Description
Watercolour Ponies is the fifth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Wayne Watson, released on DaySpring Records in 1987, a division of Word. The album was produced by Paul Mills and Wayne Watson.
When one of Christian music’s most underrated sons comes up with a project called ‘Watercolour Ponies’, you can’t help but sit up and take notice.
With his new album, Wayne Watson charts a bit of new ground (though not as much as one might hope) on the same course he has followed since his entry into the Christian music field in the early ’80s. More bass, drums, and intensity make their way into ‘Ponies’, resulting in a satisfying, though not surprising, listen. What distinguish this album, like Watson’s others, are the precise, pleasing vocals and intelligent, creative lyrics.
Watson’s music defies absolute categorization. He seems to slide constantly from the doorstep of rock ‘n’ roll to the living room of adult contemporary where he seems more at home. A sensitive, emotional singer, he pulls the listener through the proverbial wringer with him and leaves that listener touched. Nowhere on ‘Ponies’ is this more pronounced than on the title track. Keaggy-like guitar work ushers in a beautiful duet about the pain that comes when parents have to let go of children whose “watercolour ponies” now decorate refrigerator doors.
«Two Loves» is the gem of this album, a realistic love song as good as anything of its genre on mainstream Top 40 playlists. Speaking of a woman’s love for Christ (and for a man), Watson sings, “If she’s given her first love away/ She can love you like nobody can.”
Weaker moments of the album occur with «Rose Coloured Glasses» and «Jesus Sings», both of which typify the blander courses of Watson fare. Frankly, the chorus of the former, “His gaze always passes/ Through rose-coloured glasses,” wears thin fast.
«I Still Believe» is Ponies’ port of entry into rock, leading into the timely «Material Magic» (“People trade in their souls/ For the pleasure, for the ecstasy of the eyes”). Like most of Watson’s songs, both of these speak to the mature believer in the ’80s. Encouraging and pertinent, they give the impression that someone understands the doubts, the inconsistencies, and the all-out joy of following the One of whom Wayne Watson sings. [Robyn Frazer, CCM, July 1987]
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LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “I Still Believe” – 4:45
A2. “Material Magic” – 4:04
A3. “Watercolour Ponies” – 4:41
A4. “Friend Of A Wounded Heart” – 5:23
A5. “Is There No Harbor” – 4:37
Side Two
B1. “The Hunger” – 4:54
B2. “Rose Colored Glasses” – 4:53
B3. “2 Loves” – 5:59
B4. “Jesus Sings” – 5:25
B5. “Would I Know You” – 3:47
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by DaySpring Records.
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