For a Song: You Can Not Win If You Do Not Play

Steve Forbert: You Can Not Win If You Do Not Play

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I’m posting this song now for two reasons. Of course, one is that I really like it. The other is that the title expresses a good part of how I was feeling during my recent forced shut-down. Thank goodness that’s over.

Steve Forbert arrived on the music scene full of optimism and eager for the future. His first album was even called Alive on Arrival, and it fits. You Can Not Win… closes the album, and sums up its sentiments nicely. There is no thought here of the fact that you also can not lose. But Forbert would go through the classic music biz ordeal of having his label fail to support him, and even of being dropped, The optimism that was such a delight on his debut is gone now, but Forbert is still a fine musician and songwriter. And his voice is still an acquired taste, but I have always been fine with it.

Incidentally, in researching this post, I learned that Forbert has just gotten the right to release what was to be his fifth album with Sony, his original label. I would tell you the whole story, but fellow blogger Doug Heselgrave, at Restless and Real, has already done a fine job of that here. Restless and Real is new to me, and I’m not adding it to the sidebar because he does not post songs for listening and downloading. But I am impressed with his writing, and happily recommend checking this blog out on this basis.

Raina Rose _ When May Came

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I have a confession to make. When I reviewed the album End of Endless False Starts here, the album had actually been out a while. So it was fifteen months later that Rose put the wraps on her new one. And here it is.

End of Endless False Starts described a turbulent relationship, but ended on a hopeful note, as the title would suggest. But soon after, Rose left her boyfriend and even lived in her car briefly. When May Came tells what happened next. The songs may have different narrators in somewhat different situations. But, as with End of Endless False Starts, there is still a narrative arc here. What is described is the mourning process for a relationship.

The album is divided into three sections. The first four songs are ballads or midterm numbers, and all feature narrators at the end of relationships, but still hoping that they can stay together. There is a dramatic tension in these songs, a tug of war between sorrow and hope. If You’re Gonna Go starts with the words, “If you’re gonna go, go now.”, and the last verse starts, “So I’ll go, and I’ll go lightly.” She seems to have given up. But the last line of each chorus is, “So just stay with me this morning.” These songs are not emotionally tidy, but they shouldn’t be.

The music features the guitar here and throughout, with other instruments adding color. Rose produced this one herself, and the musical textures are not as varied as last time, but that suits the material well. Rose’s voice has lost much of the sweetness that was there last time, again, as suits the material. Here, Rose sounds like she has done a lot of crying, and not many tears are left. This was perhaps the biggest surprise to me on When May Came. I didn’t know from last time that Rose could sing like this.

So, I mentioned that the album has three sections. The next two songs provide a breather. Desdemona describes a literal or figurative road trip taken by two women who start the song as strangers. To me, this one had a Thelma and Louise feel. Nashville describes the hopes and fears of a musician trying to make it in the town of the title. The song has no illusions, but sounds a hopeful note. These two songs are uptempo numbers, and provide a bit of relief from the relationship songs.

The last section is five songs long. Here, the narrator finds a way to accept what has happened and try to move on. The emotional tug of war is between denial and acceptance. Pretty Good Today trying to deny the hurt and say she’s fine. In What Do You Bury?, the man has died, and the narrator tries to say she never loved him, as she reviews all of his flaws. But it is still hard to let go. But finally Heart Broke Open and Bluebonnets, she is ready to say, “Yes, I still hurt, but I am ready to try to love again.” I found Bluebonnets particularly moving. The song is a promise to a lover that she has made mistakes, but will try to do better. Will she succeed? Perhaps Raina Rose’s next album will tell us. Or maybe Rose will decide not to be so personal next time. Either way, I look forward to more fine word craft and storytelling. And I look forward to Rose continuing to impress with the range of expression in her voice.

Raina Rose: If You‘re Gonna Go

Raina Rose: Bluebonnets

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.

Announcement

We are currently having technical problems with our computer. I am hoping that this will be resolved soon. As soon as that happens, normal posting here will resume. Thank you all for your patience.

The Night Sky

I grew up and still live in New Jersey. Our air is not the cleanest, so I never had a view like this of the night sky. Nevertheless, I was always inspired by what I saw. I wanted to be an astronaut, and explore the sky. This was the great adventure of my youth, when we as a country had yet to reach the moon. As I got older, I found out that, to be an astronaut, you had to be in the Air Force, and that was out of the question for me. So I moved on to other dreams. But the awe that the night sky inspired has never left me. And I can see now that I am not alone. Here then is a set of songs inspired by that sense of awe.

Tasmin Archer: Sleeping Satellite

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Remember this one? Tasmin Archer had a hit with Sleeping Satellite in 1993. But now, she is all but forgotten. She did another album in 1996, and then not again until 2006, so it’s not all that surprising. But this one is definitely worth another listen. Archer equates the awe of the night sky with the rush of emotion that comes with a new love. Here, she has reached the point where she wonders if it all happened to fast. Musically, this one reminds me in all the right ways of the music Seal was making at the time. But lyrically, this one belongs to Archer alone.

Kate Bush: Constellation of the Heart

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In olden days, sailors navigated by the stars. Kate Bush turns that inward, and proposes to navigate through love in the same way. Musically, this sounds to me as if it could have been produced by George Clinton. It’s a surprising sound for Bush, but she makes it work. And this one really cooks.

Afro Celt Sound System: Dark Moon, High Tide

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I couldn’t resist including this one. Afro Celt Sound System began with the concept of finding common ground between Celtic and African music. Later, they would add other influences, but here is the original idea in its pure form. Electronics are used to smooth the rough edges, but are not intrusive. Dark Moon, High Tide is a fine example of their art.

Mary Chapin Carpenter: Ideas Are Like Stars

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It seems to me that Mary Chapin Carpenter has created a character here who has what is known as “high-functioning autism”, or Asperger’s Syndrome. That may be a reach on my part, but the description of Joseph here fits. His life is lonely because he is “odd”. He forms a waitress’s name with coins he leaves her for a tip. And he can spend the entire night just watching the night sky. I applaud Carpenter for this spot-on and wonderfully sympathetic portrait.

Having said that, I would love to know the actual background for this song. It feels like it was based on a real person. If anyone has more information, please share it in the comments.

Emmylou Harris: Jupiter Rising

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As night falls, and the stars come into view one by one, Emmylou Harris sings of a hoped for new love. Once there are enough stars visible, pictures form in the sky, and the resolution of this hoped-for romance will become clearer. Harris does not state any of this in her lyric, but, to my ears, it is strongly implied. Maybe I should write the resulting lyric, and send it to her. But I prefer to just listen to Jupiter Rising, and let my imagination wander. In a way, all of these reactions to the beauty of the night sky are about imagination.

For a Song: John of Dreams

Mick Moloney with Eugene O‘Donnell: John of Dreams

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It must have been 1979. I attended a wonderful concert by Mick Moloney and Eugene O’Donnell. As I recall it now, this was my introduction to Celtic folk music, and what an introduction it was. Moloney plays banjo, guitar, and bouzouki, while O’Donnell is a great fiddler. Both were born in Ireland, and both found their way to Philadelphia where they met. And both, while staying in America, have dedicated themselves to preserving the heritage of Irish music as they learned it. Moloney in particular has done some very interesting projects lately, concerning his heritage and the immigrant experience in America.

But I learned all of that later. In 1979, I only knew that I had found a new (to me) type of music that sang to me. The pair performed both instrumental dance pieces and songs. They had released a pair of albums at that time. Both musicians shared duties on both albums. O’Donnell’s album was entirely instrumental, and a great introduction to jigs and reels and such. Moloney’s album had songs sung by Moloney, alternating with instrumental pieces, but where the fiddle was not necessarily the featured instrument. Both albums were fine documents that helped me recall a great show.

But the songs on Molney’s album struck me particularly. John of Dreams was one of those, a beautiful lullaby. If the melody sounds familiar, it is a folk melody that Tchaikovsky adapted for his Pathatique Symphony. The words are by English folk singer Bill Caddick. But Moloney and O’Donnell make the song sound thoroughly Irish.

Carrie Newcomer - Before & After

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There is an instrument which, in English, is called a talking drum. Among the Yoruba people of Nigeria, it is believed that a master player can give a talking drum an actual voice. On Before & After, Carrie Newcomer gets a similar effect in places from the entire band. It’s a remarkable sound. It is a voice and a pulse combined, and it is what a heart would sound like if it could talk.

Newcomer sings in a warm alto, mostly quiet or quieter. She is able to get the emotion of her work across without having to raise her voice, and she is a master of subtlety. She can be sweet or tender, but she can also be strong in her beliefs, but never strident.

Her band supports her with an appropriately light touch, but they vary the textures just enough to make this an interesting listen. There is wonderful string work, from violin, viola, or cello, but never all of them at once. There is a basic band of drums or percussion, bass, keyboards, and acoustic guitar, with some electric guitar added in for color. But the sound is mostly acoustic. Newcomer doesn’t usually need much help here on vocals, but she sometimes likes to blend with another singer on the chorus. So Krista Detor, Michael White, coproducer David Weber, and Mary Chapin Carpenter each take a turn. And she gets a gospel effect on one song, and something that reminds me of Paul Simon’s Graceland album on another, by using chorused background vocals.

Newcomer does a good job of presenting varied subjects in the songs here. There is one love song, of course, and it’s a good one. Hush presents love at the point where one person instinctively knows what the other needs. The song is wonderfully tender. There are a variety of songs about finding your way through life. Before and After is about coming to terms with a pivot point in your life, a time when something happens that changes you ever after. But Newcomer is interested here in what happens once you have had time to digest the experience. There are other times when you have an experience that seems significant, but you can never quite put your finger on why; I Do Not Know Its Name details a string of these, and they seem to add up. This is one of those moments I mentioned earlier, where the band becomes one percussive voice. Coy Dogs are half dog and half coyote; Newcomer uses their split nature as a metaphor for times when our wild and tame urges are in conflict. The musical setting makes this tension palpable. Then there is the sweet nostalgic feel of I Wish I May, I Wish I Might, which is about state fairs in Indiana. And the album concludes with a “bonus track”, A Crash of Rhinoceros. Newcomer should include this one if she is ever asked to do a children’s concert, and I mean that as a compliment. This one has a wonderful sense of whimsy, as it tells of Adam and (mostly) Eve naming the animals.

Special mention should be made of the song Do No Harm. Back in 2007, Newcomer was involved in a project called Wilderness Plots. The short stories of Scott Russell Sanders were adapted into a stage work which featured new songs by Newcomer and several other Indiana-based songwriters. The stories concerned the settling of the Ohio Valley. The Wilderness Plots project resulted in a stage show, an album of the songs, and there was even a PBS version shown on local TV stations. For Do No Harm, Newcomer has returned to the stories of Scott Russell Sanders, to tell a harrowing tale of the arrival of Quakers in the region. This seems to me to be the most heartfelt song on the album.

So Before & After is a set of beautifully arranged and realized songs. Newcomer explores an impressive range of subjects, and nails it every time. This one comes out on February 23. Make sure to grab it when it does.

Carrie Newcomer: I Do Not Know Its Name

Carrie Newcomer: Coy Dogs