Entertainment For Lively Minds
Corinne Bailey Rae's The Sea. Too raw?
I bought The Sea after Corinne's mesmerising Glastonbury performance and it is an incredible album. Beautiful songs played with warmth, tenderness and passion.
But knowing the circumstances in which it was written and recorded I find it almost unbearably moving. It actually upsets me to hear songs like Are You Here? and I'd Do It All Again - and just look at the lyrics to the title track:
So don't just stand there wishing life would fade away.
Don't you go around with anyone that makes you feel ashamed.Goodbye Paradise...
I hope that someday you could try.
Goodbye... such a shame, that you'd give it all away.
Goodbye, goodbye.
I normally love a sad song but this... this is too raw. I know this is a record she had to make but I feel like I'm intruding. But I hope it is just me because on the strength of this record alone Bailey deserves the widest possible audience. An astonishing talent.
Does anyone else feel the same way about this album - or are there any other records you find too personal for comfort?
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Agreed
Some of it is quite hard to listen too, I'm still getting to grips with it but I did enjoy her performance at Glastonbury. Have seen the Haggis Horns, with whom her deceased husband used to play with. A sad loss indeed. Hopefully Corinne's music will go from strength to strength. I think The Sea, like Richard Hawley's last album True Loves Gutter, may not be truly recognised for its greatness until a few years down the line.
She was excellent at Glatonbury.
Agree with David that it will take time for recognition.
A remarkable record.
May she go from strength to strength.
Too raw? Maybe. But if it isn't off-limits for her, then it isn't off-limits.
Background knowledge
of a song's meaning can certainly fundamentally change the way it is experienced. Chic's 'At Last I Am Free' took on a deeper meaning for me when I read somewhere that it was about suicide, something which is perhaps made more plain when listening to the Robert Wyatt and Liz Fraser versions. A truly great song.
Bloody hell.
I did not know that. And I love Chic.
This, combined with the
This, combined with the start of "Who Are You"
It's pretty clear why Daltrey wouldn't sing it.
Joy Division - The Eternal
In which Ian Curtis imagines his funeral. I always feel like I shouldn't be listening. But its such a good song.