... the use of drums/ percussion, brass, grand piano, unpredictable entries of stringed instruments, or well-placed vocals has allowed each song to possess its own identity.
The first song, Redwing, begins the journey with Rosemary’s rich and crystal clear a capella over an ominous, dark, modal drone: “Redwing oh Redwing in the blue sky won’t you come down and tell what you see from on high…. I planted my garden in rows neat and fine Lilies all tangled with bittersweet vine I wait for the rain and I pray for some sun Oh you never do know if tomorrow will come” David Francey adds his understated confirmation on the chorus, and the song continues with two more verses before ending with: “The hour is late and the times they are dire Some say our world will be ended in fire And do as we may, do as we might Love only love can set things aright.” I’ve got the Stars follows in a lighter tone thanks to Chris Coole’s rambling but expressive, emphatic banjo. However, the tale of a homeless woman in the subway still bears a message: “I’ve got the stars for a roof up above And nobody tells me who I cannot love I got no walls to box my spirit in Or to block out the light and the music” Then high-pitched dobro tone descends from the heavens down to the bowels of the studio with We Never Cry: “in heaven’s hall wild prayers rise where the mighty fall under cobalt skies pick and saw and the steel chains fly where money is law but we never cry” With but one last moment of respite with the cowgirl ballad Red Dress, What Sings in the Blood is finally ready to take hold of the listener and not let go till the last note is played – some six songs later. Heart Upon the Alter offers the bone chilling account of the emptiness of this “stone white silent love.” “I am flame, I am water you are wind across the land you have held me like no other I was springtime in your hands” Then, without getting too comfortable, she finds hope amid the flames: “oh I have walked the hollow corridors where your voice no longer sounds stepped ever lightly round the borders of our shared and sacred ground something golden still abides there like a shimmer of dust from distant stars love will resound and will reside there long after we this world depart” What follows is the harder edged folk-rocker Three Wishes that may be destined to explode in the hands of some electrified group down the road someday. But if words are daggers challenging the powers that be in this world to be accountable, this song draws plenty of its own blood: “I want to walk on the sand at Kandahar taste the perfume of forgiveness on the breeze i want to know the human heart has come that far and never sing another prayer for peace” However, there is a surprise chorus that at first, I wasn’t totally sure what to make of but have since been thoroughly won over by. It appeared at first to be 'too simple.' Suffice to say, it makes a distinct impression when it’s heard live, and these are the many things that so many artists can offer that are never even found on a small silver disc. They must be seen and heard to be felt. I know, because when the chorus “Oh my heart” was sung during her CD release concert at Hugh’s Room in Toronto, it penetrated the outer layers of the soul and we all opened up. It is something you have to experience to know. Then Overwhelmed –with its profound poetry of verse: “You say we’re all pieces of the stars that long ago lit up the endless dark. i don’t know but i swear from time to time i feel something deep inside me shine and i’m overwhelmed…. overwhelmed” David Francey takes the next verse to a place no one can touch. It took me awhile before I even attempted to try this one myself but have since thrown it into my own bag because the song takes me to that most profound place every time I sing it. Then to finish the triumvirate, Hymn for the Innocent, cloaked in the warmth of Emilyn Stam’s grand piano and the majestic French horn, is the epitome of what Woody Guthrie did for his songs. What is that? To tell it like it is, but not for the purpose of tearing down for destructions sake but to find redemption, forgiveness and rebuilding in our tied together world –with the hope of achieving real change.. Yes, it’s a fine line that all songwriters who follow this creed have to ride, but in Hymn, it is employed to perfection: “scarlet the shame of the untamed hand scarlet the blame of man for man scarlet the rage that will not understand oh the sorrows, oh the sorrows of this world” As the odyssey continues, the songs ends: “Rose blooms the pearl of greatest price rose glow the bonfires of sacrifice rose bleeds the heart that does not think twice but lays itself, lays itself down for this world blessed are those with eyes that see blessed are those who hold the key blessed are those who let it be oh the beauty, oh the beauty of this world” I don’t know who will play this song, or under what category if might fall. Judy Collins might be comfortable singing it. But it's Rosemary’s for now. Lost Nation Road, featuring the haunting flutes of Canada’s great folk treasure Ian Tamblyn, is the song that ties the whole album together: “home... there’s an echo inside home… and it won’t be denied it sings in the blood it rings in the bone every soul has a home” Finally, Invisible is a nod for the flowering of consciousness achieved often by the elderly or those aware enough to have learned to strip away much of the what gets in our way. “I see your radiant souls ancient monuments of gold fear and sorrow fade to white in the beauty of that light the bright invisible” People write songs for different reasons. Willie Nile is a rocker second, and a humanitarian first. That’s the order in which I view him. Rosemary has ‘layed it down for this world” and we, the listeners, are ever grateful. Spencer Lewis NO DEPRESSION MAGAZINE (back to PRESS page) |