For a Song: Mimi on the Beach

Jane Siberry: Mimi on the Beach

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“The arrangement’s not quite there.”

Indeed. I have always been drawn to artists whose work does not fit neatly into any genre. Usually, such artists are driven to create for the sheer joy and freedom of it, rather than a search for fame or even wide scale recognition. Some of these artists achieve wide acclaim anyway, but always on their own terms.

Jane Siberry is a fine example of this. Mimi on the Beach comes from Siberry’s US debut, No Borders Here. That album title is very much about the spirit in which the album was made. Inspirations could come from anywhere or from the work of any musician in any genre. The lyrics are surreal, and can have different meanings for different listeners. Musically, you could call the song rock, but then it changes and that label doesn’t seem to work anymore. There hints of the minimalism of Phillip Glass, but again, the music changes. The rhythm varies throughout the song, but check it carefully and you find that the song is in 4/4 time throughout. If this sounds like an unruly mess, it isn’t. Siberry gets the whole thing to stay together, and the lyric does seem to have a consistency throughout. But is the song to be taken literally, or what is it a metaphor for otherwise? My answer changes from time to time.

Siberry has continued to explore this kind of ambiguity throughout her career, while continuing to exercise her musical freedom. More often than not, the results are as fascinating as they were here.

Incidentally, the purchase link is for the Sheeba Store, where Jane Siberry offers her music for sale for whatever price the customer sets. It is well worth your time to shop here, as there are many more Siberry treasures to be found. And I encourage you, when setting your purchase price, to please be as generous as you can. Siberry has long since proven that she deserves it.

My Canada Set

Our computer problems, as I more less expected, were so bad that the old girl finally breathed her last. We got ten years of faithful service, so I can’t complain. But now we have a brand new machine, built for the internet, and what a difference. So regular posting resumes now, with the weekly, (usually), theme set.

While I was out of commission, I missed a theme week on Star Maker Machine that I would really have liked to be a part of. So here are some songs I was thinking of for the O Canada theme. The theme is so rich that none of these artists was covered. But everyone did a fine job.

Gordon Lightfoot: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

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I live in central New Jersey, and we had a winter panic yesterday. A storm came in, and 18 inches of snow were supposed to arrive, along with dangerous winds. It did get awfully windy, but the final accumulation where I am was four inches.

On the Canadian side of Lake Superior, storms like what we were supposed to get really do happen. One such storm featured heavy snow and hurricane force winds, and sank the freighter called the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. Gordon Lightfoot first caught my attention with this haunting account of what happened.

James Keelaghan: Red-Winged Blackbird

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Even given the lightness of our last storm, this has been the most severe winter I have seen in at least several years. So I am ready for spring. Red-Winged Blackbird is a beautifully expressed statement of faith that spring will indeed arrive. Posting it lets me share the talent of James Keelaghan with you. Keelaghan is perhaps best known for writing Cold Missouri Waters, which is a fine example of his storytelling talent. But this song does double duty, because it also allows me to honor another Canadian, David Francey, who wrote this one. Francey’s own performances are also well worth your time.

Stan Rogers: The Witch of the Westmoreland

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Before we leave winter altogether, let me give a nod to an old English tradition that also made its way to Canada. Tales of ghosts and the supernatural are traditionally told at midwinter or Yule. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was one of a series of tales Dickens presented over several years. Similarly, the great Canadian author Robertson Davies wrote a collection of ghost stories which he had originally presented at an annual Christmas feast at the university where he was a professor.

So, to me, Stan Rogers’ song The Witch of the Westmoreland fits squarely into this tradition. The knight in the song is never identified, but this one feels to me like an Arthurian tale. And Rogers nails the mood perfectly.

Jane Siberry: Something About Trains

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I don’t mean to leave out female performers and songwriters. Canada is a rich source of these as well, starting with Joni Mitchell. Jane Siberry is one of my favorites. Both her lyrics and her musical settings often have a dreamlike quality. I often wake from a dream with the question. “What was that about?”, and I don’t always find a definite answer. But the contemplation of it often takes me somewhere I didn’t know I needed to go, and Siberry’s songs affect me the same way. Something About Trains is actually one of her more accessible examples.

The Arrogant Worms: Canada‘s Really Big

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Finally, I wanted to end on a light note, with one of the funniest acts in Canada. The Arrogant Worms here propose an alternate national anthem. This was a few years ago, and the proposal didn’t take. Enjoy it anyway.

Going to the Dogs

So here I am, doing a theme set of songs about dogs. Funny thing, I don’t even like dogs. But they do seem to inspire songwriters in ways I very much enjoy. There is humor and sweetness here, as well as some of the same feelings I have about dogs, but set to music.

Nellie McKay: The Dog Song

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Based on the evidence of this song, Nellie McKay is a dog lover. And she makes a strong case for them. Here is a woman who has found a cure for loneliness in the company of her dog. It may not be as fulfilling as a relationship with another human being, but it is also not nearly as complicated.

On her debut album, Nellie McKay’s music was as varied as the sounds one might here on the streets of her native New York City. I haven’t able to keep up with her more recent work, to see if she has settled down.

Jane Siberry: Everything Reminds Me of My Dog

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Jane Siberry takes Nelly McKay’s feelings to their logical extreme. Siberry finds her feelings about her dog reflected in every aspect of the world around her. This is usually, but not always, a good thing for her.

Jane Siberry is one of Canada’s musical treasures. Her lyrics are often surreal, and her music is vastly imaginative. Everything Reminds Me of My Dog is one of her most conventional songs, and highlights her charm. To fully appreciate her range, also check my post of her song The White Tent The Raft on Star Maker Machine last week.

Leo Kottke: Pepe Hush

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Leo Kottke’s Pepe is, I imagine, one of these small terrier type dogs that believes that anything that happens is an occasion for yapping. The only dogs that make me crazier are these gigantic mutations that think they are lap dogs. I had an akita do that to me once. I’m six foot four, but I needed to be rescued.

Leo Kottke is best known for his instrumental work on acoustic guitar. But occasionally, he also sings. Kottke doesn’t think much of his own voice, having described it as, “ geese farts on a muggy day”. This also gives some idea of his sense of humor.

Gaye Adegbalola: The Dog Was Here First

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Some dog owners get carried away with their love for their pet. Here, Gaye Adegbalola’s character gets involved with a dog lover. He constantly compares her to the dog, and she just can’t compete. It makes a very affective, if unusual, subject for a blues song.

Gaye Adegbalola was one of the founding members of Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women. The Dog Was Here First comes from her solo debut, from 1999. She’s still at it, and her music continues to win major blues awards. Adegbalola is well aware of the tradition of female blues singers, going back to Bessie Smith and beyond.

George Clinton: Atomic Dog

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Finally, I could not post a set of dog songs, and not include this one. this one had a great music video, which MTV wouldn’t touch. I wonder how music might be different today if this had broken the color line on MTV, instead of Michael Jackson.

George Clinton had been well known to funk fans for many years, as the leader of Parliament and Funkadelic. But it was the 80s before he began recording under his own name.

Love Songs

Happy Valentine’s Day to all. Today is the day to hear love songs.

There is perhaps no subject which has inspired more songs than love. Therefore, it is the subject which has inspired more terrible songs than any other. To compound the problem, love makes people lose their minds. In a recording studio, that means oversinging in abundance, and overproduction to match. Often, the pure emotion gets lost amidst the clutter of the arrangement.

Fortunately, there are also times when love conquers all, and the feeling shines through.

K D Lang: Miss Chatelaine

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K D Lang has a big voice, and the production here uses a full band with strings. But, the strings are not a solid wall of sound overwhelming everything else; Lang uses a small section of strings where all the parts can be heard. And Lang has a voice which can carry this kind of arrangement without straining for the notes.

Miss Chatelaine tells of the exhilaration of a first kiss, and the excitement of the experience comes through loud and clear. The slow tempo allows the warmth that starts in the lips to suffuse her spirit in the course of the song.

John Hiatt: Have a Little Faith in Me

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While we’re on the subject of first kisses, I can never hear this song without thinking of the climactic scene in the movie Benny and June. This is the song that plays while the title characters have their first kiss. The emotional barriers have been swept away, and love prevails. For me, this is the greatest screen kiss of all time.

Inexplicably, Have a Little Faith in Me was left out of the soundtrack album for the movie. I assume there was a problem with the rights, but, if it had been me, I would have done whatever was necessary to include it.

Jane Siberry: Lovin‘ Cup

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Lovin’ Cup has a simple, almost simplistic, lyric. The song conveys a rush of joy that comes with the experience love; this joy is expressed almost entirely through the music. I think the message here is that, when in it comes to love, sometimes there are no words to express it.

Nanci Griffith: Love at the Five and Dime

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That first rush of love is only the first step on a journey. Nanci Griffith takes on that journey, showing that their are missteps and obstacles along the way. But her protagonists are able to keep their love through music. I can think of no better way to end a post on love songs than this.

I would like to dedicate this post to the love of my life, my wife Janice.