Well, it’s Memorial Day weekend, and having already departed from political commentary by touting the stylistic excesses of one piece in the current online edition of The New Republic, I might as well mention another: a stunning review of Lucinda Williams’ musical development by David Jaffe. If you are interested in Williams’ music, the southern musical idiom, or simply the painful irrationality of human relationships, Jaffe’s piece is a must-read. His basic hypothesis is that Lucinda’s power as an artist has increased as she has aged and has begun to replace musical virtuosity with the savage intensity of her rage against the bad men she incorrigibly loves. And his writing is as raw and disturbing as Williams’ music has become during her powerfully libidinous mid-life crisis.