From: owner-joni-digest@smoe.org (JMDL Digest) To: joni-digest@smoe.org Subject: JMDL Digest V2014 #594 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 Website:http://jonimitchell.com JMDL Digest Friday, May 2 2014 Volume 2014 : Number 594 ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Re: 10 of the best, maturity ["Mark" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 May 2014 21:13:54 -0700 From: "Mark" Subject: Re: 10 of the best, maturity I'm not a big Gilbert and Sullivan aficionado but weren't they known for light, comic fare? I would hardly call 'Pirate of Penance' either light or comic. But I'm sure there must be a similarity in the musical form that others are referring to in their comparisons. I'm just going to throw this out there, but maybe 'Pirate of Penance' is a counterbalance to 'Night in the City' and, to a lesser extent, 'Michael From Mountains'. The dark side of 'Out of the City and Down to the Seaside'. Except for 'Night in the City' and 'Michael From Mountains', 'I Came to the City' is about unhappy circumstances. 'I Had a King is about breaking up (or divorce). 'Marcie' is about abandonment. 'Nathan La Franeer' is disillusionment with the city itself as the singer rides in a cab with a mean-spirited cab driver on her way out of it. Even 'Michael From Mountains' is a song about a less than satisfactory romance with a man she will never completely understand because 'his mountains have called, so you never do'. 'Night in the City' is the one song that actually celebrates life in the city without reservation. Although the second half has the title track about unfulfilled dreams and the conundrum of how to love when you're 'too busy being free' closing out the record in 'Cactus Tree', there is really nothing essentially negative about the world that 'The Dawntreader' calls her to 'leave behind your streets' for except in 'Pirate of Penance'. Deception, lies, jealousy, and murder are not found in any of the other songs set at the Seaside. Quite melodramatic, but I still like the song. And like Anita, I love that eerie, haunting voice coming up out of the shadows singing 'I don't know' in reply to the insisting 'Go ask the dancer, she knows the answer' at the end of the song. But then I like a bit of well-turned melodrama from time to time. Just a thought. Mark in Seattle - -----Original Message----- From: lawntreader@googlemail.com Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2014 9:58 AM To: Susan E. McNamara Cc: Dave Blackburn ; Bob.Muller@Fluor.com ; Betsy Blue ; JMDL JMDL ; Mark Scott Subject: Re: 10 of the best, maturity Perhaps because I played the part of Ruth in the Pirates of Penzance in 1968, or perhaps I was listening to more classical stuff than pop (until Her Joniness) at that time, I have always found PoP intriguing, a bit like Bobbie Gentry's Ode to Billie Joe. I found it so romantic and dark all at once at the time and that feeling has never left me. Reading what you guys think about it, maybe it is a little show offie, but then our girl has a lot to show off! And that odd ending note "I don't know....." Go Penance, Go Penance, Go Penance! Anita (feeling confident that I have never said all this about this song ever!) ------------------------------ End of JMDL Digest V2014 #594 ***************************** ------- To post messages to the list,sendtojoni@smoe.org. Unsubscribe by clicking here: mailto:joni-digest-request@smoe.org?body=unsubscribe -------