Lucinda Williams is a woman of extremes.  When she's on, she's peerless.  But when she misses, she's god-awful.  And "Honey Bee" is god-awful.

Memo to Lu:  you don't have to take the "big, dumb rock song" cliché so literally.  It's entirely possible to write a big, dumb rock song that isn't, well, so f*cking dumb. Go ahead, kick out the jams.  But, Jesus H. Christ, spend a minute or two on the goddamn lyrics.

Lu's latest—Little Honey (2008)—closes with AC/DC's "It's a Long Way to the Top," and even that seems highbrow by comparison.  [Actually, we rather liked the AC/DC cover.  But that's a different story.  Back to the screed.]  "Honey Bee" is some sort of inane cross between children's music and mullet rawk.  And to be charitable, it does, um, rawk—if you're 15.  Or illiterate.  We're tempted to do a line-by-line annotation, but that probably wouldn't constitute "fair use," so we'll stick with two brief snippets.

Exhibit A:

Oh, my little honey bee
I'm so glad you stung me
You've become my weakness
Now I've got your sweetness
All up in my hair

"Now I've got your sweetness / All up in my hair"?  Seriously?  You couldn't come up with anything better than a sophomoric cumshot joke?  When you're mining Farrelly brothers films for inspiration, the end is nigh.  (Or are we supposed to think you're clever for repurposing the expression "all up in my grill"?  It doesn't help, really.  Listeners who make the leap won't find the mental image rewarding.)

Exhibit B:

Oh, my little honey bee
I'm so glad you stung me
Now I've got your honey
All over my tummy

What the f*ck?  Verse one was bad enough, but now you've got a puddle on your stomach to boot?  No, we're not off-put by sexual innuendo, but this is ridiculous.  Who the f*ck uses the word "tummy"?  Maybe you could have squeezed some "beanies" and "weenies" in there too, for good measure?  Or—hey, this would have been really clever—maybe a couple of "bunnies"?  You know, as in "f*cking like…"?

Verdict:

If you speak English well enough to read this review, you'll find the song irritating.