Clash of Cultures, rather than talking about big philosophical issues, brings it down to me and you which you can read as dealing with a relationship or society as a whole. The highlight of the album is Little Town Tramp, a successor to Small Town Talk, with Charles reflecting on the girl's downfall over some understated B3 from Rebennack. Tasty.
There's a reflective tone running through much of the album, Nobody's Fault But My Own, for example, says it all in the title and makes no bones about it in the lyrics and while the remade Before I Grow Too Old rolls along pleasantly enough it's more up tempo with greater urgency than the '72 version (and most of the covers) suggesting Charles knew he didn't have a lot of time left, and states his intentions without regrets or second thoughts. Sort of that’s the way it is podjo, so this is what I'm gonna have to do. There's some lovely understated mariachi brass running through Old Mexico, and lyrics that aren't a long way away from those of Down South In New Orleans, and while Rollin’ Round Heaven gets a slightly harder gospel-tinged treatment there's nothing much different about Charles' vocal delivery. When Love Turns To Hate is pretty much as you'd expect it, and if you'd expect a title like Take Back My Country to be a rousing call to arms, and the lyric line seems to have a dig at Sarah Palin, that vocal style isn't going to be storming the barricades any time soon.
After the lingering slide note that begins the penultimate You'll Always Live Inside of Me, Landreth's wonderfully understated guitar work through the rest of the track is one of the instrumental highlights of the album (along with Rebennack's keys on Little Town Tramp). It's the same sort of understated heart-searing you find, for instance in some of Ry Cooder's best work. As suggested earlier, fans of Charles' work will be happy to know it's a case of more of the same, and for fans of straight ahead uncluttered down home music who aren't familiar with the man's work Timeless is well worth investigating.