Fast Paced Pessimistic Protest Lamentation

In 2007, the Dollyrots wrote a fast paced song highlighting what had gone wrong with the world (and particularly the U.S.) in recent years.  The Dollyrots weren't fans of George W. Bush.  In fact, when he got elected as president, they dropped their goals of job security, and began to treasure the moment, putting their focus on music.

Not to sympathize with the Bush administration, but I don't think that we can pin all issues listed in "Emergency S.O.S."  to one person, but distrust in the president is firmly implied.  Rapidly sung by Kelly Ogden, the lyric cover many major issues that had been coming to a head.  Global warming, poverty, acts' of terror & destruction, the spread of E. coli, and corporate greed were mentioned.  Adding onto this, and perhaps in response to these growing problems are more issues that got raised in this song such as heightened surveillance, and the color coded warning scale that we unfortunately grew accustomed to.  As wars, blights, and natural disasters are occurring, there's growing pressure bearing down on people.  Metaphorically (and like R.E.M in "It's the End of the World and We Know It"), the songwriter is huddled in a shelter during what could be compared to apocalyptic prophecies.  She reaches out to tap the emergency message "S-O-S".

Honestly, the first times that I listened to this song (like when I heard R.E.M.'s aforementioned piece), the singing was generally too fast for me to grasp the meaning.  For that short time, "seatbelts" and "Star Wars" sounded like random additions to the lyrics.  Like when the guys from REM emphasize Leonard Bernstein's name.  Approaching the end of the Obama administration, I can only hope that the Dollyrots will no longer feel the desperate need for an emergency rescue.


And yes, that's a white bunny with a gas mask on the album cover.  Even if there's song a bout a disastrous state of the world, the Dollyrots maintain a general happy and effervescent weirdness in most of their songs and iconography.  Bunnies on the t-shirts, bunnies on the album covers.  One of the things that I love most about the what the Dollyrots do is that they deviate from the dark and hard-living archetypes that we primarily expect from genres such as punk.  It's like the scene from 2007's New X-Men #47 when Pixie left the broody Wolverine comically hallucinating as he yelled (with claws out) "$#%^ING UNICORNS!".

Proudly Peculiar

Lenka Kripac is an Aussie singer/songwriter who has a very distinct style.  In an "indie" approach, she can sing about deep personal subjects in ways that are cheerful and catchy.  In videos of her concert videos and Livestream performances, you'll see Trey Lockerbie accompanying her on guitar.  Usually, it's just those two, with Lenka's husband (James Gulliver Hancock) working as a visual artist on her videos.

She stands out from many of today's big name performers, and that's why tonight's feature is the self-identifying "Unique."  Released on 2015's album The Bright Side, the song was written by Lenka and the song's producer Chris Braide.  It's all about proudly being oneself despite what the cultural normalcy may tell you (a similar message to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way," only less in-your-face and more cute in the delivery).    The lyrics start with her saying how what she appears to be can be contradictory to how she's feeling, and that she responds to situations in a way she'd stand out (such as being quiet in a loud space).  The second verse has more examples of her quirky behavior.  She embraces these "imperfections" because it's these imperfection can be perfection.

The whole song's message gets collected in the refrain.  She concludes that she's peculiar, not following any common trend or convention (cultural or countercultural).  She's regularly in he own world everyday, and while people may sometimes conform for the sake of normalcy, she's cool with that.  "Cuz I am me, and that's unique."

For a long time, I've  been atypical among peers.  Listening to (and writing about) music that may not necessarily be trending at the time,  Creating unconventional recipes, and painting barefoot in college.  I feel that this is a song about being cool with our unorthodox selves.  People may hide who they are and (or) dedicate themselves to fitting cultural archetypes just to be like others.  Each person should take pride in who they are.  Unique if may be.

Escapism from Current Events

In this blog post, I'm writing about a different song from Bearfoot.  2011's American Story album featured a different lineup.  Angela Oudean and Jason Norris had rebuilt the band, bring in Nora Jane Struthers, Todd Grebe, and P..J. George.  Tonight's song selection is by Struthers.  Like Odessa Jorgensen, she was a contributing songwriter while also singing lead for Bearfoot. 

The song that I'm focusing on tonight is called "Tell Me a Story."  In ways, the song is reflecting on what the world's become.  The song opens with Strutters saying that everywhere she looks, theres' pain and sadness.  Our world is entirely full of negative news, but particularly in this new century, we've seen so much tragedy as a country.  Terrorism, riots, wars, diseases, and other such things.  I've heard that taking in too much news coverage (regardless of political leanings) can make people too cynical negative.  

The rest of the song is about the singer asking to be told a story from long ago.  Of medieval knights, divers searching for lost treasures, or even fairy tales.  That need for escapism is often our cultural go-to when times are hard.  During the Great Depression, children and adults alike would read comics and pulp novels.  While there wasn't enough money to take the people out of poverty, there were stories to give them some creative consolation.  This notion may similarly also be why we (in general) pay much more attention to comics and superhero stories now.  With all these "popcorn" movies that come out during the late spring and summer, people seem to crave movies with big names, funny quips, and plenty of action.  Sometimes even some underlying social rhetoric.  

I've heard from some people in the comics community that they want comic book stories that are literally fantastic, and unlike anything that could happen in the real world.  It's a subject that comic fans are divided about (surrealism vs. super surrealism), and I guess that the motivation behind this preference is that with unbridle violence and badass-ery, people can be very entertained while feeling protected from the world of the film's characters.  

Holding Out from the World

Tonight, I'm writing about another of Colin Hay's songs.  This is from 2001's Going Somewhere album.  The song is something that I first heard on the sitcom Scrubs and became a fixture in my lifestyle as I listened to more of Hay's music.  The song is called "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin."


The song is about two people discussing the present and the future.  While Hay's character is driven (which can be good thing) that he isn't as cognizant of who and what's around him.  He has these dreams of heroism and great deeds that he views as a real life that just hasn't begun yet.  In the other hand, a woman who loves him is pleading for him to live in the present and "let the light shine in."

I'm not sure if Colin Hay had someone his age in mind when writing the lyrics, so I'm not sure how long the person has been waiting for this "real life" to begin.  He's reached a point where excuses must be made to justify still holding out on this goal.  The times are lean.  In a direct metaphor to gambling, the man asks for a chance to throw the dice once more.    The only line that I don't completely understand (although it's beautifully written) is when he talks about standing on the bow as the waves crash along his feet.  I didn't see how he could be on the shores waiting for the ship (so to speak), while also being about said ship.

After spending my 20's treating personal relationships as a lesser priority to attempting a freelance art career, I can completely identify with this song.  I still haven't completely given up on my dream, but taking advice from Hay's lyrics, I'm trying to balance professional and personal goals for the long-term and short-term. While keeping an eye out to the horizon, I'm starting to explore the shoreline, and the opportunities also available.

Being True to Self

In this post, I'm writing about another cover that stood out to me while I was listening to Pandora.  Madeleine Peyroux created a jazzy version of "Everybody's Talkin'"  by Fred Neil.  He wrote and recorded it in 1966, and Harry Nilsson released a cover 1968.  It's mostly likely that if you know this song, you know it for Nilsson's version.  The Grammy winning cover was featured in such movies as Midnight Cowboy, Forrest Gump, and the third Hangover movie.  It begins with "Everybody's talking' at me.  I don't hear a word they're saying.  Only the echoes of my mind.".  Although the song is primarily for folk and rock, the Peyroux version brings a great combination of drums, bass, guitars, piano, and cymbal (bringing a new take to the old classic).

Originally, the song was written in a rush.  Fred Neil needed a final track for an album that he was recording.  He quickly wrote this as an autobiographical message about not fitting in.  He had come from St. Petersburg, Florida to New York so that he could pursue a music career.  But life up north in the big city wasn't right for him.  People had their views and opinions of him, but Neil chose to be himself.  Eventually, things came to a head when this third album (self-titled).  Afterwards, he flew down to Miami (where the weather suited his clothes), and worked primarily out of South Florida.  He worked out of the Coconut Grove neighborhood, occasionally coming back north for performances.  He recorded two more albums and dedicated much of his energy to championing for dolphins.  One of his songs about dolphins.  His performances became increasingly less frequent.  The last known show was at a Coconut Grove pub in 1981.  He lived out his life in Miami, dying from skin cancer in 2001 at the age of 65.

Fred Neil's life's was cut short, but he made an impact wherever he went.  Before getting pulled back to Florida, he had befriended and inspired many folk artists in Greenwich Village.  Joni Mitchell, Stephen Stills, David Crosby, Bob Dylan, etc... His sphere of influence has expanded beyond folk now.  He, Joni Mitchell, and Charlie Chaplin, were among the musicians that Madeleine Peyroux covered for her Half the World album.

That says great things about his short-lived career.

A Lifesaving Breakup

Along with his talent, something that amazes me about Elton John's music is how long he and some members of "the Elton John Band" have been performing together.  Elton John and guitarist Davey Johnstone have been performing together for 45 years.  With the exception of 5 years, Nigel Olsson has been playing the drums in Elton's music since 1969!  There are other bandmembers worth noting (like the John Mahon, the late Bob Birch, and some of the newer additions), but tonight, I'm going back to a 1975 lineup of Johnstone, Olsson, Dee Murray, and Ray Cooper.

I imagine that you're wondering why I'm beginning this post  by talking about Elton John's band.  It's that for "Someone Saved My Life Tonight,"  they created a vocal harmony that I would compare to what the Beach Boys displayed in "Forever."

Alan Aldridge's cover art for 1975's
Captain Fantasic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

Like when Dennis Wilson was writing that masterpiece, Elton John and Bernie Taupin wrote "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" about something extremely personal.  Elton was engaged engaged to marry Linda Woodrow back in 1969, and he couldn't stand the relationship.  According to the song he found her so dominating.  People have called their significants others a "ball and chain," but Elton John took that further.  He described being tied down and kept from freedom.  He was contemplating suicide when a friend and fellow musician (Long John Baldry) suggested that he break off the relationship.  He was a butterfly, who wanted to fly free in his colorful magnificence.

In 1976, Elton John came out as bisexual, and after a failed four year marriage in the 80's, he more specifically (and proudly) identified as gay.  A few years later the butterfly began a relationship with David Furmish.  The couple are now married and with two sons.

The reason that I emphasized his personal life and relationships is to show how Elton John (the butterfly) created strong bonds with musicians as his career developed, and after some trials and tribulations, had developed a family that he could comfortably settle down in.  I find it to be a great twist that Elton began working with Olsson the same year that he broke up with that first fiancé.  He's been committed to some personal and professional relationships that have lasted longer than most marriages.

Easing the Mind

Can you imagine the words "Apocalypse" and "lullaby" going together?  Because "Apocalypse Lullaby" is tonight's featured song.  In this song from the Wailin' Jennys' "Firecracker" album, Annabelle Chvostek (one of the band's past altos) wrote and sang lead.  The other Jennys join in for the harmonies, and I was noticing how Chvostek has a voice that at sometimes sounds like Makana's.


Now, Chvostek opens the song by saying that eventually, natural disasters occur, and civilizations fall, but at this moment, the person that she and the Jennys are singing to should concentrate on the present, and rest.  They instruct the person to imagine a place no light shown.  Then in that moment of concentration, just listening to their voices, the listener follows their heart to a place of home, a sense of golden warmth.

The lyrics for this song aren't always that easy for me to decipher.  I feel like some of the phrases are purposefully abstract and strung together because they sound pretty and soothing.  Unlike James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James" or some of the more traditional lullabies, Annabelle Chvostek doesn't try to write about sleep or put a bedtime story to music.  Instead she eases the restless mind.  The song is slightly hypnotic as it lulls the listener.

Benefits of Companionship

If I was to tell you that today's selected song comes from the soundtrack for a children's movie, you'd be thinking Disney, right?  That could easily be the case.  I am a big fan of Disney soundtracks, but  I'm writing about 2006's Curious George.  While some songs were covers or revisions, Jack Johnson performed all the songs for the movie, and released them in the album Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George.  There was even a hit music video on VH1 (and possibly MTV) where Johnson sang Upside Down while swimming with Curious George.  I can't tell you how tempted I was to choose that song today, but I went with something a little bit lesser known.  It's called "Broken."

It's a song about companionship, but unlike his normal love songs, this is a little more universal in what type of relationship the song can refer to.  It can just as easily be about a romantic couple as it can be about a man in a yellow hat who has found a kindred spirit in a little monkey.

The song opens with Johnson singing about embracing the present and future with this person that he's singing to.  Leaving the past behind.  Although still working towards a sense of completion, it's much more preferable a journey with this person by his side.  Admirably Johnson imagines that this person may already have their life altogether.  He doesn't know if they even needed to put much effort into finding him, but he didn't exactly know what to look for in a potential companion until meeting this person.  In the end, Johnson sums up that what he's done before meeting this person has some value, but none of these achievements are as great as what they can do together.  

Between you and me, I don't think this song was just meant to refer to a cartoon monkey and his best friend.  The song is applicable to that situation, but it has all the tell-tale signs of a classic Jack Johnson love song.  There are songs where he writes about other subjects (songs that I'll get to in due time).  This just where music led me tonight.  I hope that you have the open minds to embrace soundtracks not always necessarily created for adult ears.  If it's music from Frozen, the Sherman brothers, the Ashman & Menken, the score of the Incredibles or other pieces.  I can even think of some Disney songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz that comes from one of the more under appreciated films from the animated canon.  

Yearning for Grace

Of all the Civil Wars' songs, I think that tonight's feature comes closest to the Christian contemporary genre that Joy Williams had started out in.  Like songs from her solo career (to mention some examples, "Hide" or "Every Moment"), "From this Valley" is just so invigorating and uplifting.  It makes you want to sing along.  It also has some strong folk influence from her singing bandmate John Paul White, and Phil Madeira also had a hand in the song.  Honestly, I'm not sure exactly who contributed what to the song, but it reminded me personally of Joy's early work.

Much of the song is describing different cases of desire.  An outcast wanting acceptance, a desert wanting a nearby river, and like an orphan wanting its mother, the singer wants to be held in God's grace.  The catch refrains are about praying to go from the valley to the mountaintop, where she'd be closer to God.  In the last verse, like air beneath a bird's wings or a melody supporting a voice, she prays that Jesus carries her.


Yeah, this is easily the most "Christian contemporary" that a Civil Wars song has ever gotten.  I'm sorry to those who feel uncomfortable with songs so much about faith.  I don't listen to many acts in this genre, but I dabble.  I'm a spiritual person with a respect for other faiths, and think that people from many different faiths may be able to relate to the wanting of closeness to the divine.  I think that I'll let this ember cool a little, before writing about other super spiritual songs, but be warned that I can even find a mystical connection to some seemingly secular recordings.

She Who Can Quell His Anxiety

Amos Lee is a musician frequently played on my Pandora station.  With a soulful folk style, his
music fits in with that of Norah Jones or Eva Cassidy.  Some of his songs are pretty recognizable, but it was this lesser known song from his first album that jumped out at me.  It's because "Arms of a Woman" seemed to resemble James Taylor's "Something in the Way She Moves."  The two singer-songwriters may have been going through different experiences at the time, but they have common ground.  They both write of feeling anxieties dissipating when in the presence of a specific woman.

He begins the song singing (as the title suggests) that he feels "at ease in the arms of a woman."  Unfortunately, he's often alone in a state that's a great distance from the comfort that he'd find in the familiar.  Amos uses "miles" as a unit of measurement when explaining the distance, but being thousands of miles away from some place could easily be a figure of speech used to explain his emotional state.  She then takes him home when she wakes him.  The second verse is written in a different pattern.  He describes a childlike fear of imaginary ghosts that haunt him (like someone afraid of the dark).  As much afraid he is in this lack of light, he can't muster the courage to flip the light switch.  It's that woman in his life that soothes Lee, taking the singer "home" from that anxious state.

Unlike the J. T. song that I mentioned earlier (where three verses and a refrain read like a meditative stream of consciousness), much of Amos Lee's song is anchored by the repetition of some key components.  With all due respect to the artist, I would suggest that the limitation as an expression of how lyrics alone may not perfectly depict what he feels.  Changing around the pattern of delivery on his second run through the lyrics allows emotion to take more control.  Both songs have similar messages though conveyed with varying styles of American folk music.  Both are well crafted songs about what brings these sensitive men to a calm state of mind.

Repeatedly Repentant

For anyone who lived in the greater Boston area back in the 90's, do you remember when Kiss 108 would have a special segment late at night where a new song would be added to the station's programming?  One night, it may be the version of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" that had clips from the movie interjected into the song.  Another night, it may be US debut single from All Saints.  I remember when I first heard a song by Rebekah.  I didn't know who Rebekah was.  If it was one person, or a band named "Rebekah."  I just knew that "Sin So Well" was such a catchy song, but it wasn't popular enough to stay on the charts that long.

I couldn't figure out how to hear that song again, or learn about this artist who now performs as Rebecca Jordan.  In college, I would eventually find "Sin So Well" on YouTube.  Listening to it now, (18 years later) it's still great.  But I'm a little surprised to realize Meredith Brooks got more hate for having a song we she explains how she can be a "bitch" (similar to when in 1976, radio stations were standing against a certain Elton John song).  The truth is, that "Bitch" may have been cleaner than "Sin So Well" and a handful of other songs on the air.  And... Well... Brooks had some better songs on her Blurring the Edges album.

Now, before I tell you before I get into the lyrics, it may just be naive of me to not perceive this song at face value, and not a suggestion of a common sexual fetish.  The song is about a Catholic (there's mention of rosaries) who is spiritual, and trying to be a good catholic, but "sins so well."  She believes that it's wrong to give in to sexual urges until marriage, but finds it hard to get past the temptation.  I'm not sure how often she "sins so well," so I can't definitely say she's a sex addict or not.  I also can't completely discern the age, since I could see a mother worrying about such things regardless of their daughter's (or son's) age.  The thing is that the Rebecca's character acknowledges that what she continually gives into is wrong, and asks other to pray for her chastity.  It just sounds like an addict's fighting back the urge to relapse.  Then again, this could just be the cliche "horny Catholic school girl" trope, an ideal reciprocating person for Billy Joel's "Only the Good Die Young."

With all that analysis aside, I still find "Sin So Well" to be a very catchy but underrepresented song.

"Sin So Well" was the one big single from Rebecca Jordan's first album (1998's Remember to Breathe).  For one reason or another, Rebecca didn't release another album until 2005.  In that time, she did start building a reputation a as a talented collaborator, and co-wrote "Beautiful Disaster" for Kelly Clarkson.  In this modern age where artists can more easily have their own independent labels, Rebecca's released 4 more albums, and continues to collaborate on songs for others too.

So, take this as inspiration.  Not just for finding Rebecca's music, but also searching for the musicians who had passed quickly through your teen years.

Misplaced Love

Breaking from the standard of recording in a studio, the Cowboy Junkies arranged to record in a church on a November day in 1987.  The came prepared, got everything on tape (it was an analog age), and the Session album was released the next year.  The Trinity Session was a huge hit, and it's for those songs that the band is most known for today.  In this post, I'm going to choose one of the big singles from the Trinity track list.

Like the 10,000 Maniacs' "What's the Matter Here," the Cowboy Junkies' "Misguided Angel" is a story about abuse.  Differences are that it's particularly about spousal abuse, and that the song is written from the victim's perspective (not someone wanting to intervene).  This song (written together by siblings Margot and Michael Timmins) is just as important a message.  When the time came to record a Trinity Revisited in the same church 19 years later, Natalie Merchant (formerly of the 10,000 Maniacs) joined them in recording the new version of "Misguided Angel."

In each of the verses, the singer's character tells her family members (her mother, father, sister, and brother) that despite her husband's faults, there are many positive qualities to him.  Privately, she opens up, calling her husband a "misguided angel".  She picks two angels that she sees in her husband.  Gabriel (the messenger) and Lucifer.  Given modern culture, you probably know who Lucifer is referring to.  Dating back to chapter 14 from the Book of Isaiah, Lucifer had led a revolt against God, and was stricken into the ground.  Margot's character describes his heart to Gabriel, associating ivory tone of white with purity.  In contrast, the husband's soul is like Lucifer's.  "Black and cold like a piece of lead."  While coal is usually associated with the color black, I think that means more when lead is being compared with ivory.  While ivory and coal are carbon based (coming from life), lead is a raw metallic element.  

Metaphors aside, the most important part of the message, is that the character has fallen into a horrible mindset.  The husband convinced her that childhood's over and that she's his wife until death.  In many examples of loving relationships, pertaining to that part of the marital vows is perfectly heathy, but this isn't a loving relationship.  There's a beauty to the music and songwriting, but definitely a deep sadness as well.  Just as with "What's the Matter Here" (recorded 8 months earlier in Los Angeles), the track ends with us not knowing how the story ends.  The relationships that we learn about in these songs are left open ended, and I imagine that it's to show how society must change it's patterns.  I trust that we've come far as a people in the past 29 years, but however the miles behind us, we've got many more to go.

The Tale of Some Gallant Union Troops

Every now and then, I see a family band come up on my Pandora stations.  Be it Boyce Avenue, the sisters in the Waifs, the Cowsills, or the Timmins siblings.  The band I'm highlighting tonight is a bluegrass family from southern Illinois.  Phil and Dorene had been playing to music together for a long time, and as their three daughters (Melissa, Emily, and Alysha) grew up in that house, the kids learned how to sing and develop harmonies.  A son-in-law, Kyle, eventually joined (bringing the banjo and other talents).  Recently, Dorene has stepped back from the stage show.

Along with some covers of songs such as "Shine" by Collective Soul and "Cups" by the Carter Family & Luisa Gerstein.  The also write tons of original material.  Tonight's featured track is "First Minnesota" from their 2013 album Looking Forward.

In this song, the Bankesters teach us about a regiment from the American Civil War that I don't think that many of us learn of in school.  The 1st Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, lost massive numbers of casualties at the battles of First Bull Run and Antietam.  It came to a head at Gettysburg when Major General Winfield Hancock ordered the First Minnesota to hold back Wilcox's Confederate troops while Union reserves arrived.  The 1st Minnesota was already outmanned and didn't know if they'd survive.  Nonetheless, for the sake of the Union, they bravely ran in to battle.  Of the 262 present in the charge, only 47 survived.  The survivors did battle again the next day during Pickett's Charge.  Losing to captains, the Minnesotans did capture the colors of the 28th Virginia Infantry.

Although there are ongoing battles over the confederate flag, I honestly  can't think of any other modern musicians who've recorded songs about Civil War battles.  They tend to be about more recent wars (and in ABBA's case, the 1815 Battle of Waterloo).  I'm glad to have come across this track, and will most likely write some more about the Bankesters' recordings in the future.

Embracing Life's New Adventures

In August, I had written about one of the Waifs' songs.  This month, I'll write about another one.  What can I say?  I'm a big fan of their work.  Written by Joshua Cunningham, this song is  first track from their first album, and it's pretty much about them leaving the nest.  By nest, I mean moving across the country from the Western Australian coast to Melbourne.

In the opening lines, one of the Waifs is imagining Cable Beach in Broome (the town where the Simpson sisters met Cunningham), and is not readily embracing their recent move to Melbourne.  That's a cross-country change that the band made in '96.  This person talking to her (be it Cunningham or one of the sisters) is trying to convince her to live in the presence.  They've moved to a big city, and it's time to seize the moment.  Stepping outside into the open Melbourne atmosphere, the sudden rush of sensations brings the woman back to reality.  While the move is scary and intimidating, the trio are determined to persevere and see this adventure through.

The song is about charting a trajectory towards a goal and seeing it through.  Living for today, and not yesterday.  Honestly, I'm swallowing some pride writing this.  This may be something that many people struggle with.  I'm very unclear about which destination is the best, I've hung back, wondering if I even have the right tools to move forward.  While trying to build some career, I've been exercising my talents (like blogging), trying to find the right path.

...

That said, I'm trying to move forward while living however in the moment that I'm capable of.  I have  a great admiration for people like the Waifs (and others) who have been able to find mindfulness, and not be as weighed down by anxieties.

With a Holy Host of Others

Tonight's selection is a very well known song, from an artist that I grew up listening to.  For many of us who grew up in 80's and 90's Massachusetts, our parents listened to a lot of James Taylor.  Then again, "a lot" may be an understatement.  Live shows.  CD's.  Vinyl's.  A gathering of family members to watch one of his performances on PBS.  I think that it's our parents' listening to that era's singer-songwriters that has gotten my generation gravitating to them as well.

Despite my mom's headstart in knowing James Taylor's music, there was an album that I surprised her with one recent year.  It was his self-titled album from 1968.  He had the opportunity of recording with Beatles before the band broke up.  His song "Something in the Way She Moves" happened to inspire a great love song of George Harrison's for the Abbey Road album.  It gets weirder, and little more surreal.

The song "Carolina in My Mind" is something that folkies easily know to be an autobiographic song about homesickness, but when you understand the full context, the song makes even more sense.  You see, my parents (and probably many other people) listened to the song through JT's famous Greatest Hits album from '76.  But the song had been reworked, and was missing two very big components from the original studio recording.  George Harrison and Paul McCartney!  They are the "holy host of others" standing around him.  We tend to hold the Beatles in the highest regard, and in Sister Act, Whoopi Goldberg's character listed the fab four when asked to name the four gospel writers of the Bible.  As if that wasn't enough of a treat for music fans, you can hear these two Beatles in the recording for "Carolina in My Mind."  With Harrison singing in the background and McCartney's distinctive bass playing (all with Richard Hewson's contribution of woodwinds and strings), the recording feels like the perfect fusion between the now familiar James Taylor style and the later Beatles albums.

Although George (my favorite Beatle) passed away 15 years ago, I still hold out hope that James Taylor and Paul McCartney will perform "Carolina in My Mind" together at least once more.  Maybe in 2 years?  That would be the 50th anniversary of that debut album.  JT and Macca could perform at the Grammys, or the CMT awards, or Bonnaroo, or Tanglewood, or the Newport Folk Festival, or the Kate Wolf Festival,  ....  Some event.  Some location.  .... Come on!

A Glimmer of Light In the Darkest of Times.

I came upon today's song through a very tranquil station that features the likes of Eva Cassidy, Norah Jones, and Sarah McLachlan.  The music was calming, and the lyrics were deep.  Listening to the song, I came to realize that there is grief in this song.  Also sudden loneliness, and some hope.

The song that I'm writing about is "Sand and Water" by Beth Nielsen Chapman.  It was a song that she released in 1997 about living past the death of her husband.  I've never been in the position of losing a spouse, so I can only comprehend some levels of what people have experienced.  Nielsen Chapman shares so much in this song, but I understand that feelings can't always be most accurately expressed (verbally or by guitar).  What she's presented is plenty.

With the calming sound of an acoustic guitar, she goes through four verses, repeating the second at the end.  The first is about suddenly being alone, without a particular partner in life.  There seems to be a sense of abandonment, wondering how to no longer take on the world as a team.  In the second verse, she examines how there are battles that one must usually faces alone, and sees some inevitability despite the misfortune of losing her husband at such a young age.  It's a view on life and death, and how our bodies will erode in time to other elemental compounds.  It's in the third verse that she finds spiritual relief, firmly believing that her husband is still watching over her, and that at some point, they'll reunite.  Verse 4 is where she thinks about those who depend on her.  Their son (who is named after her husband).  She stares boldly at the challenge of being a single parent, admiring all the potential and vitality in their child.  It's particularly in the boy's happiness that she sees her husband' legacy in the physical world.

As I said before, I can't begin to fully understand what it means to lose a husband or wife, but I can relate to at least some of the emotions.  I think it's a good thing that the singer-songwriter had this outlet for sharing her feelings.  It brings comfort to others as well as her.  As "Sand and Water" was becoming more closely woven into pop culture, she was beginning a relationship, and in 2008 she remarried.  With faith, strength, and the support of others, we are never fully alone.

As If Those Eyes First Opened

Like Jasmine Thompson, Bright Eyes was an act that I first heard of through TV commercials, and became more exposed to through Pandora.  On television, I could hear a fraction of the song "This is the First Day of My Life," but there is no way to capture the song's full message in so little time.  But, listening to other songs and musicians with a similar recording style created an emotional setting for when I heard the song in full.

We reach milestones where some day is viewed as the first day of the rest of our lives.  But in this song by Bright Eyes, that concept is taken a little bit further.  Looking at back at their relationship, life was incomplete without the other person.  From that moment where they realize the strength of their love, it's like they've begun a new life.  Reborn.

During the first three verses, there's a buildup of this man saying how life changing it was to meet and fall in love with this woman that he's singing to.  He recalls standing in the doorway, seeing her, and the power comes on like a light switch has been pulled.  In the fourth verse, we here about when she feels that intense feeling of love overcome her.  It's from a moment where she drives all night to see him in the morning.  In that expression of devotion and commitment, she's seeing how this is the first day of her new life too.    It's in the last verse that he concludes, explaining in the most accurate way he honestly can, he tells her what their life can be like in the future together.

This is a perfect little love song.  By how it looks back on the past, is sung in the present, and looks forward to the future, I see this as an ideal song for anniversaries, engagements, weddings, or the renewal of vows.  It's a very sweet way of capturing the feeling of a couple's journey together.

Before finishing this post, I saw the video for this song.  It really drives home the sense of romance.  The video (directed by John Cameron Mitchell) features people listening to the song on headphones often with their significant other.  Even when they're sitting in front of a crew with cameras and lights, there's something far more important in the atmosphere created.  It's them, on a couch, together listening to the song through headphones.  The delivery of the music is so immersive, and as the memories are roused, ...  In many cases, the person is sharing those personal moments with their loved one.  There's a range of emotions from the different people.  Joking and playing.  Sadly holding a photo.  Sharing the moment with their children.  Eve some singles are shown listening to this.  I think that the song brings out the romantic in all of us.

'Til They Met.

There are a pair of twins from Edinburgh widely known for how many miles they would walk to the door of their significant other.  Charlie and Craig Reid would (and their accompanying band) have a reputation for getting the entire audience to chant and clap in unison through the song.  The Proclaimers song I'm writing about today is not as well known as "I'm Gonna Be", but it does have a similar propulsion.  It might just be me, but I think it's pretty cool hearing two people singing lead in synchronicity.  Whether it be the women of Icona Pop, Agnetha & Anni-Frid of ABBA, or the Proclaimers.

"Then I Met You" is the third track from their breakout 1988 album Sunshine on Leith.  Charlie and Craig tell the tale of finding love after such a long time of being single and lonely.  The chanted lyrics tell about a man who has prayed to God that he'd find someone, and the payers seemed unanswered.  The man has reached a point of feeling destined to walk this life without a companion, without a sense of meaning, or a sense of worth.  

It all changed when walking out into Morningside (a district of Edinburgh that he thought had nothing new to show him) that this kindred spirit happens to also be looking for him.  It was at that moment that the curtains were drawn and light shown in.  I go as far as to guess that it's like when the kingdom prepared for Elsa's coronation in Frozen (Yes, I'm a proud Disney-phile).  

The song is still very popular with the Proclaimers' fans, but I do wonder if that type of negative prior outlook and finding the right person are so directly correlated. People say that one must love them self before finding romance with someone else.  While this man seems to have gown accepting of life alone, the lyrics still seem to show signs of despair.  However, something that does seem to match up with a common phenomenon is that he didn't find love until he wasn't so intently looking for it.  These too notions seem to meet in the middle, perhaps providing good reason for it happening.  I guess that it's appropriate that Ted Mosby's quest to find love ("How I Met Your Mother") led me to this song.  "I'm Gonna Be" was part of the show's soundtrack, and through the HIMYM Pandora station I heard other songs by the Proclaimers.  If it wasn't for the TV series' bittersweet finale, perhaps "Then I met You" could've been the last song.  

McCartney's Supervillain FanFic

Tonight's song is from Paul McCartney, but so few seem to know of it.  It's not from Ram or Band on the Run.  It's from an album called Venus and Mars, where the cover featured two spheres, and the most noteworthy single was "Listen to What the Man Said."  I listened mostly to classic rock through high school, so I was familiar with many of McCartney's songs, but when WZLX celebrated the 2002 "Back in the US" tour, I noticed that this Beatle was singing about Magneto.

Yes, that Magneto.  It turned out that Sir Paul was (is?) a comics fan!  Thanks to Bryan Singer's 2000 superhero movie, I had gotten really interested in X-Men comics.  What I was hearing is something that we geeks call "fanfic", short for "fan fiction."  The whole story is about Paul McCartney hanging out with Magneto, Titanium Man, and Crimson Dynamo.  He learns from these three Marvel Comics characters that the woman he's singing to is a criminal, and that they're planning a bank heist.  McCartney's in disbelief, but his buddies explain it to him.  They go out to meet her precisely at quarter of three at the bank on Main St., and there she is coming through the doorway.  Following Magneto's orders, they gather their forces and speed away, but something is wrong for the group.  It turns out that that the bank robbery was a sting, and Paul's lady friend's an undercover cop.  Magneto, Titanium Man, and Crimson Dynamo were angry about the reveal, and Paul's wondering how he could've ever thought this woman was a bank robber.

Yes, this a real song by a real Beatle.  It's got a happy little romp to the music and sort of fits with what was the "silver age" comics of the 60's.  X-Men comics had been on a 5 year hiatus that was just ending as Venus & Mars was released.  At the point when McCartney was writing the song, how was he to know that more grittier X-books were coming?

The Venus and Mars story got even more fan-tastic when Wings toured the US in 1976.  Jack Kirby (a legendary comic book illustrator who had co-created Magneto) was now living and working out of his new home in California.  Two brothers (Gary and Steve Sherman) were able to bring Jack, his wife, and their daughter to one of Inglewood shows, where the five sat in complimentary front row seats.  McCartney dedicated the show to the guests and they met backstage afterwards.  Kirby even gave Paul and Linda a signed pencil drawing that featured Magneto and Wings!

I've referenced my geekdom blog in my post for Sarah McLachlan's "Answer," but I think that this could be the ultimate crossover.  So excuse me for having gushed.

Internal Idealism

For a while, I had been trying to find the right Katie Melua song to introduce on this blog.  Some of her songs seem contradictory in my logic.  Can we really be sure that there's exactly nine million bicycles in Beijing?  It's a great song though.  I continued to be on the look out for the ideal first choice, and (pun intended) I can now call off the search.  She's got this amazingly smooth jazz recording on her 2009 Pictures album called "In My Secret Life."  Like in John Mayer's "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room," Melua, her back up singers, and the accompanying musicians make the music run so slow and hypnotically.  I would compare the music to the movement in a lava lamp.

This song isn't written or composed by Katie Melua, nor by her producer and regular collaborator, Mike Blatt.  This slow moving river has its origin in the great Leonard Cohen's imagination.  According to a Wikipedia entry, the public knew since 1988 about this song's development.  The thing is that the song stewed for 13 more years before it was presented to us.  Since that release, it had been adapted and covered by other artists, including the Animals' Eric Burdon.

It's about still having a deep idealist side removed from external world of realists.  So much can go wrong in the world, but there's still joy found in the confines of the mind.  A couple may no longer be together (for one reason or another), but in the person's mind, they still make love regularly.  He owns up to misdeeds committed out of desperation, and acknowledges internally that despite doing wrong, he tries to remain noble.  When hearing all the deaths and barbaric acts in the world, he finds some peace and reasoning internally.

One can say that ignorance is bliss, and that may be true.  The thing is that this world goes through periods of despair where the first step in making things better may be taking comfort in our own minds first.  Gradually, I'd like to hope that our stubborn idealism can change the world.  If the positivity glows like a flame in the lanterns of our minds.  What we do, and what we create serves as the glass transparency allowing the light to shine outward from within protection, inspiring the surroundings to glow in its radiance.

A Romantic Song of a Wedding

When I first heard "City Hall" by Vienna Teng, I liked the music, and found it catchy.  I saw it as being about a couple going down to a city hall to be married.  It's a departure from traditional songs like "Going to the Chapel", but I didn't know by how much.  It's for significant for reasons that shouldn't have to be.

I started stringing together the facts and cross-referencing them. and found out that it's about when the city of San Francisco first started approving same sex marriages.  The song had come out in 2006, but given the mention of a February holiday, and a long drive to a hilly and seaside town.  It had been ten years, but they had finally gotten the news.  From that point on, I narrowed down the search.  There were a few places that accepted same sex marriage licenses beginning in that month, but the description of the landscape and Teng's background in San Francisco drew me to this conclusion.

Aside from the singer/songwriter being female, no gender defining pronouns were used anywhere in the song.  I think that works to be all inclusive in expressing love and celebration of that day.  The lyrics write about how long the couple had been together and how many had died for the sake of having their lifestyles respected.  Towards the end, there's a verse (somber, defiant, and brave), that if anyone tries to void their marriage, the document, and memories of that day remain.  Being released in 2006, provides Teng with a particular perspective in the history of this issue. She had the knowledge of what happened in August of 2004 when the California Supreme Court voided those marriages that San Francisco had granted.  She had no way in knowing then, that in 2008, that state judicial system would legalize same sex marriages statewide.

There are still heated political and legal battles over LGBT rights.  There are places where all are welcome, and there are places in the world where do little to stop homophobia.  So, hopefully this blog post, and some small part brings attention to rights that many take for granted.

Saying Something

For a while, I had been looking for the right 10,000 Maniacs song to first bring to this blog.  I have some of Natalie Merchant's CD's, and found the band's music catchy, but I didn't just want to cover someone singing about the weather.  I then found out that the band really has weather to talk about (the original roster was all from Western New York).  I also found songs that were extremely hard hitting.  The song that popped up on my Pandora station is "What's the Matter Here?" from 1987's In My Tribe.

Like Pearl Jam's "Jeremy" or the Cowboy Junkies' "Misguided Angel", this 10,000 Maniacs song is about a very important subject.  I know that Natalie Merchant is a very driven activist, but I hope that she was never in the position that these lyrics depict.  The singer's character knows this boy living next door.   Not by name, but she particularly cares about him.  She describes how he can be seen running naked out of the house, hiding from his father, and we see that her feelings for the boy are also of the sympathy.  She repeatedly wonders if she should speak up, but argues with herself that it's not her place to intrude on the matter (in the past 29 years, people have learned not to be so hesitant when they see something that they know is wrong).  ...  Another verse talks about the boy's mother.  From outside she's rarely seen but could be heard through the neighborhood, yelling and screaming curses and threats of corporal punishment.  The singer thinks about how it's not her place to call out the boys parents, and she hears another threat, one of using the belt.

The last verse doesn't have anything leading up to a direct dialogue, but I hope that she is speaking to the parent's faces.  She asks what could the child have done so wrong that he deserves to be treated in such a way.  She points out how instead of nurturing, what these parents offer the child is pain.

I was deeply moved by this song, and cringed as I heard all the details described.  I couldn't help but imagine in horror what additionally goes on that the singer isn't even aware of.  This song has inspired me to look more throughly through the catalogues of the 10,000 Maniacs and Merchant as a solo artist.

I also wish the best for any survivors of abuse who may be reading this.

Steadily Standing Alongside

There is something particularly soothing about Sarah McLachlan's songs.  There's continued to be a steady, relaxing pattern to her music.  Like a series of waves.  I believe that the aural sensation of her music can be compared to a warm bath.  Even when the music has more negative connotations, her music provides a feeling of comfort.

Tonight's feature isn't pleasant as "Ice Cream" or eerie as "Possession."  It's a song called "Answer" from her 2003 album Afterglow.  I'd compare it to being on a cruise ship, feeling the boat pass through the water.  She slowly powers through the song for two verses, and gently recedes a little before getting back into the pace.  Listening to the studio track through my headphones, I feel what may easily be subsonic undertones as her voice and the piano harmonize. There's a pattern in the background that I can't quite identify, but I can't figure out exactly what is.  There's a subtle fuzz as if something as intentionally brushed against a microphone, or a small, shaken, and percussive instrument.  Continuing the nautical comparison, that little accent would be like the minor breaking of a wave.

To be honest, I'm not sure how many people may draw that comparison.  It could be the affect of being near a harbor.  I'm from Boston, a major seaport city that has a close bond with McLachlan's hometown of Halifax, NS.  It's sort of like the aquatic feel that I get from listening to Makana's slack-key playing, but strangely, I haven't picked up the sensation from the Vancouver or Anchorage musicians I've written about.  That could be the difference in music styles, or I could just be romanticizing about the musical tones.  *shrugs and gets back to interpreting the song*

The song is about two people being there for each other, helping one another to bear the brunt of what the world may throw at them.  The first song is her promising to be there for them, the "solid ground" when so much seems uncertain.  In the second verse, she give in a little, while not losing a beat in the rhythm or tone.  She explains how she's been through a rough time, and she needs that person there as the last bright star in a field of darkness.  Providing the solace to sustain as they wait for the sunrise.  Then, with the third verse, is the recession I spoke about.  She speeds up a little, falling as if momentarily losing her balance and drive.  She asks to be gently guided to morning's light after such a rough night.  Then,  she closes, repeating the second verse, recovering the strength she began the song with, but having revealed her vulnerability.

The geek in me is begging to briefly compare this to an episode of Gargoyles (a 90's fantasy series about a clan of gargoyles who in the day, rest and heal in a state of stone dormancy).  There's an episode called "Long Way to Morning," where two of the lead Gargoyles and a close human ally are savagely attacked by one of the villains.  It takes every measure of strength and determination to fend of the antagonist (a fellow gargoyle named Demona).  Weary and aching while protecting their human friend, the hours seem to pass so slowly as they yearn for the healing effects of daylight.

There you go.  Some sappy writing about a McLachlan song (though this won't be the last time), and a reference to my geekdom.

Seeking Closure

I've spoken about members of the Be Good Tanyas in the past.  Trish Klein's work as a member of Po' Girl and Frazey Ford's taking part in "Take the Long Way."  Tonight, the Tanyas are the main focus.  Frazey Ford, Sam Parton, and Trish Klein met while at a camp a camp in British Columbia.  By the late 90's they were performing concerts in Vancouver.  The next year, they would tour down to Louisiana before recording Blue Horse.  It was their first album and contained some traditional pieces along with songs by the band and regular collaborator Jolie Holland.

Tonight's featured song is from Blue Horse.  In the past was written by Ford and Parton about the emotional fallout from a breakup.  My interpretation of the song is that the person was in a relationship with someone, but that has long since ended.  Aside from a break for memories of them together, the singer's character is speaking mostly of seeing the former lover, and the ex. running before she can say "Hello."  There's a moment of singing that her palms are now closed rather than open, and that could be anger (a closed fist as opposed to an open palm).  It could also be a sign of relaxing the hand after trying to reach out to the person.

She's coming to a realization that all that they had together is now in the past, and even if the other person isn't hearing them now, the singer's character is now finding closure.

Folk with a Flamenco Flare.

After all these posts, I imagine that you've picked up that I really enjoy the sounds of an acoustic guitar.  Much of that probably came from growing up listening to 70's singer/songwriters, but part of it is also my love for fingerpicking.  It's a style of play with very quick complexity.  The first time that I heard it was when I caught a glimpse of MTV one afternoon in the 90's and saw the video for Bryan Adams's "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?"  Like with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves , Adams, Michael Kamen, and Mutt Lange had been chosen to write the romantic theme song for the Johnny Depp film Don Juan DeMarco.  The music was enchanting, and adding to that effect (along with the music video being shot in a beautiful Spanish villa) was the guitar playing by the late Paco de Lucía.

For about fifteen years, I went without hearing guitar picking again.  It just wasn't the type of music that you hear on the radio.  Then I heard Laurence Juber, Jorma Kaukonen, Tommy Emmanuel, Sungha Jung, and the slack-key guitarist Makana.  Then, one night, I'm listening to the Eva Cassidy Pandora station, and I hear this guitar picking.  It had aCastilian style different from Juber's or Kaukonen's, and a little bit different from Makana's.  It was the flamenco style of guitar playing.  The Canadian guitarist Jesse Cook spent a good deal of his childhood in Spain, and that's where he fell for the style.  Joined by jam bands and guest singers, Cook travels and plays shows.  The first Jesse Cook recording that I heard was from when he and Melissa McClelland covered Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe."

The song and the lyrics are a well known staple from the Dylan songbook.  It's written about trying to dissuade  a woman convinced that he'd be a devoted and chivalrous lover.  McClelland reverses the genders in the lyrics so that she's not saying that she's the man's ideal devoted woman of chivalry.  McClelland's singing already sounds lovely, and she slows things down a little.  Cook tastefully adorns the lyrics with flamenco flourishes with an incredibly ornate solo before McClelland is finally turning the man (she's singing to) away.

I enjoy Dylan's songs when he sings them, but I also enjoy the covers.  My heart sings when I hear Cook and McClelland together. 

A Message of Hope for Those Who've Come by Way of Sorrow

One day, I came across a folk supergroup called "Cry Cry Cry".  Richard Shindell, Lucy Kaplansky,
and Dar Williams had come together for a short time.  They displayed their harmonies while covering everyone from REM to the country singer Julie Miller.  It was the cover of Miller's "By Way of Sorrow" that caught my eye (in fact, my ear).

The track was talking to people who have come through times of trouble, and it would tell them of how they will reach a point of happiness.  There are verses that speak about being left behind.  There are verses that speak of times without any sense of joy.  But it's in the refrain that even when our journeys are at their darkest, we must have faith that the divine (or just in the universe) that we will find strength to reach the times of joy that we're meant to find.  Be it destiny, or just what's meant for human nature.

Given the current events in the news, the first concept that came to mind while listening to the lyrics were the homeless of the world and the refugees who seek nothing but peace and a safe place to live. Some may (in abstaining from alcohol) not literally identify with a lyric like "drunk a bitter wine", but it's the metaphor and greater meaning of the song that is universal.  That's something that I find particularly uplifting in some contemporary Christian songs by artists like Julie Miller and Joy Williams.  In many of these cases, the songs aren't trying to drive people to extremely conservative church groups.  Instead, it's to spread a message to generations who've become jaded or depressed.  We live in times when so many people think that the existence of anything or anyone mystical has been disproven through lack of concrete evidence.  However, when people (even together) reach an obstacle that discourages them, the best source of strength can often be the faith in a more powerful force which has confidence in them.

It was through a documentary about Julie Miller that I learned about the hardships that she's faced, and how spirituality led her to safety and happiness.  Her biological father had been the victim of abuse, and (in turn) victimized Miller's mother, creating a dynamic at home that was full of anxiety and fear.  Even after leaving her father, what had happened early on continued to affect her life as a young adult.  She couldn't properly deal with her emotions, and at a particular time of innocent naiveté, she was sexually assaulted.  She would try self-medicating as a means of comfort in that long dark tunnel.  In a newfound form of faith, she found peace.

Here's hoping that in times of struggle, we can remind ourselves that better times are ahead.  Here's hoping that when met with belligerence or people trying to force us to feel inferior, that we can show compassion (while neither stooping to their level or giving in to their will).