{"id":653717,"date":"2025-02-16T15:16:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-16T12:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/richard-dawsons-hyperrealism\/"},"modified":"2025-02-16T15:16:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-16T12:16:14","slug":"richard-dawsons-hyperrealism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/richard-dawsons-hyperrealism\/","title":{"rendered":"#Richard Dawson\u2019s hyperrealism"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23affd3c913\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a23affd3c913\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/richard-dawsons-hyperrealism\/#The_English_singer-songwriter_prone_to_medieval_flights_of_fancy_and_celestial_metaphors_spends_his_new_album_End_of_the_Middle_embedded_in_lifes_minutiae\" >The English singer-songwriter, prone to medieval flights of fancy and celestial metaphors, spends his new album, End of the Middle, embedded in life\u2019s minutiae.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"deck\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_English_singer-songwriter_prone_to_medieval_flights_of_fancy_and_celestial_metaphors_spends_his_new_album_End_of_the_Middle_embedded_in_lifes_minutiae\"><\/span>The English singer-songwriter, prone to medieval flights of fancy and celestial metaphors, spends his new album, <i>End of the Middle<\/i>, embedded in life\u2019s minutiae.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"content_blocks\">\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-267970\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left image\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_vibtdj\/richard-dawson-photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Richard Dawson\u2019s hyperrealism\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Richard Dawson. Photo by Sally Pilkington.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268001\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            Richard Dawson\u2019s bent folk music has never been entirely of this earth. The Newcastle singer-songwriter has always had a flair for the fantastical, painting even the most modern of problems with coats of medieval mysticism. His characters are rich and lived in, but they rarely exist in the here and now.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268002\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            \u201cAs I rode to your house I was beaten and robbed \/ By a band of moon-faced vagabonds,\u201d he begins on \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_new\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=02rdI_J8DPY&amp;pp=ygUjcmljaGFyZCBkYXdzb24gYmxhY2sgZG9nIGluIHRoZSBza3k%3D\">Black Dog in the Sky<\/a>,\u201d a song from his 2012 LP, <i>The Magic Bridge<\/i>. \u201cThey were rifling through my pockets and untying my shoes \/ When the air began to boil.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            On <i>End of the Middle<\/i>, his attackers are rendered more concretely, given names and faces so detailed they leave us wondering whether they\u2019re autobiographical or fictionalized. \u201cAfter what h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ened in PE \/ I didn\u2019t wanna go back,\u201d he sings at the start of \u201cBullies.\u201d \u201cBut it turned out so much worse than I would\u2026 have thought it could.\u201d He goes on to describe being \u201cblanked by his best mates\u201d and \u201cpunched in the face on the bus.\u201d The lead bully, Anthony Pape, leans over and spits on him as he lies on the ground. \u201cI don\u2019t want to remember anymore,\u201d he sings before a skronky clarinet enters, fracturing the sorry scene.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            Back at school, Anthony gets expelled \u201cfor something else entirely,\u201d and the term rumbles on. The narrator does badly on his exams, but a kindly teacher named Mrs. Kovacic helps him manage an \u201cA and a B in English,\u201d at least, and he puts his head down, working in the library during lunch on his submission to a short story competition.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            The clarinet returns, then fades away into a backdrop of moody acoustic guitar, and we\u2019re shoved forward in time. Grown up now, our protagonist gets a call at work from his son Joshua\u2019s school, telling him to come right away. (When the call comes, he\u2019s \u201cin a Zoom with one of our most important clients, Majestic Wine.\u201d) Joshua, it turns out, has \u201cbeen scrapping again, broke a lad\u2019s jaw,\u201d and is now suspended. \u201cWhat\u2019m I gonna do with this kid?\u201d Dawson wonders. He goes to the school \u2014 the same institution where he was once bullied, it turns out \u2014 and asks after Mrs. Kovacic, who he\u2019s told is \u201ctaking some well-deserved leave.\u201d After a week of strained silence between him and Joshua, they go to a soccer <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>, and he tells his son he knows his heart is good.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268003\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <iframe style=\"border: 0; width: 350px; height: 470px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=3015502281\/size=large\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/tracklist=false\/transparent=true\/\" seamless><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/richardmichaeldawson.bandcamp.com\/album\/end-of-the-middle\">End of the Middle by Richard Dawson<\/a><\/iframe>\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268004\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            A past Dawson might have told this story obliquely, taking his time to develop all the forces at play \u2014 his last album, <i>The Ruby Cord<\/i>, begins with a 41-minute track called \u201cThe Hermit.\u201d But \u201cBullies\u201d is less than five minutes long, even including the arguably unnecessary details (the English grades, the Zoom call) that test the limits of effective realism. The mirroring of the bullied narrator and his bullying son isn\u2019t subtle, but it feels completely natural. Dawson is inherently clever, but on <i>End of the Middle<\/i>, it never feels like he\u2019s trying to be.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cBullies\u201d is the most straightforward tale in Dawson\u2019s new collection, but its eight other tracks are also based in quotidian granularities, even when their subject matter extends into the unusual. In \u201cBolt,\u201d he creatively describes the moments before and after a house is struck by lightning, but the song\u2019s parameters are strict \u2014 deal only in detailed observations; show, don\u2019t tell.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            In \u201cThe question,\u201d the narrator\u2019s sleepwalking daughter Elsie sees a recurring apparition in the hallway. Later, the family discovers matter-of-factly that the ghost is the house\u2019s former owner, a station master who was \u201ca relatively young man and a brand new father when he took his final step in front of a train.\u201d Still, Elsie moves past these night terrors and becomes something of a prodigy, attending Cambridge on a scholarship. She now works as a research analyst at the London School of Economics, \u201ctrying with a wayward husband to keep a happy home and bring up her boy.\u201d  Then, one night, she sees the ghost again.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268005\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left video\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\">\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Richard Dawson - Gondola (Official Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gkqxzs0aCXs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n \/\/trackYouTubeVideo('268005');\n<\/script><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268006\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            These family scenes \u2014 sometimes banal, sometimes otherworldly, jumping from one hyperreality to the next \u2014 are the beating heart of <i>End of the Middle<\/i>. We\u2019re constantly time <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ing between generations, learning what\u2019s changed and what hasn\u2019t through simple juxtaposition. On \u201cRemovals Van,\u201d we hear about the narrator and his brother\u2019s shared childhood climbing trees and building \u201cgreat cities of LEGO\u201d in a house that \u201cbacked right onto the old tramway.\u201d Then, suddenly, the house is all boxed up, and he and his partner are \u201chaving a curry on crossed legs, surrounded by boxes,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WhatsApp<\/a>ing drunken selfies to relatives.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            American listeners, myself included, might struggle to untangle the web of British reality TV show references presented on \u201cGondola,\u201d but we can still appreciate the way he weaves them line by line into the domestic dramas that play out in front of the screen. Between \u201cPiers on <i>Lorraine<\/i>\u201d and <i>Cash in the Attic<\/i>, the narrator drinks cheap liquor and goes to work for her dad at the jewelry shop, regretting that she never went to university. Near the end of the song, she worries again about her mounting regrets, her dreams deferred, the ever-depleating supply of summers he has left. She pledges to take her granddaughter on holiday, to make more memories \u201cbefore it\u2019s all too late.\u201d\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268007\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left video\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"video_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top: 56.25%;\">\n<p>    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Richard Dawson - Polytunnel (Official Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mraMN1lILXY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n \/\/trackYouTubeVideo('268007');\n<\/script><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268008\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            Musically, <i>End of the Middle<\/i> is the most spartan  album Dawson has made since his 2007 debut, <i>Richard Dawson Sings Songs and Plays Guitar<\/i>. Gone are the dissonant guitar battles of his breakout record, <i>Nothing Important<\/i>; the discomfiting choral drones of his art-song suite <i>The Glass Trunk<\/i>; the detuned strings and clapped Qawwali percussion of his 2017 masterpiece, <i>Peasant<\/i>; the proggy arrangements of <i>Henki<\/i>, his recent collaboration with Circle. Even 2019\u2019s <i>2020<\/i>, though much more accessible than his previous work, is baroque in comparison to this one.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            The simplicity of the new album\u2019s instrumentals \u2014 unadorned acoustic guitar accompanied by Andrew Cheetham\u2019s barely present drums, for the most part \u2014 is a disarming tactic, making deviations from the norm scratch like sandpaper on raw skin. On \u201cThe question,\u201d for instance, sections of unnerving guitar playing punctuate the track\u2019s singsong verse-chorus structure, as does Faye MacCalman\u2019s clarinet on \u201cBullies\u201d and elsewhere. The chorus of \u201cPolytunnel\u201d is appropriately light as a green-thumbed hobbyist walks us through such beloved activities as \u201cpulling up the turnips,\u201d \u201ctying on the sweetpeas,\u201d and \u201cmucking out the chickens,\u201d but there\u2019s a hint of something less buoyant in the oddly angled verses.\n          <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content_block paragraph triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268009\" class=\"content_block breaker triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left image\">\n<div class=\"media_wrapper\">\n<p>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1440,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_220,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 220w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_300,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 300w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 400w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_600,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 600w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_750,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 750w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_840,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 840w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_960,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 960w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1260,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 1260w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_1800,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 1800w,https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/w_2400,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T231604.079_1_gftxq3\/photo-by-sally-pilkington.jpg 2400w,\" sizes=\"100vw\" alt=\"Richard Dawson\u2019s hyperrealism\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"img_caption\"><\/p>\n<p>    <span class=\"caption\"><br \/>\n      Photo by Sally Pilkington.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p>\n<p>  <span class=\"credit\"><br \/>\n      \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n<\/style>\n<div id=\"content_block-268010\" class=\"content_block paragraph text triple_gutter_right triple_gutter_left center_align\">\n<div class=\"content_inner_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"paragraph_wrapper center_align\">\n<p>\n            <i>End of the Middle<\/i> climaxes on a mid-album track called \u201cKnot.\u201d Its narrator wakes up severely depressed, feeling \u201cthe same strangling shame \/ visited down upon my brain each morning.\u201d Still, he manages to drag himself to an old friend\u2019s wedding, where he makes soul-sucking small talk while staring at the fingerfood. The bride walks down the aisle with her \u201cwraith-like father,\u201d followed by a ringbearing golden retreaver. We look on, from Dawson\u2019s disgusted vantage point, as the party spirals into a horror comedy: the best man\u2019s speech a \u201cham-fisted Powerpoint presentation,\u201d a \u201cpile of sick on the bar,\u201d \u201cFlashing lights \/ Laddered tights \/ A nasty fight \/ Karaoke.\u201d On the car ride back, the narrator asks to be let out, refuses to calm down, and wakes up by a lake, wiping his eyes and wondering if there\u2019s a road nearby.\n          <\/p>\n<p>\n            Here, the protagonist is entirely alone, rejecting the familial bonds that hold the rest of the album\u2019s characters together. It\u2019s clear that this cynicism is a major part of his undoing, but the song doesn\u2019t read like a morality tale championing family values. As on the rest of the record, Dawson refuses to couch his observation in judgment, transmitting directly from the lives of his characters, precisely detailed but never presented in full.\n          <\/p>\n<div class=\"\" style=\"padding-bottom: 20px; margin-top: 20px; text-align: left;\">\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"author\">\n    <span><br \/>\n      By <span class=\"credit_name\">Raphael Helfand<\/span><br \/>\n  <\/span><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thefader.com\/2025\/02\/14\/richard-dawsons-the-end-of-the-middle-album-review\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The English singer-songwriter, prone to medieval flights of fancy and celestial metaphors, spends his new album, End of the Middle, embedded in life\u2019s minutiae. Richard Dawson. Photo by Sally Pilkington. \u00a0 Richard Dawson\u2019s bent folk music has never been entirely of this earth. The Newcastle singer-songwriter has always had a flair for the fantastical, painting&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":653718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefader-res.cloudinary.com\/private_images\/c_limit,w_1024\/c_crop,h_492,w_944,x_1,y_84,f_auto,q_auto:eco\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_hpcsgu\/unnamed_-_2025-02-13T122309.844_hpcsgu.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[88780,136090],"class_list":["post-653717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-folk","tag-richard-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}