From: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org (harbinger-digest) To: harbinger-digest@smoe.org Subject: harbinger-digest V4 #128 Reply-To: harbinger@smoe.org Sender: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk harbinger-digest Saturday, October 2 1999 Volume 04 : Number 128 HARBINGER DIGEST To post, mail harbinger@smoe.org To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger-digest To get list info file, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info harbinger-digest Today's Subjects: ---------------- Re: (harbinger) More To Say [Momrox1@aol.com] (harbinger) LA tix are on sale [DennLRuss@aol.com] (harbinger) "Ring Finger" and "Billy Joe" [Kenneth R Carpenter > Amen brother Mike - Amen :) Judy - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 16:33:15 EDT From: DennLRuss@aol.com Subject: (harbinger) LA tix are on sale Hi kids, Tickets to Paula's show Oct 20th at Vynyl in Hollywood are now on sale! You can get them through ticketmaster. I've got my tickets already, hope to see some of you there. And, by the way, all in all I'm likin' the new record. I do agree with some of the postings that this record seems to lack the passion and emotional range of Harbinger and This Fire. But I'm sure the live show will be stellar. Aloha, Dennis - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 19:25:25 -0400 From: Kenneth R Carpenter Subject: (harbinger) "Ring Finger" and "Billy Joe" So, Ruediger wasn't pulling our collective leg after all. ;) Our wish came true with regard to a single being released with non-album/previously unreleased tracks!!! The German import single of "I Believe In Love" has been released and it includes to new non-album tracks!!! Here's the track listing: 1. I Believe In Love (album version) [that's the string version - k.c.] 2. Ring Finger (non-album track) 3. Billy Joe (non-album track) You probably recall a comment I made a little over a week ago when we were discussing the new sound/direction Paula took on Amen. when I said that I know I can always count on Paula to surprise me. Obviously, she gave me a surprise I didn't find entirely pleasant when she put a few songs on Amen. that I feel don't do justice to her talent. But, remaining true to form, she has turned around just a few days later and offered up two other songs that make me glad I fell for her and her music in the first place. I'm going to tell you about the songs in a just a minute, but I really do want to thank Ruediger for the information on this single. It was because of his messages that I decided to go to HMV yesterday to find this single. Thanks a million, man! OK, so the songs..... I love both of them a whole lot. At first, I wondered why she didn't put them on Amen., but then after listening to them a few times I realized that the reason for their omission most likely had to do with their sound, which isn't as markedly R&B/urban. The sound on "Ring Finger" does remind me somewhat of stuff that Prince did back in the earlier part of his career, like "Do Me Baby" or "The Beautiful Ones" but even Prince didn't always sound like typical urban stuff then. These two new non-album tracks are closer to what we're used to from Harbinger and This Fire, but even different from that in lyrical arrangement, sound, etc. "Ring Finger" is arranged with piano, drum, bass guitar, steel pedal and vocals. Paula's sings the first two verses in a beautiful Julee Cruise falsetto and then finishes out the "chorus" with her clear alto. The rhythm of the song is almost like a slow to mid-tempo lilting waltz. The track comes in at just under 6 minutes long, but the lyrics last only through the first half of the song; the remainder is more of the same watery, cascading piano and drums with Paula doing some trademark nice big-lunged vocalizing over the top of it. The lyrical arrangement isn't typical for Paula. It's two verses set back-to-back followed by one line repeated four times. I'm working on the lyrics for both songs right now. Give me a couple more days and I'll give you what I have. As you saw in my interpretation of the lyrics from Amen., it's sometimes a major challenge to figure out what Paula's singing. What I can tell you so far is "Ring Finger" is a poignant song about trying to decide whether or not to accept an offer of marriage when you love the person you're with but you're afraid of losing your independence and your sense of self in the process. There's that mature lyricism I wanted to see. :) And then there's "Billy Joe." Sheesh! Ask for an empassioned, ass-kicker from Paula and ye shall receive! This song is HUGE. Big, tough, driving bass-and-drum momentum behind husky-voiced choruses interspersed with softer, more acoustic, crooning verses. Dark, hot, sexy, seemingly tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Booming, rumbling drums and crashing cymbals from Jay. Violins zinging and great, deep-bodied strings (probably cellos or basses) come in and fill up the background for the rest of the song after the second verse. More bass and drums on an instrumental bridge (with someone (Ms. C. maybe?) wailin' on a saxophone and Paula grunting, shrieking and howling like a cat in heat) that bursts into a final chorus where Paula ends by setting your CD player on fire with her voice and words. I have got to see this live. :) "Billy Joe" is better than much of what is offered on Amen. This one is up there with "Throwing Stones," "Mississippi," the live version of "Hitler's Brothers" and I'd even say it's on par with her rendition of "Jolene." In fact, it reminds me of "Jolene" in a way. Not musically, really, although they do share a certain fire. The strongest similarity I see is in the portrayal of Jolene and the woman in "Billy Joe" as a particular kind of woman; specifically, they're both vixens whose men are powerless against their wiles. The woman in "Billy Joe" strikes me as being much, much more sexual than Jolene, but then it's hard to say for sure if that the case because it's not like Dolly Parton could really get too explicit in her lyrics. Paula didn't have that concern and so she doesn't mince words. :) She's singing this song to Billy Joe. However, while she's telling Billy Joe about how he turns her inside out, she's then turning around and letting him know that she's been getting a little on the side, too. She wants him to try to understand that she gets really lonely for him sometimes and, since he isn't around to give it to her, she has found another outlet for her unquenchable urges - another man. By the end of the song, she is pleading her case to him and begging his forgiveness. Of course, she tries to patch things up with Billy Joe by offering him a make-up scrump session. This woman is unstoppable! Reminds me of that scene in Barbarella when the scientist's sex machine blows up because it can't keep up with the Queen of the Galaxy. ;) Anyway, both songs are incredible so don't miss this import single!!!! I paid $10 for it at HMV in midtown Manhattan. I'm sure it will be available soon enough on the internet for around the same price, but check with your local HMV or anywhere else that you know gets the imports in early. The CD (mine is imported from Germany) comes in a slim jewel case and the source codes are 9362 44758-2 / W 507CD. Very good stuff. :D Peace. Kenn ****************************************************************************** The information contained in this e-mail message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) named above. This message may be an attorney-client communication and as such is privileged and confidential. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient or an agent responsible for delivering it to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you have received this document in error and that any review, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the original message. ****************************************************************************** - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 01:02:25 EDT From: DennLRuss@aol.com Subject: Re: (harbinger) "Ring Finger" and "Billy Joe" Kenn, Thanks for the review of the import single. I'll be out looking for it this weekend. Aloha, Dennis - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ End of harbinger-digest V4 #128 *******************************