From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V6 #108 Reply-To: shindell-list@smoe.org Sender: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk shindell-list-digest Tuesday, May 18 2004 Volume 06 : Number 108 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V6 #107 [Mary Mccarthy ] Re: [RS] Re: Trivia, Summer Wind, et al [rfoxwell@wso.williams.edu] [RS] Re: Koch [Tom Neff ] [RS] But the real news is... [Tom Neff ] Re: [RS] But the real news is... [rfoxwell@wso.williams.edu] [RS] Chris's Question On Last Fare [Bobdog25nj@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 06:44:15 -0400 From: Mary Mccarthy Subject: [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V6 #107 Oh, and on a related note, Richard remarked that his two children in Argentina are aged 6 and 9 now. "Summer Wind", anyone? ;-) - - --Chris dear Chris- The song cotton dress was written quite a few years ago, so his children were not 6 and 9 then. When Richard was playing at Joe's Pub recently, he shared a cute story about the song, after a little boy in the audience requested it. He had come home to find that his daughter was listening very intensely to "cotton dress..." and he thought he was going to have to explain that the song was fictional., etc., He was worried that the sensitive material about infidelity or fantasized infidelity would traumatize her. But after the song is over she turns to her Dad and says, but Daddy I'm 8.( questioning him on the ages of the children in the song- 6 and 9) On another note, I caught the whole interview again last night on FUV, and it was great. (They say it will be archived which will help those out of range) I've said it before , but There goes Mavis is one of the most entrancing songs I've heard since the b side of Abbey road. can't wait till the cd comes out. ON a trivia note which one of you fans out there know the answer to this one? What lyric changes from the first cut of arrowhead, compared to the live version on Courier. If you guess correctly you may be as devoted a fan as I am. have a great day all. mary ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 07:49:13 -0400 From: "John Fix 3rd" Subject: [RS] Last Fare > -----Original Message----- > > 1. When talking about "Last Fare", Richard said--at Claudia > Marshall's prompting--that the two couples in the song were > not the same couple, in his mind. !! I don't understand > that. I feel that a large part of the beauty of the song > derives from the two couples being the same; barely able to > stand or speak due to sadness after 9-11, and then happy and > bearing a baby (named either "Hope" or "Grace") in the > spring, with the obvious symbolism. The power of the imagery > diminishes somewhat, to my thinking, if these are two > different couples. Does anyone else agree? Has anyone heard > Richard comment one way or the other in another interview/whatever? > IMHO, the first couple is older and has spent the day in NYC searching the Armory and other locations for a missing son or daughter. They live in NJ, and have just spent another fruitless day searching for any sign of their loved one. The second couple may have been touched by the tragedy (as we all were) but don't appear to have a direct connection to the first couple other than the taxi driver. Most likely this second couple lives in the city as they wouldn't relay on a taxi to take them and their newborn home to New Jersey but wouldn't think much of taking a cab uptown. The taxi driver is the common link, being the narrator and observer of the gradual change from despair to hope from the fall to the spring. John ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 09:14:44 -0400 From: rfoxwell@wso.williams.edu Subject: Re: [RS] Re: Trivia, Summer Wind, et al Quoting Mary Mccarthy : > The song cotton dress was written quite a few years ago, so his children > were not 6 and 9 then. Of course. I was merely commenting that one aspect of the song's setting is now accurate; his children are now six and nine, so the song is kind of in "present time", in a cute (yet meaningless) way. I was not suggesting that it had anything to do with the creation of the song, just that, hey, lookee here, the kids are 6 and 9 now. Neat. > ON a trivia note which one of you fans out there know the answer to this > one? What lyric changes from the first cut of arrowhead, compared to > the live version on Courier. The only thing that jumps to mind is the shift in the number of the brigade to which the narrator belongs. In "Courier" it is the Ninth Brigade, if memory serves, whereas it is the Third Brigade on "Blue Divide". (Perhaps I've mixed those up.) I wonder if there is any significance to this; I have heard Richard use both numbers in different performances, and during one performance I *believe* I heard him sing "Sixth Brigade". I may be making that up, however, as my memory is wont to do. Maybe Richard just likes multiples of 3. (Like in saying that his children are 6 and 9, hmm...) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 09:20:34 -0400 From: Tom Neff Subject: [RS] Re: Koch Koch is both a distributor of (many) indie labels and a record label in its own right. I have not seen their contract, but they seem to be able to offer to bring select albums out as Koch releases, without the act leaving the partner label. I also seem to recall that they option Canadian rights for some albums, so if you read a Canadian review it will say Koch even though the US sees a different label. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 09:58:55 -0400 From: Tom Neff Subject: [RS] But the real news is... I just heard that Saturday Night Live this weekend will be a Christopher Walken compilation. Tivo Alert level is RED! ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 10:08:21 -0400 From: rfoxwell@wso.williams.edu Subject: Re: [RS] But the real news is... Quoting Tom Neff : > I just heard that Saturday Night Live this weekend will be a Christopher > Walken compilation. Tivo Alert level is RED! You have just made me a very happy man. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 11:14:08 EDT From: Bobdog25nj@aol.com Subject: [RS] Chris's Question On Last Fare After listening to the Claudia Marshall WFUV interview, Chris had two questions: - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ------------------------- 1. When talking about "Last Fare", Richard said--at Claudia Marshall's prompting--that the two couples in the song were not the same couple, in his mind. !! I don't understand that. I feel that a large part of the beauty of the song derives from the two couples being the same; barely able to stand or speak due to sadness after 9-11, and then happy and bearing a baby (named either "Hope" or "Grace") in the spring, with the obvious symbolism. The power of the imagery diminishes somewhat, to my thinking, if these are two different couples. Does anyone else agree? Has anyone heard Richard comment one way or the other in another interview/whatever? - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ----------- Hmmm. Believe it or not I had EXACTLY the same response to hearing Richard explain that he did not think that the couple with the baby at the end were the same couple that the cab driver had picked up on 9-11. Actually, my thought was more along the line of " well, Richard has written a beautiful and understated song about 9-11, that manages the extremely difficult trick of making the song both very sad and yet uplifting at the end - and it is most unfortunate that Richard is apparently TOO INCREDIBLY STUPID to understand his own song! " During the interview ( which I did not re-hear yesterday) , I remember Richard talking about being in Argentina and happening upon a moment of street life, where he just happened to witness a cab bringing home a Mom and Dad and baby from the hospital for the first time. Maybe there was a small welcoming comittee of friends and neighbors , I don't know. But I remember Richard saying that he noticed the face of the cab driver and how incredibly proud he seemed to be that he had "brought them home". Somehow - through songwriter magic - that cabdriver ended up in NYC on 9-11. That part I get. But I am with Chris - I think the song loses a lot of its emotional power if the couple with that baby at the end are not the same couple that the cabdriver picked up in the area of lower Manhattan on 9-11. Perhaps we need to explain to Richard that the "collective unconcious" allowed him to write the song - and has left it to us to correct Richard when he has clearly gone awry. Chris also asked: - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ----------------------------------- 2. This one is kinda personal: Richard referred to a sixteen-year-old son "from before", living somewhere in the States (can't remember...Jersey maybe?) Was Richard married earlier? Did I completely mishear this? (I was paying some bills at that moment.) I assume that this isn't extraordinary sensitive information, or else Richard wouldn't have mentioned it during a radio interview. I can appreciate an artist's privacy, though, so Scott (or anyone else), feel free to tell me to mind my own business. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ---------------------------------------- OK... I did hear this small part of the interview last night again. Richard's eldest son lives in Georgetown ( pretty sure that's what Richard said) ... from the context of the explanation I kinda thought that Richard's first son is probably from a first marriage? But I am also with Scott that we are getting close to invading Richard's privacy ... and besides, it's not like this has anything to do with Richard's songs anyway. If someone does know, and if it's not too personal, a brief explanation of what happened to Richard after college ( and The Razzy Dazzy Spazum Band) , and the point at which he started to make Cds and earn his living as a singer-songwriter might be interesting. I know Richard attended Seminary School somewhere ( he has mentioned this at shows) and that does seem to be reflected in his songwriting. ( I seem to recall he decided being a minister was not for him and left the program ). Did Richard ever work a straight 9 to 5 job? Did he ever sell Rolexs in Times Square? Work as the DJ at Satin Dolls in Lodi, New Jersey? Teach guitar? What was his major in college anyway? When he wasn't planning to be a working musician, what was he planning to be? Or not. But a little info on Richard's path to where he is now might be interesting. see ya... bob paterson ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V6 #108 ***********************************