From: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org (headline-girl-digest) To: headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Subject: headline-girl-digest V2 #173 Reply-To: headline-girl@smoe.org Sender: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk headline-girl-digest Thursday, August 5 1999 Volume 02 : Number 173 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: essence of emm [Bob ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 00:15:47 -0700 From: Bob Subject: Re: essence of emm Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 03:04:17 GMT From: "Adie Pad0k" Subject: the essence of emm > I feel like throwing out a question because I'm quite interested in getting some feedback from the most loyal of Emm fans, as most of us have over the years memorized every line of every song of every album she's recorded (thus far). Over the years?! Oh I feel like such a newbie. ;p (It's one year for me, but yes to the lines stuff.) > After returning home from AquaFest in Hamilton where I was able to meet (and touch!) Emm Gryner... Aghhhh!!! Hehe. Sorry. (poor Bob, far far away!) > I chilled in my room just listening to Science Fair and tried to make sense of it all. I listened a couple of times and then read the lyrics along with listen three. > Don't get me wrong, I think its one of the best albums I've ever heard and I can't wait to start promoting it (and Emm) at McMaster! But there is a mood I have sensed much more on her latest album than on the two previous ones. Maybe its just me, maybe I feel what I want to feel. I understand that music gives different things to everyone and we take what we want from it, but since we all dig her so much I though you could tell me what vibes you get on her albums, especially her latest. It gives me a mix of emotions, and that's why I haven't really said anything yet. (Plus I'm saving it for my webpage. ;) A song like Good Riddance has arguably pretty harsh lyrics... it's hard to imagine Emm ever ~having to~ get that fed up with people's negative views, because =we= all have positive views. Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the songs were written back in 1997. (At first I wondered if Good Riddance was a bitter diatribe about the Mercury thing. But in Emm's notes about the songs (at Northern Sounds on the new bio page) she says that song 'has a line for everyone that was on my nerves at that time in my life', so it's sort of a complaint compilation. ;) > I am a big fan of the songs Hello Aquarius and Hook Machine for their strong, emotionally-charged language and after listening to SF I found even more evidence of someone that has been hurt and is lashing out in a sense... Yeah. I see that boy Jonny is in another song... Man, I'd like to kick his ass!! Heheh. Actually, I sometimes theorize that Emm has fictionalized her tragic love affairs a bit. As she says on the Public Speaking tape, the way she comes across as, in lyrics, is 'part truth and part fiction'. > I guess I just wanted to know what you thought it is/was that Emm is trying to do through her music. She talks about her motivations quite a bit on the Public Speaking tape. (I'll send you one if you don't have it.) I think an artist finds inspiration in lots of different areas, and maybe with Emm it's often in the frustrations with how things don't go well (especially in the area of finding a soulmate). I often wish I could get to know Emm in real life, partly so I could compare her actual personality to the one that comes through in the songs. Because all the stories I read on the lists, and how she talks on tapes and in concert make it seem like the side of her personality that she shows the public is very different (so upbeat and sweet) from the songwriter side. Another thing I find in her music, though, is a sort of uplifting beauty and residual hope in the music. Stereochrome is such a beautiful portrait of longing for something... Sigh. :) That's all I'm saying for now... Oh yeah, except about Disco Nights, I mean Lights. ;) (Was it Len you were thinking of, Julian? I loved Go, too!) I put that song on before I go out -- it makes me gotta dance! Lyrics: depression sapping energy. Music: energy creating joy! :D Bob (whose page is down for a 'Go Network' system upgrade or somesuch nonsense) Emm's notes on SF, song by song: http://webhome.idirect.com/~nsounds/emm/emminfobio.htm ------------------------------ End of headline-girl-digest V2 #173 ***********************************