TBGB Pick of the Week: May 22, 2006

“Listen to the Lambs”
Cliff Go-Ber
From the Expressions from the Heart album
4-Life Musick 2004

Okay, I’m a little slow to jump on this one, but if it weren’t for Numero Group Records owner Rob Sevier passing this gem on to me, I wouldn’t have heard it in the first place. And that would have unfortunate.

On his Expressions from the Heart album, soul and gospel stylist Cliff Go-Ber gives the spiritual “Listen to the Lambs” a 1970s Curtis Mayfield touch to chronicle the trials and tribulations of 21st Century America. Included in Go-Ber’s litany of modern problems are violence, jobs leaving cities, children receiving low grades, high taxes, and jails running over with inmates who “look like my brother.” “People in high places ain’t got no pity,” replies the backing vocal group the Voices of Truth with head-shaking affirmation.

Go-Ber’s supplication, tinged with sincere frustration, is punctuated by a brief but effective rap by N-Trakit (Curtis Walton) on the above litany, leaving the listener with the conclusion that the “government is full of lies.” “Listen to the Lambs” is old-school gospel providing a knuckle-smacking lesson for the new-school society.

In other words, if the world makes you “throw up both your hands” like Marvin Gaye sang on “What’s Going On,” you’ll enjoy “Listen to the Lambs.”