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rfmcdonaldDuring last night/this moring's aforementioned media housecleaning, I happened upon a store of Sarah MacLachlan music files. A bit more than half of them were the 13 tracks of the Rarities, B-Sides, and Other Stuff, while most of the remainder were more recent tracks, from 1997's Surfacing and later. I own all of Sarah McLachlan's albums, from 1994's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy through 1997's Surfacing and this year's Afterglow, along with a fair number of singles in between. I found myself disappointed by Afterglow's songs, which though well-crafted lacked something; the title seemed too appropriate somehow. Listening to the music on my computer, I could figure out why.
The best tracks off of Rarities, B-Sides, and Other Stuff--which is surprisingly good for a compilation album, incidentally--have an energetic and dynamic passion to them, evidenced in the arrangement. Take "Possession," for instance.
Listen as the wind blows
From across the great divide
Voices trapped in yearning
Memories trapped in time
The night is my companion
And solitude my guide
Would I spend forever here
And not be satisfied
And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
And after I'd
Wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes dear
Through this world I've stumbled
So many times betrayed
Trying to find an honest word to find
The truth enslaved
Oh you speak to me in riddles and
You speak to me in rhymes
My body aches to breathe your breath
You words keep me alive
Into this night I wander
It's morning that I dread
Another day of knowing of
The path I fear to tread
Oh into the sea of waking dreams
I follow without pride
'Cause nothing stands between us here
And I won't be denied
The artistic success of "Possession," whether you stick with the original version or opt for a remix, lies in its pacing, the ways in which her careful vocal delivery lets the double meaning of the lyrics, particularly the reiterated chorus: "And I would be the one/To hold you down/Kiss you so hard/I'll take your breath away/And after I'd/Wipe away the tears/Just close your eyes dear."
Let's also take "Sweet Surrender."
It doesn't mean much
it doesn't mean anything at all
the life I've left behind me
is a cold room
I've crossed the last line
from where I can't return
where every step I took in faith
betrayed me
and led me from my home
And sweet
sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
You take me in
no questions asked
you strip away the ugliness
that surrounds me
are you an angel
am I already that gone
I only hope
that I won't disappoint you
when I'm here
on my knees
And sweet
sweet
sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
Sweet
sweet
sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
And I don't understand
by the touch of your hand
I would be the one to fall
I miss the little things
I miss everything (about you)
It doesn't mean much
it doesn't mean anything at all
the life I left behind me
is a cold room
And sweet
sweet
sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
From the song's very start, with the oddly repeating electronic beats, the listener's put into a fairly tense musical environment, with lyrics and an arrangement which convey an interesting sense of urgency and despair. If you have it, Floria Sigismondi's evocative video doesn't hurt the song's merits, either. There's a sense of some event impending on the listener, somewhat as in a Colville or Klimt painting.
Against this, I must put "Adia," or most of Afterglow, or some of her early work. (And let's agree not to talk about Mirrorball. That's better for everyone.) Too often, Sarah McLachlan's songs tend to be performed too slowly, robbing them of whatever emotional messages they can conceivably convey. Too often, her work can end up being flat, and unjustly so. When she doesn't work, it's bad; when she does, though, it's excellent.
The best tracks off of Rarities, B-Sides, and Other Stuff--which is surprisingly good for a compilation album, incidentally--have an energetic and dynamic passion to them, evidenced in the arrangement. Take "Possession," for instance.
Listen as the wind blows
From across the great divide
Voices trapped in yearning
Memories trapped in time
The night is my companion
And solitude my guide
Would I spend forever here
And not be satisfied
And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
And after I'd
Wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes dear
Through this world I've stumbled
So many times betrayed
Trying to find an honest word to find
The truth enslaved
Oh you speak to me in riddles and
You speak to me in rhymes
My body aches to breathe your breath
You words keep me alive
Into this night I wander
It's morning that I dread
Another day of knowing of
The path I fear to tread
Oh into the sea of waking dreams
I follow without pride
'Cause nothing stands between us here
And I won't be denied
The artistic success of "Possession," whether you stick with the original version or opt for a remix, lies in its pacing, the ways in which her careful vocal delivery lets the double meaning of the lyrics, particularly the reiterated chorus: "And I would be the one/To hold you down/Kiss you so hard/I'll take your breath away/And after I'd/Wipe away the tears/Just close your eyes dear."
Let's also take "Sweet Surrender."
It doesn't mean much
it doesn't mean anything at all
the life I've left behind me
is a cold room
I've crossed the last line
from where I can't return
where every step I took in faith
betrayed me
and led me from my home
And sweet
sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
You take me in
no questions asked
you strip away the ugliness
that surrounds me
are you an angel
am I already that gone
I only hope
that I won't disappoint you
when I'm here
on my knees
And sweet
sweet
sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
Sweet
sweet
sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
And I don't understand
by the touch of your hand
I would be the one to fall
I miss the little things
I miss everything (about you)
It doesn't mean much
it doesn't mean anything at all
the life I left behind me
is a cold room
And sweet
sweet
sweet surrender
is all that I have to give
From the song's very start, with the oddly repeating electronic beats, the listener's put into a fairly tense musical environment, with lyrics and an arrangement which convey an interesting sense of urgency and despair. If you have it, Floria Sigismondi's evocative video doesn't hurt the song's merits, either. There's a sense of some event impending on the listener, somewhat as in a Colville or Klimt painting.
Against this, I must put "Adia," or most of Afterglow, or some of her early work. (And let's agree not to talk about Mirrorball. That's better for everyone.) Too often, Sarah McLachlan's songs tend to be performed too slowly, robbing them of whatever emotional messages they can conceivably convey. Too often, her work can end up being flat, and unjustly so. When she doesn't work, it's bad; when she does, though, it's excellent.
