Amy Bezunartea: Real Life In Song

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In "I Lie Awake At Night (But That's All Right)," Amy Bezunartea describes the grinding days and small rewards of low-wage labor.

Courtesy of the artist

In "I Lie Awake At Night (But That's All Right)," Amy Bezunartea describes the grinding days and small rewards of low-wage labor.

There's nothing wrong with addressing First World concerns in song, whether it's Arcade Fire singing about the suburbs, Vampire Weekend fusing world music with the Ivy League, or Bon Iver nursing a broken heart while getting away from it all. But It's still refreshing to hear Restaurants and Bars, a fine new album by Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Amy Bezunartea, who chronicles her years of tough times and comedic misadventures in the service industry.

In the infectiously poppy "I Lie Awake At Night (But That's All Right)," Bezunartea sings of the drudgery of waitressing in a lovely, lilting voice which belies its quotidian subject matter: "I was always turning the two-tops / Tied down to some busy lunch spot / From the lunch rush on to dinner / Will you love me as I wither?" Bezunartea's tales of grinding days and the small rewards of low-wage labor are a part of no one's rock 'n' roll fantasy. But they're tenderly observed and humorous, poignant and true.