(From Amazon.com - Go there for the album or to hear the first song- Good video)I had a silver penny
And an apricot tree
And I said to the sailor
On the white quay
'Sailor, O sailor
Will you bring me
If I give you my penny
And my apricot tree
'A fez from Algeria
An Arab drum to beat
A little gilt sword
And a parakeet?'
And he smiled and he kissed me
As strong as death
And I saw his red tongue
And I felt his sweet breath
'You may keep your penny
And your apricot tree
And I'll bring you presents
Back from the sea...'
O the ship dipped down
On the rim of the sky
And I waited while three
Long summers went by
Then one steel morning
On the white quay
I saw a grey ship
Come in from the sea
Slowly she came
Across the bay
For her flashing rigging
Was shot away
All round her wake
The seabirds cried
They flew in and out
Of the hole in her side
Slowly she came
In the path of the sun
And I heard the sound
Of a distant gun
And a stranger came running
Up to me
From the deck of the ship
And he said, said he
'O are you the boy
Who would wait on the quay
With the silver penny
And the apricot tree?
'I've a plum-coloured fez
And a drum for thee
And a sword and a parakeet
From over the sea.'
'O where is the sailor
With bold red hair?
And what is that volley
On the bright air?
'O where are the other
Girls and boys?
And why have you brought me
Children's toys?'
-Charles Causley's Nursery Rhyme of Innocence and Experience
This poem is the first of many wonderful verses that many of us perhaps have forgotten or have never heard featured on Natalie Merchant's most recent project. She's been quiet for seven years, preoccupied with being a mother, but on April 13th, she released an incredible album titled Leave Your Sleep (The title is borrowed from the irreplaceable Mother Goose).
What she has done is collected 26 poems and set them to music. The first song was inspired by Charles Causley's haunting lesson of honor, gratitude, and the weight of death. She wrote a sad, sea song complete with fiddles and pipes, capturing the old sound of sailors from the mid-1900s. This song was enough to drag me tearfully into the rest of the album...
I suppose, honestly, this music is the dream of many of us less gifted English majors... to somehow describe what it is about a poem that moves us so much with something better than critiques and pointless phrases of adoration. Natalie Merchant has taken it upon herself to make these verses sing... to add more flesh, more dimension, than the mere superfluous words of other writers.
She predominantly chose simple, quick poems, some even just silly. Most of the poems were written for or about children in one way or another. This doesn't rob from the the greatness in her mission to thank these deceased artists (save one) for the treasures they left behind. I like the quote she borrows from Causley himself: The mere fact of a poem appearing simple in language and construction bears no relation whatsoever to the profundity of ideas it may contain.
Only a few of these songs are really going to get stuck in your head. This is a far removed work from her days of 10,000 Maniacs or the late 90s hits like Kind and Generous. She has collaborated with the words of others offering to the lyrics only her genius for mixing sounds, genres, and music styles to evoke a time or feeling for each poem... as well as her unique voice that gives the feeling her heart must always be lodged in her throat. Aside from the mournful sea shanty, she plays with old brassy jazz themes for Bleezer's Ice Cream (by the living Jack Prelutsky) or the reggae/R&B gut tickling music for Topsyturvey World by the fascinatingly strange William Brighty Rands. These songs are all like little paintings- take time to observe what's going on...
There are two versions of this album available, that I know of... the double disc edition I have or a single cd with selections from the entire work. I don't think, however, that once you are exposed to the first disc that it alone is enough. Even with all 26 songs, I'd like to hear more... not only the fun sounds she put together on this eclectic collection, but the terrific research she includes covering what connects her to each poet. She doesn't pretend to write complete biographies, but she offers enough details to demonstrate who these people were and what it is about them that made them irresistible subjects for Merchant. The double cd collection is really worth it to have this tiny hardcover book of research, her admiration for these writers.
Two of my favorite stories about the poets themselves concern Rachel Field and E.E. Cummings.
Field wrote a lovely little poem called Equestrienne about a precious little girl in a pink dress learning to ride a horse. The poem is very simple... Really just a portrait of youthful, sprightly femininity. What makes it heartbreaking and poignant, however, is to know of the poet's life. She adopted a little girl she named Hannah at the age of 40... and only had seven years with her before Field died from a cancer operation complicated by pneumonia. She left her husband and little girl only the precious little poems and her several novels (one that was later made into a movie called All This and Heaven, Too starring Bette Davis).
E.E. Cummings also has a tragic little girl story... he loved a woman who left her husband to be with him. Cummings and this woman had a child, but the woman found herself another lover and took her child with her. Though Cummings was reunited once or twice with his daughter after she had grown, he insisted on maintaining emotional distance, apparently never allowing the young woman to refer to him as "Father," only Estlin. So, with that knowledge, when we read his seemingly silly poem maggie and milly and molly and may, especially the lines at the end ("For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)/ it's always ourselves we find in the sea"), it breathes life and understanding and, better yet, maybe some empathy for these quiet, socially unacceptable souls we rarely have the chance to get to know while they live.
There are so many stories... I could go on for many more long, LONG paragraphs... from the song of courage written by Ogden Nash for his daughter Isabel to the contented musings of the spinster Laurence Alma-Tadema never far from the imposing glare of her writer father... I could relay the tales of giants who regret eating little boys, to the blind men trying to tell each other what an elephant is, to whales who steal your aunt's nighty to warm up by her fire in the night, to my favorite Bleezer flavors of ice cream (I'm torn between Avocado Brussels Sprout and Butter Brickle Pepper Pickle)... but, I'm going to be corny and tell you that it's really worth experiencing yourself.
I am completely consumed in the fables and voices Natalie Merchant has assembled. This work is haunting, gorgeous, and often playful. The education she offers along with the poetic elegance is invaluable. You'll want to read the stories and poems as you listen to the music... and you'll long to know more about the poets, their work, and even Natalie herself. In a small but largely giving gesture, Natalie Merchant has rekindled the spark of curiosity in a society that thinks Wikipedia knows everything...
One song I do have to share is my favorite. Like most experiences in reading poetry, who knows what it is about a particular poem that moves us? That something which becomes a part of what makes our souls make sense to ourselves? I close this review with a link to listen to Natalie Merchant's rendition of a poem written by one of the great, lost Who Knows? Poets.
I suppose, honestly, this music is the dream of many of us less gifted English majors... to somehow describe what it is about a poem that moves us so much with something better than critiques and pointless phrases of adoration. Natalie Merchant has taken it upon herself to make these verses sing... to add more flesh, more dimension, than the mere superfluous words of other writers.
She predominantly chose simple, quick poems, some even just silly. Most of the poems were written for or about children in one way or another. This doesn't rob from the the greatness in her mission to thank these deceased artists (save one) for the treasures they left behind. I like the quote she borrows from Causley himself: The mere fact of a poem appearing simple in language and construction bears no relation whatsoever to the profundity of ideas it may contain.
Only a few of these songs are really going to get stuck in your head. This is a far removed work from her days of 10,000 Maniacs or the late 90s hits like Kind and Generous. She has collaborated with the words of others offering to the lyrics only her genius for mixing sounds, genres, and music styles to evoke a time or feeling for each poem... as well as her unique voice that gives the feeling her heart must always be lodged in her throat. Aside from the mournful sea shanty, she plays with old brassy jazz themes for Bleezer's Ice Cream (by the living Jack Prelutsky) or the reggae/R&B gut tickling music for Topsyturvey World by the fascinatingly strange William Brighty Rands. These songs are all like little paintings- take time to observe what's going on...
There are two versions of this album available, that I know of... the double disc edition I have or a single cd with selections from the entire work. I don't think, however, that once you are exposed to the first disc that it alone is enough. Even with all 26 songs, I'd like to hear more... not only the fun sounds she put together on this eclectic collection, but the terrific research she includes covering what connects her to each poet. She doesn't pretend to write complete biographies, but she offers enough details to demonstrate who these people were and what it is about them that made them irresistible subjects for Merchant. The double cd collection is really worth it to have this tiny hardcover book of research, her admiration for these writers.
Two of my favorite stories about the poets themselves concern Rachel Field and E.E. Cummings.
Field wrote a lovely little poem called Equestrienne about a precious little girl in a pink dress learning to ride a horse. The poem is very simple... Really just a portrait of youthful, sprightly femininity. What makes it heartbreaking and poignant, however, is to know of the poet's life. She adopted a little girl she named Hannah at the age of 40... and only had seven years with her before Field died from a cancer operation complicated by pneumonia. She left her husband and little girl only the precious little poems and her several novels (one that was later made into a movie called All This and Heaven, Too starring Bette Davis).
E.E. Cummings also has a tragic little girl story... he loved a woman who left her husband to be with him. Cummings and this woman had a child, but the woman found herself another lover and took her child with her. Though Cummings was reunited once or twice with his daughter after she had grown, he insisted on maintaining emotional distance, apparently never allowing the young woman to refer to him as "Father," only Estlin. So, with that knowledge, when we read his seemingly silly poem maggie and milly and molly and may, especially the lines at the end ("For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)/ it's always ourselves we find in the sea"), it breathes life and understanding and, better yet, maybe some empathy for these quiet, socially unacceptable souls we rarely have the chance to get to know while they live.
There are so many stories... I could go on for many more long, LONG paragraphs... from the song of courage written by Ogden Nash for his daughter Isabel to the contented musings of the spinster Laurence Alma-Tadema never far from the imposing glare of her writer father... I could relay the tales of giants who regret eating little boys, to the blind men trying to tell each other what an elephant is, to whales who steal your aunt's nighty to warm up by her fire in the night, to my favorite Bleezer flavors of ice cream (I'm torn between Avocado Brussels Sprout and Butter Brickle Pepper Pickle)... but, I'm going to be corny and tell you that it's really worth experiencing yourself.
I am completely consumed in the fables and voices Natalie Merchant has assembled. This work is haunting, gorgeous, and often playful. The education she offers along with the poetic elegance is invaluable. You'll want to read the stories and poems as you listen to the music... and you'll long to know more about the poets, their work, and even Natalie herself. In a small but largely giving gesture, Natalie Merchant has rekindled the spark of curiosity in a society that thinks Wikipedia knows everything...
One song I do have to share is my favorite. Like most experiences in reading poetry, who knows what it is about a particular poem that moves us? That something which becomes a part of what makes our souls make sense to ourselves? I close this review with a link to listen to Natalie Merchant's rendition of a poem written by one of the great, lost Who Knows? Poets.
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