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Subject: shindell-list-digest V3 #448
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shindell-list-digest    Saturday, December 8 2001    Volume 03 : Number 448



                               Today's Subjects:
                               -----------------
  [RS] Proofreading for $200, Alex       ["Gene Frey" <gf212121@hotmail.com>]
  Re: [RS] Misc. Courier thoughts . . .  [Joe Lanzalotto <j.lanza@verizon.ne]
  Re: [RS] Misc. Courier thoughts . . .  [Joe Lanzalotto <j.lanza@verizon.ne]
  [RS] Memory of You        [Vanessa Christina Wills <vcwills@Princeton.EDU>]
  Re: [RS] Memory of You    ["Kristen Myshrall" <ilovelucykaplansky@msn.com>]
  Re: [RS] Memory of You    [Vanessa Christina Wills <vcwills@Princeton.EDU>]
  Re: [RS] Misc. Courier thoughts . . .  [Janet Cinelli <bronxbrody@yahoo.co]

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 18:48:34 -0500
From: "Gene Frey" <gf212121@hotmail.com>
Subject: [RS] Proofreading for $200, Alex

Hey you guys,

Charlie asked us to find::

a) the typo in the lyrics of "Courier"

Would that be 'loll go back to where I came from?'

Gene F.



_________________________________________________________________
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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 20:53:35 -0800
From: Joe Lanzalotto <j.lanza@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [RS] Misc. Courier thoughts . . .

patrick t power wrote:

> RonG stated:
>
> <<after giving it some thought, I really think that including "Sandy"
> instead of "Sonora's Death Row" was a lousy idea.>>

I for one am really glad it was included. Something very different...you'd
hardly think of Richard as a "Jersey Guy"!

> <<Then added: there aren't too many people (if any) that have covered
> that song (or for that matter would do it the justice that Richard did),

The only other ones I can think of are the Hollies. I remember that they did
it live at a show at the Bottom Line in 1975 and it blew me away. Two years
ago I saw Springsteen do it, and it blew me away. This version does
too....all so different from one another.  Richard's version is the way Bruce
would have wanted to sound if he did "Sandy" on Nebraska...nah, maybe not
stark enough.

Anyway, I'm glad its there. he could have left "Transit" off.

Joe


>
> so it may very well draw some attention from DJs who might not otherwise
> give "this Richard Shindell fellow" a second thought. That the
> performance was basically a sincere attempt at covering a really good
> song on an ad lib basis, however, I don't have any problem with it being
> on the CD. I would have *much* preferred "Sonora's Death Row" to "Willin'
> ", however. I don't find the latter to be all that inspiring a
> performance (not that it's *bad*!), or the song all that interesting,
> depite my affection for Lowell George's music.
>
> Pat
> ________________________________________________________________
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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 20:54:31 -0800
From: Joe Lanzalotto <j.lanza@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [RS] Misc. Courier thoughts . . .

Rongrittz@aol.com wrote:

> Regarding "Sandy," Pat writes . . .
>
> <<  there aren't too many people (if any) that have covered that song (or for
> that matter would do it the justice that Richard did) >>
>
> Actually, the Hollies, of all people, covered the song.  It's on "Another
> Night," plus more than one of their greatest hits collections.  But, to your
> point, they don't do it the justice that RS does.  I still prefer "Sonora"
> though.
>
> RG

When they did it live the harmonies were astounding.

Joe

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 21:02:07 -0500
From: Vanessa Christina Wills <vcwills@Princeton.EDU>
Subject: [RS] Memory of You

Oh my goodness. Kristen, Gene, and others...
I can't even believe my eyes. Oh, you crazy kids.
Let me clarify.
"Memory of You" is absolutely, hands-down, one of my top three most 
favoritest Richard Shindell songs. And let me tell you, it's a good 
thing Memory of You _is_ on the CD, because there would have been heck 
to pay if it hadn't been. Lots and lots of heck.
For example, I love the line: "Why did you leave your will so vague?" 
Interpretation One: Why didn't you make it clearer what you wanted? 
Interpretation Two: Why weren't you more precise in writing that legal 
document which we call a 'will'?
And it is the very vagueness of the line that yields these two 
interpretations. And it seems to me that they are quite distinct, and 
that neither one has priority over the other--one must hear them both 
simultaneously in order to hear the song in all its full meaning. So the 
question "Why did you leave your will so vague?" yields at least one 
obvious answer: She left it vague because to be more precise would be to 
exclude some of the meaning from what she wrote. Because to understand 
her intentions is to understand their vagueness, and to accept it.
See, guys? See what a great song this is, and how rich the lyrics are? :-D
and what did she write in her will? she wrote: "you keep the vase/ I'll 
keep the rose/ and the memory of you." As though the memory of "him" 
(the narrator) is some actual thing that can be signed away and handed 
off. (Reminds me of Peter Mulvey's "Every Word Except Goodbye." And the 
narrator keeps the permanent thing--the vase, and the ghost has the 
thing that will fade and die--the rose.
I don't know what significance any of that has--I haven't worked it all 
out, yet. But it seems pretty darn significant, I must say!
And the ghost trilogy of Memory of You, You Again, and Nora is probably 
my favorite 9 minutes on any CD.

Charlie defended the maligned song:


<<So funny - my girlfriend also loves the album and dislikes "Memory of You",
and I _love_ it (in fact, we had one version of the album that _started_
with "Memory of You." Glad _that_ didn't make the cut!). I've always thought
of it as one of the 'neglected gems' of RS's catalog!>>

Yeah, my mom HATES Memory of You, and most of all, she hates the "two long arms..." line. Man, but Memory of You is just so Richard Shindell, I think. It's confrontational, it's passionate, it's mysterious, it's dark as all get-out. I love the shift of attitude that happens between "If I keep my eyes cast down, it just might go away" and "So what's your pleasure, my phantom friend?" Like "OK, enough of this fooling around--what's the deal?" And then the voice is even more challenging in the closing "Why did you leave your will so vague?" verse. Instead of just ignoring the remnants of a long-ago love, the narrator comes to face it and make demands of it. But I agree, Charlie. I, too, think this song is severely neglected!


Gene groused:
 >I would have preferred three minutes of tuning to 'Memory of You,' but 
that's just me.

Oh, come, come, now. Memory of You has an awesome, haunting melody. It's 
actually one of my fave RS melodies--slowly rocking, meditative and 
trance-like. And a line like "And it's got two long arms reaching out 
for me" is just a fabulous way to describe a love or lover that you'd 
thought was long gone and wish would stay that way. And I love the 
notion that the ghost may need to take some sweet revenge, fulfill some 
dread command, or maybe just have someone hold its hand. It's totally 
bizarre and wickedly disjointed.

Anyways...just my two cents, for whatever it's worth.

- --V

Kristen Myshrall wrote:

> I'm with ya on this one....Memory of You is my least favorite RS song...i
>just can't stand it and it's the only thing keeping Courier off the "perfect"
>album list. I have to run to skip it....it creeps me out and I can't quite
>figure out why :)
>
><<<<<<<
> And boy, I wish there was a way for "Wisteria" to have made the main disc,
>too.  There are already SIX songs from "Sparrows Point" on the disc (more
>than half the disc), so I certainly would have preferred "Wisteria" to, say,
>"Memory of You."
>
>
>Kristen
>www.angelfire.com/folk/lucykaplansky
>
>.Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 20:18:03 -0600
From: "Kristen Myshrall" <ilovelucykaplansky@msn.com>
Subject: Re: [RS] Memory of You

 I dunno bout this....you think Bye Now is creepy...Memory of You gives me
chill, and they aren't the good kind. It just completely freaks me out and I
don't know why. The lyrics annoy me and the way his voice sounds completely
frightening for some reason. I've tried to read through the lyrics over and
over and interpret them and it just doesn't help.

 >>>>>>>>>>
And the ghost trilogy of Memory of You, You Again, and Nora is probably
my favorite 9 minutes on any CD.
<<<<<<<<<<

I LOVE You Again and Nora...but Memory of You is completely different.

<<<<<Memory of You is just so Richard Shindell, I think. >>>>>>

Hmmm....I can't agree with this one...I think it's my vote for that "song that
doesn't belong"

You know what though....reading through all your interpretations of the
lyrics, Vanessa, I never saw it how you do. Interesting...and I'd like to hear
more about how people interpret this song, maybe I can discover soemthing i've
been missing.

Kristen
www.angelfire.com/folk/lucykaplansky

.Get more from the Web.  FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 08 Dec 2001 21:27:34 -0500
From: Vanessa Christina Wills <vcwills@Princeton.EDU>
Subject: Re: [RS] Memory of You

I also love the line "What thing could bring you out to haunt this world 
again?" Emphasis on the "again." I mean, the song isn't just about old 
loves that were never resolved--it's got some of the same bitter twinge 
that's more apparent in AYHN.

- --V

"I am a citizen of the moment. I have built my white picket fence around 
the now."
    --The Tick

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 8 Dec 2001 18:31:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Janet Cinelli <bronxbrody@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [RS] Misc. Courier thoughts . . .

I have been enjoying the Sonora Sessions alot.  I Love
the Sonora's Death Row song! I don't know if this has
been discussed, if so, I'm sorry, but is the list on
the back of the cd accurate?  I was expecting #4 to be
"Kenworth" but it's "Willin"!  That was a surprise!
And does do a little of his famous tuning on the bonus
cd when he is talking about good singer names.
Great cd and I am enjoying everyone's reviews too!
Janet
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End of shindell-list-digest V3 #448
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