FIVE FOR WRITING - FINALE: Coming up with five musical poetic inspirations was, ultimately, difficult. My final selection is below and I went back and forth between this choice and two other ladies -- namely Joni Mitchell and Patti Smith. They would have definitely been six or seven for this meme. Pink Floyd would have been eight. But, as Nick Bruno dictated, we were to select five. So, my final choice is...
Laurie Anderson is a soothsayer, avant-garde priestess and, most of all, a poet. I first heard Laurie on the album Big Science, which was basically a "greatest hits" culled from her massive quadruple album, United States Live. Her subsequent albums, like Home of the Brave, Strange Angels, The Ugly One With the Jewels and Bright Red, were all masterpieces. I was beguiled, amused and provoked by O Superman, Walking and Falling, From the Air, Tightrope, Same Time Tomorrow, Sharkey's Day, Love Among the Sailors and so many more. To simply call her a "performance artist" diminishes her talent as a writer and storyteller. I've been lucky enough to see Laurie three times in concert and I can tell you, there is nothing quite like being in her presence. The last tour was strictly a preview of upcoming material from a new album coming out this year, Homeland. It was striking political work, critical of Bush, war and men with too much power. But I would have given my right arm to have been at the Sept. 19 - 20, 2001 concerts in New York City just after the terrorist attacks (it's now available as a double cd, and one of the best live albums ever). She boldly took her material and arranged it into a chilling requiem for the dead. When she intoned "Here comes the planes, they're American planes, made in America..." from O Superman you could hear a pin drop. The clip above, Excellent Birds (This Is The Picture), was co-written with Peter Gabriel for her Mister Heartbreak album and later appeared on his So album, but this live version from Home of the Brave is definitive Laurie Anderson. The personal, the politics, the quirky pop culture references -- this is what drives my own work.
Laurie Anderson - Excellent Birds (This Is The Picture)
Laurie Anderson is a soothsayer, avant-garde priestess and, most of all, a poet. I first heard Laurie on the album Big Science, which was basically a "greatest hits" culled from her massive quadruple album, United States Live. Her subsequent albums, like Home of the Brave, Strange Angels, The Ugly One With the Jewels and Bright Red, were all masterpieces. I was beguiled, amused and provoked by O Superman, Walking and Falling, From the Air, Tightrope, Same Time Tomorrow, Sharkey's Day, Love Among the Sailors and so many more. To simply call her a "performance artist" diminishes her talent as a writer and storyteller. I've been lucky enough to see Laurie three times in concert and I can tell you, there is nothing quite like being in her presence. The last tour was strictly a preview of upcoming material from a new album coming out this year, Homeland. It was striking political work, critical of Bush, war and men with too much power. But I would have given my right arm to have been at the Sept. 19 - 20, 2001 concerts in New York City just after the terrorist attacks (it's now available as a double cd, and one of the best live albums ever). She boldly took her material and arranged it into a chilling requiem for the dead. When she intoned "Here comes the planes, they're American planes, made in America..." from O Superman you could hear a pin drop. The clip above, Excellent Birds (This Is The Picture), was co-written with Peter Gabriel for her Mister Heartbreak album and later appeared on his So album, but this live version from Home of the Brave is definitive Laurie Anderson. The personal, the politics, the quirky pop culture references -- this is what drives my own work.
I'm selecting these folks to pass the meme torch: Montgomery Maxton, Poet With A Day Job, Jenni Russell and C. Dale Young.
Comments
:)
GAV
thanks for all your bloggery, symmetry, and music-ry. the kate bush, u2 & peter gabriel were sooo spot-on for music & lyrics-- hard to rise above this sublime list. j'adore.
Thanks for the list of other pieces..
I think Sharkey's Day was the first
I saw..