From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2005 #235 Reply-To: joni@smoe.org Sender: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk Unsubscribe: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe Archives: http://www.smoe.org/lists/joni Websites: http://www.jmdl.com http://www.jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Thursday, June 9 2005 Volume 2005 : Number 235 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: Judy (njc) ["Mark Scott" ] RE: Cyndi Lauper At Last njc ["Kate Bennett" ] Re: Judy (njc) [Em ] Re: Judy (njc) ["Mark Scott" ] Re: City Stages - Birmingham outdoor music festival - NJC, darnit. ["Mar] RE: To Folk Or Not To Folk... njc ["Kate Bennett" ] Calling out sick (njc) [Brian Gross ] Jonatha Brooke in UK, njc ["Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" ] RE: What gives you the chills? ["Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 10:12:15 -0700 From: "Mark Scott" Subject: Re: Judy (njc) - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kakki" > Well now you have given me more food for thought! See, I read the lyrics > to "Albatross" and foremost I hear the words of a benevolent, empathetic > angel. The personal (I/you personally feel) seems subsumed to the > universal (we/many have felt). Same as with "Since You've Asked" which is > one of the few songs I used to sing and play by heart for years. > > From the "Albatross" > > Many people wander up the hills > From all around you > Making up your memories and thinking they have found you > They cover you with veils of wonder as if you were a bride > Young men holding violets are curious to know if you have cried > And tell you why > And ask you why > Any way you answer > > Kind of the same sentiment that is expressed in Joni's "Trouble Child" but > the approach is so different between the two. Joni's expression is more > direct and straight on ("they open and close you, then they talk like they > know you, they don't know you, they're friends and they're foes, too") > compared to Judy's more delicate and subtle approach. The sentiment is similar but in 'Albatross' I get the idea that Judy is talking about her audiences and fans. They come to see her perform and project their own, perhaps romantic notions of what she's like onto her. In the case of 'Trouble Child', I've always felt that Joni is talking about doctors and professional types who are examining and analyzing a patient or client. I agree that the approaches are different and Joni's is definitely more direct. Judy's style is almost Victorian in comparison (and I personally love that style). She is > really a classic. I agree. Judy's is much closer to a style from another time. I am currently reading A. S. Byatt's 'Possession' and marvelling at this author's approximations of Victorian poetry. Full of romantic imagery and metaphor. Judy's lyrics do bear some similarity. Will there never be a prince who rides along the sea and the mountains Scattering the sand and the foam into amethyst fountains Riding up the hill from the beach through the long summer grass Holding the sun in his hands and shattering the ising glass That image of being 'imprisoned in your bones behind the ising glass windows of your eyes' is one of those moments in song that gives me a chill. I just looked at the photo that's on the back of the 'Wildflowers' cd. Judy's eyes look enormous and unbearably sad and alone. There is also a remote look about them as if her soul is locked inside and peering out, unable to free itself from whatever pain is tormenting her and connect with another. Perhaps I am 'making up her memories and thinking I have found her' to paraphrase a bit. It's kind of like trying to figure out who 'Coyote' is about, I guess. You are right. Judy certainly is a classic. Mark E. in Seattle ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 10:55:08 -0700 From: "Kate Bennett" Subject: RE: Cyndi Lauper At Last njc >I hate to say it but I think it was something about a similar spirit of sorts!< I think that is a high complement... I always saw Cyndi as a unique, sincere & joyful person who was very comfortable with herself >And I think RLJ really made a BIG mistake not scooping up your property! < She needed more flat land, less boulders... it was hard to leave that special place in many ways but last year's fire season, then the mudslides & road closures later were just too much to go through again... hopefully the new buyers will love it as much as we did... the valley where we now live is so beautiful in a different way ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 11:24:03 -0700 (PDT) From: Em Subject: Re: Judy (njc) - --- Smurf wrote: > I think I get what you mean, Kakki, because I can't > see Judy singing about steaming stains or peeing > anacondas either. yeah, "throw all the generals out on their ass" does come off pretty tame, compared. :) Em ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 10:26:44 -0700 From: "Mark Scott" Subject: Re: Judy (njc) - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Smurf" > I think I get what you mean, Kakki, because I can't > see Judy singing about steaming stains or peeing > anacondas either. > Well Judy did sing this sweet little Leonard Cohen ditty: Four o'clock in the afternoon And I didn't feel like very much. I said to myself, where are you golden boy, Where is your famous golden touch? I thought you knew where All of the elephants lie down, I thought you were the crown prince Of all the wheels in ivory town. Just take a look at your body now, There's nothing much to save And a bitter voice in the mirror cries, Hey, prince, you need a shave. Now if you can manage to get Your trembling fingers to behave, Why don't you try unwrapping A stainless steel razor blade? That's right, it's come to this, Yes it's come to this, And wasn't it a long way down, Wasn't it a strange way down? There's no hot water And the cold is running thin. Well, what do you expect from The kind of places you've been living in? Don't drink from that cup, It's all caked and cracked along the rim. That's not the electric light, my friend, That is your vision growing dim. Cover up your face with soap, there, Now you're santa claus. And you've got a gift for anyone Who will give you his applause. I thought you were a racing man, Ah, but you couldn't take the pace. That's a funeral in the mirror And it's stopping at your face. That's right, it's come to this, Yes it's come to this, And wasn't it a long way down, Ah wasn't it a strange way down? Once there was a path And a girl with chestnut hair, And you passed the summers Picking all of the berries that grew there; There were times she was a woman, Oh, there were times she was just a child, And you held her in the shadows Where the raspberries grow wild. And you climbed the twilight mountains And you sang about the view, And everywhere that you wandered Love seemed to go along with you. That's a hard one to remember, Yes it makes you clench your fist. And then the veins stand out like highways, All along your wrist. And yes it's come to this, It's come to this, And wasn't it a long way down, Wasn't it a strange way down? You can still find a job, Go out and talk to a friend. On the back of every magazine There are those coupons you can send. Why don't you join the Rosicrucians, They can give you back your hope, You can find your love with diagrams On a plain brown envelope. But you've used up all your coupons Except the one that seems To be written on your wrist Along with several thousand dreams. Now santa claus comes forward, That's a razor in his mit; And he puts on his dark glasses And he shows you where to hit; And then the cameras pan, The stand in stunt man, Dress rehearsal rag, It's just the dress rehearsal rag, You know this dress rehearsal rag, It's just a dress rehearsal rag. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 10:27:52 -0700 From: "Mark Scott" Subject: Re: City Stages - Birmingham outdoor music festival - NJC, darnit. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Paz" > > NP_That freak Nancy Grace > Euuuuuwwwww!!! Ain't that the truth! Mark E. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 11:28:17 -0700 From: "Kate Bennett" Subject: RE: To Folk Or Not To Folk... njc Sherelle> I've done cover versions of "500 Miles" and "Where Have All The Flowers Gone"< Very cool... these two of the songs (I think the other was "Cruel War") I did for my first live performance ever! (jr high school talent show)... I played guitar with two girl friends singing, maybe one other playing guitar too... my mom taught us all the harmonies... I can't imagine we were all that great but it is a fun if vague memory ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 06:53:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Brian Gross Subject: Calling out sick (njc) > > Sick Call > > > > A woman calls her boss one morning and tells him that she is staying > > home because she is not feeling well. > > > > "What's the matter?" he asks. "I have a case of anal glaucoma," she > > says in a weak voice. > > > > "What the hell is anal glaucoma?" > > > > "I can't see my ass coming in to work today." The week is almost over. Hang in there, esp those who work for the government! Brian in south jersey Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you've got till it's gone --Roberta Joan Anderson, who never lies __________________________________ Discover Yahoo! Find restaurants, movies, travel and more fun for the weekend. Check it out! http://discover.yahoo.com/weekend.html ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 23:41:08 -0400 From: "Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Jonatha Brooke in UK, njc 14 June, with full band, in London at "The Borderline". Doors 7pm Jim ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 00:12:29 -0400 From: "Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: RE: What gives you the chills? Ditto these: "Night swimming" and "Migration" They're both such odd picks, it seems extraordinary that we'd overlap on these. The constant mention of memory in "Night Swimming" seems key. For me it's a very vivid and specific memory of swimming with Susan at midnight in her uncle's pool. I can "see" that swimmming pool, smell the chlorine, feel the goosebumps from the cold water / the warm humid air on my face, hear her laugh, feel her skin slip-sliding across mine. It's uncanny that Susan's song was written by someone who never met her, and that it popped up 15 years after she was gone. Bob Seger said, "I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then." Jackson Browne said, "It'd be easier sometimes to change the past." Jim From: Lucy Hone [mailto:aurabright@supanet.com] >The Lark Ascending by E VAughan Williams..all 14 minutes and however many seconds Reynardine -Fairport convention The opening riffs of "Graceland" Paul Simon Horse with No Name- America "Great Beyond" REM.the acoustic version "Night swimming" and Everybody Hurts .REM Also "Millworker" and "Migration" by JT Candles in the rain/Laydown..Melanie "Fiddle and the Drum" "Magdalene Laundries" "California" & "Little Green"Joni "Telegraph Road" Dire Straits "The Hebrew Slaves Chorus" from the opera Nabucco (Brain gone AWOL so cant remember if its puccini or not) "Moonlight Sonata" Beethoven For me "goose bumps" and music usually have to do with some sort of emotional response to the first time I heard the piece. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 23:20:54 -0400 From: "Lama, Jim L'Hommedieu" Subject: Early music memories, njc Before age 13, music had no special meaning to me. My first music memory was asking my parents to turn down the music (!) when they were having a patio party with Japanese lanterns. It was probably "GETZ / GILBERTO". It is thick with good family memories now. - -------- I took no interest when my father called me into the living room to witness a cultural phenomenon on a Sunday night variety show. Since it didn't involve plate spinning or Topo Giggio, it meant nothing to hear a bunch of (much older) teenage girls screaming in front of a pop band. I asked, "Why are they screaming, Dad?" I stood still for a respectful moment, then left. - -------- My dad explained big bands, jazz improvisation based on standards, & vocalese. He described "Farmer's Market" as one of these gems. - -------- My brother Mark & I bought several Monkees albums. Some of the writer's names became more familiar later. - -------- I didn't notice music until we spent a week on Long Island. I really enjoyed the sea water, sand, sun, sailing, and New York City radio. The playlist was all new. In my mind, that was the summer of "96 Tears", "Little Black Egg" and "Incense and Peppermints". (Does anyone know how to look up chart positions? Billboard doesn't support such searches.) I was probably 67 or 68. Radio became a constant companion until I "found" the gateway song. - -------- James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" hit me. I subscribed to Rolling Stone, became a rabid reader of liner notes and started buying LPs every week. After high school, I had a huge, unexplored, and wholly unsorted list of singer-songwriters and bands to check out. I bought back catalog of "old school" rock like Dylan, & The Beatles. Some current stuff proved to be transient (Argent, Neil Diamond); some of it proved to be enduring (ELP & Steely Dan). A single from Manfred Mann's Earth Band, "Blinded By The Light", seemed like a cool song. - -------- The most vital seeds at that moment were in the liner notes of "Tapestry" and "Deja Vu". Carole brought JT & his girlfriend on board for back vocals. CSNY did Woodstock and the writer's credit was on the inside of the LP gatefold. On the strength of her 'references' and "Help Me", I bought "COURT AND SPARK". Tumblers were rotating but they were not yet dropping into place. - -------- She seemed to have a back catalog. Was it possible she wrote "Both Sides Now"? It seemed ancient, like "Beale Street Blues". It seemed elemental and perfect, like "This Land Is Your Land". - -------- On the last Christmas I spent at my parents' house, my brother gave me "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter". In addition to everything else, this woman knew how to cook with elements of jazz and rock, like Keith Emerson. She seemed to be free of normal boundaries and conventions. Unlike the Beatles, she seemed to be writing about Lit class themes. I was a "words person" and she seemed "deep". Gradually, I found the one, true Center. Jim L'Hommedieu Covington, KY [P.S. I'm sure some of these memories didn't actually occur simultaneously. This is the way my memory has stored them, side-by-side. Please don't send me an email saying "96 Tears wasn't released in the same summer as Incense and Peppermints." I'm writing for myself, not docmenting the history of rock and roll. JL] ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2005 #235 ***************************** ------- Post messages to the list by clicking here: mailto:joni@smoe.org Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe ------- Siquomb, isn't she? (http://www.siquomb.com/siquomb.cfm)