Well, I hadn't loved the initial Travelogue selections at the Nonesuch site,
but damn!!!
Maybe it's the November dreariness or this lingering, stubborn depression
I've been grappling with, but Chinese Cafe caused me to weep. Joni's voice
is so appropriate, and just jammed with emotion and melancholy. It's just
unbelievable how each phrase is packed with emotion. "where does the time
go" "I bore her, but I could not raise her" Wonder what it was like for
Joni to sing that lyric knowing that now everyone knows the story? It's a
great song for her to revisit at this stage since she was 40 or so when she
wrote it, right? The phrasing seems right on this one cuz the lyrics have a
more succinct structure--she can pack a punch with every phrase! What kind
of bugged me about, say Amelia, was that her short punch-packed phrasings
would come five or six times before the lyrical line's message was over.
Compare "Nothing lasts for long" (a complete concept) to "it's so hard to
obey his sad request of me to kindly stay away." Her phrasing on Amelia,
IMHO, was so emotive with every three or four words that it started to feel a
little forced to me. But, with Chinese Cafe, it is golden! I really enjoyed
Hejira the other day, too-the percussion was perfect.
Have any other listers who weren't thrilled at first come to change their
minds? I'm curious.
Can't wait till Tuesday
Ken
