples to become complacent once their relationships are established. Hence they become "statues without hearts, stones with no feeling." About a half-minute before the song closes, the key rises a half-step.
I Don't Wanna Cry (2:46) - This song is nice for a couple to slow-dance to. The narrator tells his girlfriend that he will cry if she leaves him; he begs her to stay. I like the phrases "this early this mornin' " and "leave the leavin' till later on."
Love Is Just A Game (3:31) - The tempo is moderately slow. The lyrics describe how some people win (and laugh), while others lose (and cry) at the game we know as love. After the 1:30 mark I hear an interesting line: "We've been holdin' on to holdin' on." I also like the distinction between "makin' love" and "keepin' score."
Night Time Magic (2:31) - The tempo is moderate. During much of the chorus, a tambourine plays on every second and fourth beat. Like "Broken Lady," this song has either a single verse or an interlude, depending on one's perspective; during this interlude, I hear the rapid playing of what sounds like a harp in the left speaker. The narrator describes himself as a "prisoner of love" who doesn't want to "be set free." Instead he wants his lady to keep up the magic she's casting upon him.
I've Done Enough Dyin' Today (4:05) - In this slow song, Larry seems to reach near (if not right at) the high end of his voice range. Such high vocals match the mood of his character "The hourglass is all out of sand" for his relationship with the woman to whom he sings. "Just existing makes dyin' look easy" for him, yet he hopes he can delay the inevitable just one more day.
All The Gold In California (2:39) - Here's another good slow-dance tune. Larry, Steve and Rudy sing the first few lines accompanied only by a tambourine and another percussion or two. The lyrics depict a situation similar to that of "Okies" who, during the Depression, migrated to California hoping to find work and prosperity; most of them found only disappointment. California may be known as the Golden State, but all its gold "is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills in somebody else's name." For the last singing of the chorus, the key rises from G to A. On the disc, this song is the 16th and last track, but on this page we have another place to go!
Take Me To Your Lovin' Place (2:46) - The slow tempo matches the song's theme. Just as the narrator tells his lady to "take [him] in [her] lovin' arms," a guy could take a dance partner in his arms and rock her gently. The narrator must be a fatalist; he says, "My future is in much bigger hands than mine."
What Are We Doin' Lonesome (2:32) - This song plays at a moderately fast pace. To the woman he sings to, the narrator proposes that they start a relationship for three reasons: they're both adults, they're both lonely, and they both know what to do about it. I detect some redundant use of the word "both": "We both look like we're both in need..." and "we both look like we both know what to do." Another highlight is the backup vocals, "Why are we still blue?"
Sure Feels Like Love (3:23) - Those who love to waltz might enjoy this tune! With the lady he sings to, Larry's character feels a stronger love than he's felt for anyone in years. So he tells her, "You're either gonna have to stop what you're doin' to me right now / Or you're gonna have to keep doin' it all night long."
Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer To You (2:54) - Songs play fast from here on out. This particular tune features a fiddle and has been one of my favorites by the Gatlins ever since I used to hear it on the radio as a child. The lyrics depict a singer who anxiously calls his sweetheart to tell her he misses her, but after a concert in Houston he will get to go home to her. Most of the song plays in the key of G, but just before the 2-minute mark it rises to the key of A.
The Lady Takes The Cowboy Every Time (2:53) - Didn't we just hear this? No, wait--this is a different song. The fiddle is more prominent here, especially in the opening. Here we have a third-person-omniscient narrator. He describes a tall, handsome, smooth-talking guy who hangs around a bar hoping to attract a certain woman. But his hopes are in vain; he might as well leave the bar, for the object of his lust would rather dance all night with another man--a cowboy. Another difference between this song and "Houston" is that this one does not close with a drum roll over the final chord.
Denver (3:41) - Instruments include a fiddle and a tambourine. At 1:48 the key rises from G to A. The narrator looks back on his yearlong romance with a woman in the Coloradan capital. Now that she has dumped him, he wonders, "Is there life after Denver?"
She Used To Be Somebody's Baby (3:22) - The guys sing a cappella for the first half-minute, snapping their fingers. Having been left by his woman for another man, the narrator confronts that other man. He warns him, "You'd better hear one think, Jack: somebody wants her back." By "somebody," the narrator means himself.
Talkin' To The Moon (3:37) - This song features a banjo. The narrator hopes, dreams and prays that the woman who has left him will someday come back to him. But all that hoping, dreaming and praying does him no good; he "might as well be talkin' to the moon."
Love Of A Lifetime (3:02) - Unlike narrators in previous songs, Larry's character in this song is more likely to accept defeat if the relationship between him and his lady ends. He will still love her whether he ever sees her again or not, but he will always be grateful that she was in his life at all. Just as she is his "love of a lifetime," this disc is the COLLECTION of a lifetime for fans of Larry, Steve and Rudy Gatlin.