This sweeping, candid, and hauntingly poetic piece written by genre crossover talent
Wyclef Jean lifted the artist into broader musical horizons. "Gone Till November," brought to light here in both pop and rap textures, catapulted
Jean into stardom and was the most well-remembered tune off his release,
Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival Featuring Refugee All-Stars. The song is surreal and hypnotic in effect, and deeply touches those who fall away from their loved ones for months or years at a time. A message of hope and endearment,
Jean expresses, "girl I gotta leave/please don't cry/when I come back/you know the limit's the sky/if my corpse could talk you know I'd tell you I was sorry," with sincere grace and love to his friend, sending a kiss to his mother. The pop version is a imaginative work, full of witty lyricism and poetic flair, reminiscing the likes of
Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."
Sonny Kompanek conducts an eloquent string arrangement of the
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, expressed with both romantic and dissonant tones. Track two, simply entitled "The Makin' Runs Remix," deals with death, pregnancy, and loss. The remix carries out a message of the man leaving his pregnant wife with further emphasis on the showcase
Master P rap groove of
Jean and guest artist
R. Kelly. "I can't work a nine to five/so I'll be gone to November/lifestyles of the rich and famous/some die young and some die nameless," the chorus of these two gripping arrangements, sheds a circle of emotion that
Jean seems to bring to the front so passionately. ~ Shawn Haney