From: owner-navy-soup-digest@smoe.org (navy-soup-digest) To: navy-soup-digest@smoe.org Subject: navy-soup-digest V3 #24 Reply-To: navy-soup@smoe.org Sender: owner-navy-soup-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-navy-soup-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk navy-soup-digest Tuesday, February 8 2000 Volume 03 : Number 024 In This Digest: ----------------- Blue Parade review [Something I wrote months ago] [Bloo ] Re: Help me identify these songs please! :) [Songbird22@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2000 21:11:15 -0800 From: Bloo Subject: Blue Parade review [Something I wrote months ago] I spent most of this weekend cleaning out my mailbox. What should I come across but an email draft I wrote in September regarding my thoughts on the then-new Blue Parade disc at the time. Well, it may no longer be relevant, but here it is anyway... - -Brian - ----------- Playing Cards with Judas - ------------------------ "A few buildings and commandments won't save you from your fate." The introduction is not very magical for me. It is kind of neat, but weighed against the rest of the song it is just a blip. 8-} Once that beat breaks out, its all over. The bass line becomes the whole revolving "snap" for the rest of music and vocals. May I reiterate. 8-} The beat of this song is very catchy...if it weren't for track 9 (Eliot) and especially track 5 (Habit), this would be the standout catchy rhythm track. The reason why I keep rehashing this is that if you mention Sarah's name to me, the first through fourth things I think of are not strong, driving beats. I love the wind-down ending with the plucking of the strings. Live: First heard at Danforth 98 (Hi Mari and Tab! 8-}) I think I like it better live. The beat shines through even better and more powerful. Lyrics: Powerful, as with most of her songs. Bonnie's Song - -------------- "When the day breaks into dark" "I think there's nothing more beautiful than a face that has come so far" In my mind, this is one of the most beautiful songs on the disc. >From its lush arrangements, and vivid use of the strings (and that cello! Yow! it makes me want to cry.) The simple, plaintive keyboard opening which leads to Sarah's voice - achingly sad and alone as the counterpoint to the piano beat. From there, the song builds layers of different instruments as the pace builds... almost as though echoing the lyrics, which gain in power and hope. This is by no means a loud song, but by the end of the song, a musical crescendo is reached, echoing the lyrics that end on such a positive note: "you're the bravest girl in the whole wide world." Sidenote: I love the harmonies on this song. Live: Yowsa. I saw this one done at the first CD release party, with full strings. I am having a difficult time imagining what it would be like solo or with a pared down accompaniment. Lyrics: Coupled with her delivery, this is one of her strongest songs lyricly for me. My Invitation - -------------- "you are all the silence I've become" "Love me for stupid reasons. I like those most" This song continues to intrigue me. At first, I did not like it anywhere near what I do now. I think it can't h*lp to suffer in comparison to other songs on the disc. The horns on this song fit so well with the song, yet also seem out of place against other tracks that mesh so seamlessly... although the horns are a bit discordant against the pianos, they also serve to shower us with a melancholy and unimagined pain that is h*lped by the pace of Sarah's lyrics. I love the intro and outro piano (w/ sarah's vox on the outro) which seem to epitomize the entire mood of the song. Live: I probably heard this live, but being able to listen to it again and again on the disc has led to an appreciation that wouldn't have been apparent on first live listen. Lyrics: Very powerful for me, and it keeps growing as such. I expect that, someday, there will be someone in my life that makes me to listen to this song in an entirely different light. Before Your Time - ----------------- "how many nights did you lock up inside that terrible lonely streak and those beautiful eyes." Wow I like this song. What to say? It is powerful, lyrically, musically and vocally. Listening closely to this song, parts of it seem..."flat" in comparison to others. Why? Like when she says "Canadian *Mess*", the very end of the phrase sound so *very* emotional. Almost like a voice is catching in unnoticed raw emotion. Compared to that, other parts WOULD seem flat. 8-} The electric guitar echoes this sort of delivery as well - catching in spots with a raw sound that is perfect counterpoint to the melodic tones produced not moments before. Live: I don't remember this song affecting me as much as it does now. Lyrics: Wow. Wow....Did I say wow yet? Habit - ------ "There are two eyes pleading... and they're not mine" "You need her, you love her, you die - when she's not strapped to your side." Holy shit. 8-} This is the "raw" song on the disc. The guitars... her voice. Nothing is held back here. Even Sarah's normally calm voice breaks out with fury and anger. Curiously enough, I consider this to be a head-banger song. 8-} Live: This song stood out in my memory from the CD release show. If the recorded version is raw, the live version is 10 times so. Wow. The live version gets me moving. Swinghammer on the guitars! Yow! Lyrics: This song has lyrics? 8-} No, actually, the lyrics are VERY powerful, but for me, this song is all about the beat, the guitars, the rawness of Sarah's voice. Nothing can withstand that kind of assault. Twin Moon - ---------- "The way you see things, the way you read things... hurts my heart" "Sometimes I think, what am I doing? This business of bleeding - a dime for showing my heart" I absolutely loved this song when it was posted on sarahslean.com. So much so that I had to hear it on my home system. I jury-rigged two computers together and burned a CD-R of Twin Moon...and listened to it. A *LOT*. 8-} Don't worry. I just disposed of it recently. I now have several copies of a much better recording. 8-} Still, this song is extremely beautiful. The piano glides like a ballerina, dancing with a fluid grace alongside Sarah's voice. I still close my eyes and imagine playing in the stars. The piano up-step after the "oh, twin moon" still makes me smile. I wonder why it has that effect? Oh, and I have always enjoyed what Sarah does with harmonies, and I can think of few songs which have a more beautiful harmony than this. I know I am not the only one to hear some of the Radiohead (and other?) influenced guitar distortion first heard in Climbing up the Walls. Live: I keep remembering (with embarrassment 8-}) the post I made some months ago when the mp3 was released describing what I thought the lyrics might mean. And then I saw her perform the song live and she totally blew away any thoughts I had of what I thought the song meant. Oh well. 8-} Win some, lose some. ;-} Lyrics: A simple message, but executed beautifully. Awake Soon - ----------- "So beauty came with agony" Does anyone ELSE hear the Pie Jesu parallels here? It was the first thing I thought of. Pie Jesu seemed out of place against the rest of Universe to me - in fact (I'm sorry 8-/) I usually skip that song, since it interrupts the musical flow of the disc in my mind. I really do like the song, it just seems out of place for my tastes. Awake Soon seems to be the musical evolution of the style of Pie Jesu - ethereal, pure tones, hymn-like. But the lyrics are dark - far moreso than the tone of the song suggests. I think I like that most about this song. Lyrics: Dark. Someone turn the light on. Nevermind. The vox do that just fine. High - ----- "I cannot be blamed because you're weak" Um, I actually didn't like this song at first. Luckily, that has changed. The piano. The cello. Sarah's accusatory lyrics. All woven together magically. There isn't much to say here. I really like this song now. Eliot - ------ "he said he had hope, he lied" A week or two ago, I visualized an entire music video to this song. I think that serves as testament to how lush and powerful this song is. I imagined Sarah playing this song in kind of a lounge bar/cafe in Paris (probably the use of the accordion-thing in the song), with Sarah playing EVERY part. It was amusing. 8-} I love the piano on this song. I love the preciseness too: "make the living space nea*T*", and the single piano tones punctuating the very end. So cool. 8-} Live: First heard at Danforth 98. I thought it was good, but my appreciation has grown considerably since being able to listen to it repeatedly from disc. Lyrics: I loved it before I had a clue what the lyrics were about. Now that I at least have a clue, I have a much greater appreciation. Blue Parade - ------------ "how could you lie...how could you leave?" Whenever this song comes on, my breath catches. It wrenches at my heart and keeps working on it until the last note. I didn't think anything could replace John the 23rd as my fave, but this song allowed no argument. There is so much sadness, a little pathos, and yes - love portrayed in this song. And it is NOT in the lyrics that this feeling comes from. It is in the way it is sung. I have *NEVER* heard aching sadness - almost tears even - portrayed by someone singing. Until now. It can bring *me* to tears - every time - if I let it. The clear notes, so high, slightly echoed, make you want to reach out and hug the CD. 8-} Simply put, this is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Thank you Sarah. 8-} Lyrics: Woven with the melody and singing ability, I don't think anyone can withstand this song. Narcolepsy Weed - ---------------- "my parents gave me this peace" "who we are is how we love...that is all I need" All I will say is that I am still learning to appreciate this song. It is beautifully done, but it is hard to follow-up a song on the caliber of Blue Parade and not come out wanting. Live: Doooooooogie! 8-} Lyrics: I think they will be the key to me really liking this song. I Want To Be Brave - ------------------- "When night falls, it scrapes its knees" I love that lyric. 8-} This song is shocking to me - I think because the only instrumentation is an acoustic guitar. Something VERY un-ordinary in most of Sarah's music. I like it! Acoustic guitar and Sarah's voice. The Hayden comments are amusing as well, and the "IIIiiiiii Dooooooon't KNOOOOoooooooow! *sob*" at the end always make me smile. - -- Brian Wilson -----------------------"Those aren't Sex muffins! -Coach bloo@blooberry.com ------------------Those aren't Love muffins! http://www.blooberry.com/ -----------Those are just BLOOberry muffins!" Creator of Index DOT Html/Css: http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 17:48:35 -0600 From: "Ian Mullins" Subject: Help me identify these songs please! :) Hello everyone! This is my first post to the list... I've been a lurker for awhile now. :) First of all, some basic info about me ;) ... My name's Ian, and I'm from Winnipeg, MB... and I'm 19... I saw Sarah Slean (with Tory Cassis) for the first time on Feb 4th.... It was soooo amazing. :) She's an incredible pianist and vocalist.. and her in-between song banter is grrrreat too. :) I don't have a bad thing to say about her! I was hoping though that you could all help me with something. she played 3 songs that night that I don't know... 1 is confirmed as being a new song of Sarah's called Duncan (thanks Heather :) )... the others, I'm still not sure.. Here's the complete set list. :) 1 ??all my death is afloat ... ... when i gaze at the sky.... should we listen to love....?? it's a slow song with very little instrumentation... it almost sounds like it could've come from the 70's ! could this be a cover??.. 2 Me & Jerome 3 Twin Moon 4 Eliot 5 Last Year's War (yay!!!) 6 she introduced this one by saying something like, "so I told myself to stop taking myself so seriously, and I wrote this little #"... it's really upbeat... the chorus is something like "come over to the sweet one's baby.. and i'll tell you where to go... ..? ? ?... I don't know, I don't knowwww" ... something like that :) 7 habit 8 My Invitation 9 High 10 Blue Parade Encore 1 Always (Irving Berlin cover) Encore 2 Duncan :) If anyone could help me title these songs, it'd be much appreciated! - - Ian Web author of "Tori's Beauty ..and a Gun" Covers, Live MP3s, Photos, Lyrics and more! http://callisto.uwinnipeg.ca/~mdoran Get an email everytime the page has something new: Send mail to me with "subscribe" in the subject line! ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 21:13:09 EST From: Songbird22@aol.com Subject: Re: Help me identify these songs please! :) In a message dated 2/7/00 9:02:26 PM Eastern Standard Time, crashy@ican.net writes: > 6 she introduced this one by saying something like, "so I told myself to > stop taking myself so seriously, and I wrote this little #"... it's really > upbeat... the chorus is something like "come over to the sweet one's baby.. > and i'll tell you where to go... ..? ? ?... I don't know, I don't knowwww" > ... something like that :) "Sweet Ones" Jessica www.aquezada.com/jess | www.mp3.com/jessweiser ------------------------------ End of navy-soup-digest V3 #24 ******************************