Friday Night Video
Been falling down on the blog job of late, I know, but that's why it's such a good idea to have these routine blog features. Between the Friday Night Video and Sunday's "You Betcha!" segment, I have enough structure to get at least two posts done a week. It's a long, holiday weekend here (thank you, Columbus Day...most absurd, but most welcome holiday of the year), so I'll try to make up for it with a few "quality" postings over the weekend. In the meantime, here's your weekly dose of Kraig-picked music.
This week I'm digging back into the days when female-folk-pop dominated my CD player. It may be hard to believe given that I just assaulted your ears with two months worth of Rick Springfield songs, but for a solid five-year period I was neck-deep into the musical stylings of Lucy Kaplansky, Ani DiFranco, the Indigo Girls, Tish Hinojosa, and Dar Williams. That last one, Dar, had one album in particular which remains one of my favorites from top to bottom. You won't find a bad track on Mortal City, but you will find a diverse range of songs that move seamlessly from playful to defiant to makes-me-want-to-kill-myself. That's pretty much the range of emotions I experience on a day-to-day basis, so the album is a natural fit.
The first song on the album, As Cool As I Am, definitely skews more towards the defiant angle. The main refrain of "I will not be afraid of women" has a different meaning in the song than it does for me, but it was still a nice mantra for the super awkward college-Kraig. It didn't work. They terrified me then, and they terrify me still. This version is from a live performance on Austin City Limits back in 2001. I wasn't in the audience when this taped, but I was in the building grading screenplays. Pointless factoid, but there you go. It's a rather peppy version which, unfortunately, omits the didgeridoo used on the master, but it's a fun anthem whether you're a boy or a girl. The lyrics are unbelievably clever. Enjoy.
This week I'm digging back into the days when female-folk-pop dominated my CD player. It may be hard to believe given that I just assaulted your ears with two months worth of Rick Springfield songs, but for a solid five-year period I was neck-deep into the musical stylings of Lucy Kaplansky, Ani DiFranco, the Indigo Girls, Tish Hinojosa, and Dar Williams. That last one, Dar, had one album in particular which remains one of my favorites from top to bottom. You won't find a bad track on Mortal City, but you will find a diverse range of songs that move seamlessly from playful to defiant to makes-me-want-to-kill-myself. That's pretty much the range of emotions I experience on a day-to-day basis, so the album is a natural fit.
The first song on the album, As Cool As I Am, definitely skews more towards the defiant angle. The main refrain of "I will not be afraid of women" has a different meaning in the song than it does for me, but it was still a nice mantra for the super awkward college-Kraig. It didn't work. They terrified me then, and they terrify me still. This version is from a live performance on Austin City Limits back in 2001. I wasn't in the audience when this taped, but I was in the building grading screenplays. Pointless factoid, but there you go. It's a rather peppy version which, unfortunately, omits the didgeridoo used on the master, but it's a fun anthem whether you're a boy or a girl. The lyrics are unbelievably clever. Enjoy.
posted by Kraig Smith at
8:13 PM
2 Comments:
I love Dar and I LOVE this song, but I've never heard a satisfying live version of it. It's just not the same without the didgeridoo.
The more I listened to this version, the more I liked it...even without the didgeridoo. I like the master, but, the didgeridoo can be a tad oppressive on successive listens.
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