From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V6 #185 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 Saturday, September 4 2004 Volume 06 : Number 185 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] last fare of the day [sharon G ] [RS] Last Fare ["John Fix 3rd" ] [RS] Last Fare ["John Fix 3rd" ] Re: [RS] last fare [Tom Neff ] [RS] Last Fare & Gray/Green [Janet Cinelli ] [RS] Weather Report ["Isabel Frey" ] [RS] Observation [Lyman Golden ] Re: [RS] Weather Report ["Sandra J. Smith" ] Re: [RS] Weather Report [Rongrittz@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 04 Sep 2004 06:22:49 -0400 From: sharon G Subject: [RS] last fare of the day I think maybe some of you have been watching too much TV lately...Not every NY song or reference is about 9-11. i think last fare of the day captures a side of NY that rarely gets written about... i always smile when i start catching greenlights you can go from southern manhattan to the top but almost certain to hit red midway...i think its planned that way.... did richard drive a NYC cab or was that john gorka? its nice to have a different cd, and to see people embrace a different sounding record... lots of these songs are NOT new... i think the Island is the oldest and have heard it for two years at least or two newports at least and i think the first Joan Tour with D&T.. the instrumentation is beautiful...and its a beautiful record... sharonG ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 08:02:37 -0400 From: "John Fix 3rd" Subject: [RS] Last Fare I doubt the couple from the fall and spring are the same, primarily because of the mode of transportation that is at the center of the song (i.e. taxi). In the days following 9/11, there was no way someone would drive a car into NYC, so taking a taxi cab back home to New Jersey (Englewood) is believable since it's unlikely the couple had any other means to get home. If you assume it's the same couple, then by that point they would drive into the city, both for the initial delivery of the child as well as later to return home with the baby. Who would chance catching a cab to New Jersey while carrying a newborn? Seems to me this second couple lives somewhere in the city, so catching a cab for twenty blocks is common practice. Interesting idea about St. Lukes being a church, but I think the flowers and balloons are a giveaway that they're in front of a hospital. I've never seen balloons at a christening...maybe at the party after the christening. John ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 08:21:25 -0400 From: "John Fix 3rd" Subject: [RS] Last Fare > -----Original Message----- > > From: Bobdog25nj@aol.com > > I don't have the lyrics in front of me - so this is from > memory - but what is the line about the cruel rain about > anyway? It's not about actual physical rain - you morons - > it's about the horrible rain of debris that followed in the > immediate wake of the collapse of the towers. Cement, > wallboard, evaporated computers and desks and tables - and > parts of human beings. > Sorry, I beg to disagree....it rained in NYC about three or four days after 9/11. That would coincide with all the friends and family traveling into the city to put up posters and search out loved ones. The imagery of the brake lights on 95 south as they cross the bridge also shows that it's physically raining as they drive home. > > I also think the song loses a lot of its power if the couple > in the last part of the song, coming out of the church, are > not the same couple from the first part of the song > I think it's more powerful if they are different couples. The first couple (IMHO) is older and they came into the city to look for a son or daughter that worked in the towers. They spent the day searching, visiting the armory, walking the streets, putting up flyers with a photo of their child. By the end of the day they are exhausted, with little hope remaining. The second couple (younger) filled with joy and "amazement" over the birth of their first child is the symbolic spring rebirth. Rain and birth both show a new beginning, but not necessarily for the first couple who probably still mourn their loss. Perhaps the first couple is starting to recover as well, but most likely they are still mourning. John ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Sep 2004 13:37:39 -0400 From: Tom Neff Subject: Re: [RS] last fare "It's a song that takes place in New York City in the fall of 2001, maybe around September 18th or 17th, sometime around there. And then it sort of glides over the winter and ends up in the spring. And it's from the point of view of a taxi driver who's taking people home." -- R. Shindell, FRFF 2004 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 10:39:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Janet Cinelli Subject: [RS] Last Fare & Gray/Green I have to agree with the poster who said that the first couple is an older one, possibly looking for their child and maybe puting up posters. There was alot of hope in the early days after 9/11 that people were still alive, in hospitals, etc. I like the song "Gray/Green" but there is something in it that is distracting. I'm showing my age here but does anyone remember the tall 16 oz Pepsi-Cola bottles? It sounds like someone is blowing into one during that song! I like that song, it sounds like a lullaby, which I guess it is. Great album! I can't seem to stop listening to it. Janet _______________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. http://promotions.yahoo.com/goldrush ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Sep 2004 15:35:08 -0400 From: "Isabel Frey" Subject: [RS] Weather Report I don't think the beginning of Last Fare could have taken place on 9/11. The bridges and tunnels were closed for awhile after for security and to allow emergency vehicles to get through. Since I got jumped on for mentioning the weather on a number of occassions (speaking of weather - Susan, we're thinking of you in Florida. Let us all know how you make out), I might as well post my feelings about the new cd. I like it, but I think most of the songs are going to end up on my "B" list of Shindell hits. I know he was experimenting with new sounds and new musicians, but to me, alot of the instrumentation sounds too heavy and takes away from the songs. I find this especially true on Grey Green. Maybe I've heard Richard perform them solo too many times to be objective, but they just sound too overdone. It really bothers me that he left the "Father Brown" verse out of Whipporwill. That verse made such an important statement in the song and without it, the song falls a little flat. I love Fenario and Big Muddy (the reverb toward the end is a bit much though). Hazel's House, Grey Green, and Mavis fall into the same category as My Love Will Follow You and Blue Divide. I like them (I pretty much like everything Richard does) but I'm not pulling out the cd just to listen to those songs, and I don't miss them if he doesn't play them at shows. And if Richard didn't play The Weather in the pouring rain at Falcon Ridge, I don't think he every will! Isabel _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! hthttp://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 17:27:32 -0400 From: Lyman Golden Subject: [RS] Observation Bought my copy of Vuelta on Tuesday of release and have enjoyed getting to know the new songs. The only thing about the album that bothers me is the track order. The first two songs are both very strong...too strong, in my opinion, to be side by side AND in the same key. The order diminishes the impact of the great track, Waist Deep, since it follows such a strong opener that is also in the key of C minor. That's very close to TEN MINUTES in the same (minor) key and close to the same feel (yes, Waist Deep is slower, but still has the same basic feel). Gets a little tiring even if you can't put your finger on the reason for the problem. After some experimentation, I found that moving Fenario to a position following Che Guevara T-Shirt works well for me. I tried moving Waist Deep, but it works so well in front of The Island, that it didn't seem to help. Other than that, another GREAT one from Richard! I was shocked and very very excited to find that RS is finally coming south (to NC) soon. Can' wait! L. G. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 15:26:20 -0700 From: "Sandra J. Smith" Subject: Re: [RS] Weather Report At 3:35 PM -0400 9/4/04, Isabel Frey wrote: >It really bothers me that he left the "Father Brown" verse out of >Whipporwill. That verse made such an important statement in the >song and without it, the song falls a little flat. I haven't seen RS live in over two years. (I had tickets to see him last time he came through, but showed up at McCabe's on the wrong evening.) Since I've never heard "Whipoorwill" until now, can someone fill me in on the Father Brown verse? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 19:19:16 EDT From: Rongrittz@aol.com Subject: Re: [RS] Weather Report >> Since I've never heard "Whipoorwill" until now, can someone fill me in on the Father Brown verse? << The change could happen any day Or so says Father Brown I listen for that still small voice But I just can't make it out Beneath the constant whispering Of the devil that I know Who would I be if I believed Who am I if I don't RG ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V6 #185 ***********************************