Shawn Colvin, Corrine Bailey Rae, Beth Orton, Amy Winehouse and Me
Recently I have found myself listening to and loving the album of Shawn Colvin’s from the mid nineties that is the least critically acclaimed or well liked of her work, her album “Cover Girl.” But presently in the confines of my apartment my neighbors can hear it playing through the walls and I’m finding myself loving it. I don’t understand why the critics were so harsh when it came out? I think it’s a good body of work and I like the song choices she made. Somehow in the late fall of 2008 it is resonating with me like never before. I can’t tell you why, but it is fitting my mood. Lately I guess I’d have to say it’s been a girl thing.
In my CD player right now it is all girls. I just checked it out to see if I was right. Besides the “Cover Girl” CD of Shawn Colvin, I found Corrine Bailey Rae, Beth Orton, Amy Winehouse, and even an old CD recording of myself. I’m surprised Lucinda Williams was not in the mix. For some reason they are like comfort food or my favorite pair of jeans. They make me feel strong and safe, protected, even when Amy Winehouse is singing and telling us that she’s refusing to go to rehab. Perhaps it’s the resonance and tones of the female voice or these female voices in particular. They are soothing and smooth in their simplistic complexities and rich textures and are just generally pleasing. Their songs and sounds are diverse, but they are all likable in their differences and as a whole make sense to me. Maybe as the leaves are falling and the trees are being stripped bare, these women are having the same effect on me. Perhaps as I become naked in my thoughts these women have been there offering up food for the soul, shelter and clothing for the spirit. Whatever it is, it’s been a formula I have unknowingly been working holding their music close to my chest letting them lead me into this next season.
November 12th, 2008 at 8:00 am
[...] But presently in the confines of my apartment my neighbors can hear it playing through the walls and I’m finding myself loving it. More [...]
November 12th, 2008 at 8:00 am
[...] But presently in the confines of my apartment my neighbors can hear it playing through the walls and I’m finding myself loving it. More [...]
November 18th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Shawn is so fucking great .
the critics are/were jackasses .
fed by the fat labels back, then .
“Cover Girl” is just the best american female singer/songwriter, doin’ what she does best, since early 80’s .
It took Susanne Vega’s prompting and Mgr.
to even sign her with the nepotistic morons
that destroyed the music biz, by being blind and aloof to
Napster and Internet in 99 .
………So you’re right . Your diggin” the BEST !
all my best,
DC