Following the release of 1995's wildly successful Days Like This, Van slapped together two subpar albums in Tell Me Something: The Songs of Mose Allison and How Long Has This Been Going On. With the release of The Healing Game in 1997, however, Van demonstrated that he hadn't yet lost his ability to produce listenable and meaningful songs. Pee Wee Ellis' presence on the album really shines, and takes many of the songs to another level. Van's singing seems scratchy throughout, and he may well have been suffering from some sort of affliction at the time of recording. Interestingly, his gruff-throated presentation serves the contents of this album well; while in the beginning we Van is forecasting a virtual armageddon with "Rough God Goes Riding," he leaves us with the uplifting and hopeful title track to conclude the album. His scratchy throat is a microcosm for the proceedings: he may be down, but ultimately he is not down for the count."Rough God Goes Riding" is a strong opening song, and Van spends his time lyrically gushing over a perceived lack of hope. As aforementioned in the title, he describes God as "rough," and goes so far as to say that "there'll be no more heroes/they'll be reduced to zero." It's a tone of utter hopelessness, yet the music is all the while gorgeous and elegant. The acoustic stumming mingles nicely with the melancholy horns, and the piano licks add a nice backdrop. "Fire in the Belly," which follows, is a well-arranged, catchy love song, but it is nothing along the lines of previous beauties like "Crazy Love" or "Have I Told You Lately." Van portrays a mature voice; indeed, there is no puppy love here. The underlying feeling, thus far, is that we are dealing with a musician that is matured yet unsettled in his third decade of performing, and the material reflects this restlessness.
"The Weight" and "Waiting Game" slow the tempo down, but nonetheless carry the burden of restlessness that plague the entire album. The lyrics throughout are full of weights, waiting, and fires; for some reason, Van seems almost obsessive compulsive in his preoccupation with the slow passage of time. "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is a pleasant retreat from the restless Van. It tells a mystical tale, and seems oddly like a fairy tale.
"Burning Ground" is a modern Van epic, along the lines of "Caravan" from Moondance or the title track of Saint Dominic's Preview. The song opens with the waves of Van's harmonica, and then the acoustic guitar churning and gruff-voiced singer cut through the peace. The pace is hectic, and the verses are angrily shouted. The theme of the song deals with renewal, but it's not necessarily a renewal of the pleasant sort; there's plenty of wind, rain, and ash scattered throughout the song. After the weighty "Burning Ground," Van delivers a streetcorner blues tune, "It Once Was My Life." The cynicism continues, as Van declares that his own life has been robbed of him by some "system," and people he once thought he knew. By dropping phrases such as "locked in by the system," and "trials and tribulations and stupidity still rules," he's making it known that while the ultimate name of the game is healing, there's still no shortage of misery in his weary world.
"Sometimes We Cry" is a beautiful ballad, and signals the end of the bitterness and cynicism. The song opens with a simple base line, which is melancholy and hopeful, all at once. "Sometimes we live/sometimes we die/sometimes we cry" sings Van, foreshadowing that while he may sometimes revel in the bad times, there is still hope and room for healing. It's significant to note here that he admits there being a time to "live" along with a time to "die," as he is essentially conceding that there is some goodness to life.
After an out-of-place "If You Love Me," the album concludes on a strong note with the title track of The Healing Game. The opening organ drones give the feeling of a Sunday morning spent in church; the listener can almost feel the sunlight pouring through stained-glass windows, casting colors of pastel onto the face. It's a therapeutic song, with Van chanting fervently to "sing it out loud/sing it in your name/sing it like you're proud/sing the healing game." Throughout Van's forty year career, it's always been all about the healing. From "Did Ye Get Healed?" to "And the Healing Has Begun" to "The Healing Game," the common denominator between us all is that we all must play the healing game over and over again.
Although Van's voice is not in top form, The Healing Game is a musically and lyrically complex work of art. The instrumentation is ornate and tight, and the words all deal with trials, tribulations, and ultimately, healing. The album should be required listening for anyone undergoing a crisis or depression; Van's words are so sincere and the music is so inviting, that even Van himself could talk perhaps the most troubled of souls into reconciliation with the world.
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