From: owner-shindell-list-digest@smoe.org (shindell-list-digest) To: shindell-list-digest@smoe.org Subject: shindell-list-digest V6 #276 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 Thursday, November 25 2004 Volume 06 : Number 276 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [RS] "...just as ornament..." ["TRICIA MULLANE" ] [RS] adding a canary... [Christy Thomas ] [RS] Happy Thanksgiving! [Deb Woodell ] Re: [RS] there goes mavis [Vanessa Wills ] Re: [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V6 #268 [Vanessa Wills ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 12:00:47 +0000 From: "TRICIA MULLANE" Subject: [RS] "...just as ornament..." Lisa wrote, "Richard doesn't do things like include the swept-away castle, just as ornament." I don't know whether you can say for sure, although I have heard him say that "Therer Goes Mavis" started with a crumbling castle theme. I've been to a couple of shows when Richard tells of his being bored while writing "Waiting for the Storm." He says he got bored while writing a macho guy, battening down the hatches, fighting the elements song. So, Instead of battening down the hatches, he makes the guy open all the windows and put all the furniture on the lawn "...and that's just me amusing myself..." he said. I've also heard Richard say that "Next Best Western" started as an angry vengeful-type song---but it didn't quite work out the way he planned it. - ---Tricia ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 05:50:26 -0800 (PST) From: Christy Thomas Subject: [RS] adding a canary... Hello all, Thanks for the responses to my mavis post - and your thoughtful comments on the song...this stuff is really fun for me. I seem to have an odd ability to see meaning or similarities or links or patterns where they may or may not exist - occupational hazard. In any case, I really enjoy these kinds of discussions - thanks for "playing" with me! :-) When I saw Richard in Chicago, he told a similar story about adding a canary to the song ... I got the impression that this got him "unstuck" from the focus on the castle metaphor ... not that it made the song "a child's song" or whatever - it changed the song...but...seems to me to add to the metaphor - again, seems to ME...doesn't mean Richard intended it that way or that there aren't other explanations/interpretations. I had the (humorous to me) thought this morning while reading your posts that the mother with cage - explaining that just suddenly freeing the bird will likely end up in her demise because the bird is not prepared to survive on her own at this time - anyway- the "humorous" thought to me was that in the "video" in my head for this song, the mother is played by colin powell ... oh that is really funny to me... !... perhaps i need more coffee. Peace, christy __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 08:15:29 -0800 (PST) From: Deb Woodell Subject: [RS] Happy Thanksgiving! Hi, everyone, Whatever your sentiments behind the historical ramifications of the first Thanksgiving, please remember the message behind the T-word. I spent about an hour Monday helping to feed homeless people on the streets of Philadelphia. A true life-changing experience that I surely will repeat. It was heart-wrenching to see people so grateful for merely one new pair of socks. We here have much to be thankful for; let's not forget it. Deb ===== This I have learned: Because we can, we must try to change the world -- fully, wisely, restlessly. -- Rudy Nemser == Life is such a changing art. -- Dar Williams == __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - You care about security. So do we. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 13:28:40 -0500 From: Vanessa Wills Subject: Re: [RS] there goes mavis I wasn't gonna say anything earlier in this conversation, but now I'm becoming "That person who has no idea what Mavis is about"! Well, boo to that. ;) I should say that I never meant to be giving an analysis of the song--in fact, I agree with quite a bit of what others have said about it. And I didn't say the song as a whole was "too sweet," I said that I really rather liked the song now that I'd seen it live a few times, but found the lyrics still perhaps a bit too sweet--for *me*. I don't see how anyone can infer from that that I must subscribe to some particular interpretation of the song. That said, after hearing the song played a couple times in concert, I do find it easier to turn my attention from the canary and toward the castle. It's funny that what happens to the characters in the song can happen to the listener, as well: even the listener may find herself distracted from the coming flood by Mavis and the little girl. Maybe Richard intended this. Best, The Grouch > > someone, however, mentioned that the song was "too > > sweet" for them...i beg to differ (rather > > respectfully, if i may) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 16:26:20 -0500 From: Vanessa Wills Subject: Re: [RS] Re: shindell-list-digest V6 #268 I'm sorry I didn't get to check my e-mail before the show. It would have been cool to meet another fellow lister--especially one who was *sitting right at my table*!! ::smacks forehead:: - --V, who was sitting two seats to your left On Sat, 20 Nov 2004 15:46:49 -0500, drtobs@aol.com wrote: > Can't wait until tomorrow night to see Richard at World Cafe Live. I'll be there, in the front,with my short brown hair and Che Guevara t-shirt :) > > Toby ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 22:27:28 -0500 From: lisa@sharinglaw.net Subject: Re: [RS] "...just as ornament..." I think Lennon said that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was about a girl, too. Nice try Richard! Quoting TRICIA MULLANE : > Lisa wrote, "Richard doesn't do things like include the swept-away castle, > just as > ornament." > > I don't know whether you can say for sure, although I have heard him say > that "Therer Goes Mavis" started with a crumbling castle theme. > > I've been to a couple of shows when Richard tells of his being bored while > writing "Waiting for the Storm." He says he got bored while writing a macho > guy, battening down the hatches, fighting the elements song. So, Instead of > battening down the hatches, he makes the guy open all the windows and put > all the furniture on the lawn "...and that's just me amusing myself..." he > said. > > I've also heard Richard say that "Next Best Western" started as an angry > vengeful-type song---but it didn't quite work out the way he planned it. > > ---Tricia ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 00:20:10 -0800 (PST) From: Greg Sheridan Subject: [RS] Why do I like RS Hi Everyone, I have to make a confession: In the heat of the RS fall tour, I snuck onto this list without even making mention of the fact that I was a complete newbie. I started asking questions left and right, offering tickets free of charge, outing Dutchmen(as Dutchmen, that is), demanding set lists, etc. I was originally planning some kind of grand entrance, as part of my quest to discover what it is about me that makes me like the music of RS, despite the fact that I can't find a single relative, friend, or enemy that shares my appreciation. As it turned out, I ended up with an extra ticket for one of the Joe's Pub shows, and had to burst onto the scene with a desperate plea to save a ticket from going to waste. Anyway, here's what was going to be my first message: Hello, fellow Richard Shindell fans. I'm so glad I found this list. I am a very happy person, with a fulfilling family life and social life, but musically, I feel extremely alone in the world. Like everyone is strange. My friends all talk about "Greg's music". They humor me, but I sense that songs like Fishing, Transit, and Next Best Western have absolutely no effect on them! What is wrong with them? Are they human? I don't get it. These are just the songs that initially caught my attention. I don't even bother playing Wisteria, Calling The Moon, or I Saw My Youth Today - they'd think I'm nuts. The interesting thing is that I see people on the list who love songs that do absolutely nothing for me. This leaves me wondering, is there something about Richard's songs as a collection, that make us, as a group, like them? Or are we all drawn to Richard for different reasons. I hope that it's a little of both. Sorry for getting so philosophical, but it's late, and I just had to know. Anyone's thoughts on this would be welcome. Greg S(I just remembered that there's at least one other Greg on the list) All your favorites on one personal page  Try My Yahoo! ------------------------------ End of shindell-list-digest V6 #276 ***********************************