Joanna Newsom – On A Good Day
“If I saw Younger Me, I’d kick him straight in the balls,” he said.
She giggled, fingering the circular cardboard cover on her coffee cup.
“Seriously,” he said sternly. “If I saw a younger version of myself out there” – he pointed out the glass panes that made up the front of the coffee shop at the swirling snow on the sidewalk, where a couple huddled together, leaning into the wind, as they hurried by – “I’d march on out there and kick him in the testicles.
“I have so much to teach him, but he wouldn’t listen a jot. He was a little rascal.”
She’d had first dates that went worse.
After the movie, she declined coming up to his apartment for coffee (“We just had some”) and trudged home, hands pushed deep into the pockets of her pea coat.
What if I could tell my younger self something? she thought, sitting up in bed with the comforter up to her waist. Just share one secret. One lesson I’ve learned that could help me get through it all again just a bit better.
She bit the end of the pen, wondering. As she put the pad of paper down and reached over to switch the lamp on her nightstand off, she paused. Hand outstretched, she thought. Suddenly she picked up her notebook again, and started writing.
Our nature does not change by will
In the winter, ’round the ruined mill
The creek is lying, flat and still
It is water though it’s frozen
She looked at what she’d written and re-read it several times.
Then she snapped off the light and pulled the beige comforter up to her chin. The wind sputtered tiny chunks of ice and snow against her window outside.
[Buy Have One On Me.]
Back a couple of weeks ago, I purchased exorbitantly priced tickets off of Stubhub in order to witness a sold out Joanna Newsom concert in NYC’s Town Hall. Simply put, Joanna was wonderful.
Her music isn’t exhilarating in a traditional concert sense and although excited, I was preparing myself for a letdown. No, she didn’t make anyone in the venue stand on their seats, but she left everyone in attendance completely in awe. I’m not even being hyperbolic. You could barely hear any noise besides for the plucking off her harp, her wondrous vocals, and the instruments of her backup musicians.
She started with Jackrabbits and progressively got better and better. She is a mesmerizing musician and for me, the best in music at the moment. I just don’t know of anyone who can do so many things as her. She is a talented musician, songwriter, and vocalist. I feel that her musical merit is often lessened by people because she plays an eccentric instrument, the harp. But the ways she plays is more impressive than any guitarist that I can remember.
The one nadir of the concert was the selection of Baby Birch as her encore. After an amazing rendition of Peach Plum Pear, she disappeared as the audience cheered on in expectation of her next song. She peculiarly chose the one from her new album which frankly fell flat. I was still waiting for Sadie…
I’m loving this song. The whole album is definitely worth a listen or several, but this song sticks out. It’s catchy and the lyrics are good – as is always the case with Joanna. Her voice has changed in this album, but I prefer it. It’s more mature, I think. Anyway, buy this album. You won’t regret it.