T Bone Burnett, before he made a name for himself producing great albums like the soundtrack for “O Brother, Where Art Thou” and the recently multi-awarded “Raising Sand,” was producing great, if underappreciated, CDs of his own.

Recently, a friend pointed me to the online music site lala.com, where I discovered a lot of older stuff I had in my collection but had worn out. Among those finds was Burnett’s The Talking Animals, which was released in 1988. While not among his strongest efforts, it’s still very good overall. One of the songs that stands out is the baroquely titled “The Strange Case of Frank Cash and the Morning Paper.” This song, which is really Burnett narrating with a musical background, tells a fascinating story with a fascinating twist at the end. It is that twist that points to God’s sovereignty in our lives and our utterly foolishness in trying to deny it. I won’t spoil it for you here, but you can click on the accompanying image to hear a sample of the song.