Under normal circumstances I’d cite Mavis as rusty on pipes, and nevertheless imbuing more history, more life, into one knowing “heh!”, than the usual suspects (usually one-third her age) manage over chart-topping “statements.” Under normal circumstances, I’d point to guitarist Rick Holmstrom with his ever-appropriate throbbing, twanging swamp monster menace, as the musical lynchpin of this set. However, “under normal circumstances” equals “further back than the last eight years.” Under our not-normal circumstances (“Welcome Back to the United States of America” read one headline in my neighborhood after Election Day), we sigh deeply in relief. We understand that the Yes We Can, and Did, doesn’t begin to cover everything We Must Do. But we can begin to nervously laugh at the last eight years as Nightmare. Under those circumstances, “For What It’s Worth” (“step outta line, the man comes / and takes you away”) resonates with history, not necessity. “Wade in the Water” and “Eyes on the Prize” manifest as the unquenchable strength that got us to Yes We Can, not as our reaching for a few more drops of that strength, girding for that Nightmare’s third act. I’m grateful we may read the record thus. (I’m grateful I can breathe American air again.

But it works also, should you dare to imagine, as one flash point of warm hope that third-round Nightmare Now Negated.