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Our Endless Numbered Days

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Our Endless Numbered Days (Audio CD)
by Iron & Wine

(149 customer reviews)

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SELEX-201-9-175854

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Listening to Our Endless Numbered Days makes plain Sam's deft touch with words and melody; one that allows him to turn out stories about love, loss, faith, or the lack of it that are at once personal and universal, set to music that is sweetly haunting and timeless.

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Product Details

Audio CD Release Date:	March 23, 2004
Studio:	Sub Pop
Number Of Discs:	1
Average Customer Rating:	based on 149 reviews

Track Listing

1.	On Your Wings
2.	Naked As We Came
3.	Cinder And Smoke
4.	Sunset Soon Forgotten
5.	Teeth In The Grass
6.	Love And Some Verses
7.	Radio War
8.	Each Coming Night
9.	Free Until They Cut Me Down
10.	Fever Dream
11.	Sodom, South Georgia
12.	Passing Afternoon

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review: 4.5

( 149 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

79 of 87 found the following review helpful:

Beautiful Jul 22, 2005 By someguy
Here I am, a grown man, who listens to everything from the Shins to Tool. I was listening to this album in my bed after I bought it that day. I was really tired, so I kind of drifted off (not because the album was boring, far from it - I was just tired). When "Fever Dream" came on I instantly became aware again. It's not like this song has a loud or startling beginning, either - no Iron & Wine song does. But the guitar line was so beautiful my mind must have said "wake up and hear this." I rarely hear a song that affects me so...so dramatically as "Fever Dream" did, and still does. I just layed there, captured by it's sheer gentle beauty. It aroused so many emotions inside that were lying dormant somewhere inside me. The fact is, I've been extrememly lonely lately, and there hasn't been anyone I felt could really sympathize with me. But this song captured my emotions so well I shed tears. You probably think I'm lame, but I just needed to share how deeply this song affected me.

114 of 134 found the following review helpful:

Bittersweet, expert songcraft straight from his heart to us May 24, 2004 By Soaring Heart
I cannot begin to explain in words how much I Love this album. OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS is perfectly appealing to me in every way: lyrically, instrumentally, vocally, its unique style, right down to the cover. Ahhhh. It should be in every music lovers cd library. Every song can stand alone on its own merit yet, as a complete composition it is breathtaking with each song making the previous and next sound even better. So obviously, I love every track and my favorite is the last track, "Passing Afternoon."
There's a Force in OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS to be reckoned with. For me, it literally stops time and makes whatever I'm doing a joy while I feel peaceful, humble and thankful as it plays. OEND feeds my spirit as if to say, "Just live life, enjoy as much as possible and take it as it comes-- especially things out of my control." Music that speaks to me...what a gift. I only hope to keep coming across Music this great. Thank you, Sam.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Soar!

32 of 38 found the following review helpful:

Approximates Nick Drake musically..Lindsay Buckingham vocally Oct 13, 2005 By Greg Brady "columbusboy"
Sam Beam is the singer/songwriter behind Iron and Wine. Musically, you'll definitely be reminded of the spare acoustic folk sounds of Nick Drake, though Beam is apt to dust them with country influences quite often in the form of banjos and slide guitar. Vocally, he reminds me of a more hushed Lindsay Buckingham, especially when he utilizes layers of his vocals. ("Radio War" in particular made me think of a RUMOURS outtake..) Tempos and moods here vary between slow and melancholy to mid-tempo and subdued.

HIGHLIGHTS:

"On Your Wings" sinks it with its refrain "God, give us love in the time that we have" as it basks in mortality ("All these men that You've made/How we wither in the shade.."). "Each Coming Night" is another rumination about life's fragility. ("Will you say when I'm gone away/'I loved your son for his sturdy arms'...") "Free Until they Cut me Down" strides close musically to Johnny Cash's take on Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" (at least during the intro section) but nicely diverges later into one of the more musically interesting bits. It's also one of the more cynical tunes here, seemingly placing Beam in the shoes of a rapist ("Papa, don't tell me what I could've done/She's the one who begged me/'Take me home'...") "Fever Dreams" has probably the most poetic take on love here ("I want your flowers/like babies want God's love/Or maybe sure as tomorrow will come") Don't ask me what "Teeth in the Grass" is about...don't ask me to stop hearing it in my head either. It just sticks there...

LOWS:

No particular tunes stick out as bad but there is a sameness of sound throughout the disc. Whether that strikes you as "boring" or "cohesive" is probably in the ear of the beholder. It's also a bit short on runtime (less than 45 minutes) if such things matter to you.

If you like clear-cut images in your lyrics, this ain't the CD for you. I suspect that in some cases Beam just thought the words "sounded good" and they don't have any meaning at all.

BOTTOM LINE:

The cheerleaders for this album are candycoating quite a bit. I don't hear any "new Dylan" here. However, I do find myself liking it after repeated listenings and see it as a nice piece of art. Nick Drake fans are advised to check it out, as are fans of folky pop in general.

3 1/2 stars

10 of 11 found the following review helpful:

Soul Searching with Sam Beam Mar 25, 2004
When I first read that "Our Endless Numbered Days", the follow-up to the perfect "The Creek Drank the Cradle," was somewhat of a departure from the Iron & Wine formula, I was skeptical. I loved the lo-fi sound of his first effort and I was afraid that this one might lack that certain intimacy evident in it. However, even though the sound is different, the song thankfully remains the same. Sam Beam no longer records on his four-track in his home; rather, he has made the jump to the recording studio and as a result, that lo-fi sound is admittedly lost, making the songs sound much more sharp and clear. However, the intimate sound and simplicity of the songs is still very much there, with only light arrangements included this time around. But the focus in all the songs is still Sam's pleasant, whispery voice and slide guitar, which is a great thing. What the studio enabled him to do was add nice instrumental touches to various songs, giving the entire album some variety and liveliness, including backing vocals from his sister (Sarah Beam); drums and a tambourine on the great, bluesy "Free Until They Cut Me Down;" and the interesting chants at the end of "Cinder and Smoke." There are also some great acoustic ballads akin to the ones on "Creek Drank the Cradle," such as "Naked As We Came," "Sunset Soon Forgotten," and "Fever Dream," among others. The direction he took for this album seems to be just a natural progression in Beam's career, not an immediate shift in production or values. The bonus CD also features some nice, lo-fi sounding recordings that will make anyone who liked his debut happy. Strongly recommended for established fans (you won't be disappointed) and newcomers alike.

45 of 59 found the following review helpful:

Among my 2004 favorites: Folk is alive and well! Oct 24, 2004 By Manny Hernandez "@askmanny"
Nick Drake is gone, and so is Elliott Smith. But their style has survived in Sam Beam, the mind and soul behind Iron & Wine. I found out about them through the soundtrack of "Garden State" (the year's best OST in my opinion), and I am officially hooked on the mellow voice of Beam... as a beam of light it casts rays of melancholy interspersed with hope that make you want to listen to the album once and again. This makes the choice of a favorite track almost impossible, but if forced, I'd probably stick with "Naked as We Came", "Sunset Soon Forgotten", "Love and Some Verses", "Each Coming Night" and "Sodom, South Georgia." In a nutshell, an album impossible not to love!

See all 149 customer reviews on Amazon.com