One Venue Singing Together

Thursday night, I saw an amazing concert at Harvard's Sanders Theater.  The Wailin' Jennys' tour, and they were stopping in Cambridge that night.  I had been listening to the Jennys since roughly...  2010, but never had the means or availability to see them live.  It was stunning.  From the moment that I first heard the group on Pandora through the many times that I've watched their YouTube videos, I knew that a major part of the group was the vocal harmony.  Especially in such an intimate setting, the live show built on that element.  All drawn to our seats, we concertgoers were a community of people with this common interest.  When interacting with the Jennys (from our seats or in the lobby later that night),  I could see how the passion for the music and sense of togetherness encompassed the performers, tour staff, and audience alike.

The song that I'd like to touch upon in this post is called "One Voice".  This composition from Ruth Moody was the first track of their debut album in 2004, and it's how the concert came to a close.  Such is the case with many of the Jennys' staples, the writing is deep and complex while the repetition gradually welcomes the audience to join the singing.

The song is in ways a perfect introduction to the group.  Moody starts with the first verse, singing about taking that first step into a vocal performance alone.  The second verse brings a second Jenny, and they sing about of the cooperation used to support eachother's share of the performance.  Verse three is where the full Wailin' Jennys trio is singing singing of the trademark harmony that they display as a unit.  The fourth verse cues the audience, accompanying musicians, and all in the building joining in song.  The lyrics describe the sense of love and trust that everyone has developed for eachother in that space.  By the fifth and final verse, everyone is singing as one collective voice, and it's the perfect way to close such a great show.

As a fan of some very niche artists (and since ordering a ticket to the concert, I've met more Jennys fans), I had a feeling that concerts have a unique way of bringing together fans of this music in was that not even social media can.  You meet people in your row, on your way out of the theater, or even at the merchandise booth, and suddenly have found people who share this passion.  It's beautiful.  I look forward to the next time that I can share such an experience.  Sure, seeing other groups perform is on my "to do" list,  but a Wailin' Jennys concert is an experience that I particularly hope to revisit the next month.

And, if the Jennys are reading this, (Ruth, Nikki, Heather, and your crew) thank you.  I'm was the starstruck guy who asked you to sign my iPad case, and went on to sing a Bearfoot line with one of your merchandise saleswomen.  I had mentioned my blogging, and hope that this better articulates my appreciation.

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.