Ball of Wax Songs: Robert Deeble – “Uncertain”

Robert Deeble has been with Ball of Wax since the very beginning – Volume 3, to be precise – and over the past few years he’s been gradually sharing sneak peeks with us from his long-awaited and soon-to-be-released album, Beloved, which is about his daughter and what they all went through to become an adoptive family. As an adoptive father and a longtime friend and fan of Robert’s, I’m obviously predisposed to love this album, and guess what? I totally do. But I think I can be objective about this song as an intimate, heartfelt, and moving piece of music. “Uncertain” is a perfect word to describe both the process of adopting a child and just being a parent in general. Wait, you realize, I’m supposed to be the one who knows what’s going on? It truly is terrifying, but still, like Robert, you find yourself thinking “This life, it kicked us in the ass / come on let’s kick it back. / First step, I’m holding out my hand / faithful as a man.” I will also pick out one sonic detail that I love: the perfectly rhythmic string-scrapes as Robert moves from chord to chord on the verse, sounding almost like sampled seagulls and adding a beautiful upswing to the song. So glad they chose to include and highlight this rather than treating it as a recording faux pas.

Beloved should be out next month. Robert will be playing songs from the album along with some string players this Saturday at the Ball of Wax 49 release show. I’m really excited for this set (and the show in general). Don’t miss it!

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