All Things Pass Into the Night

“Goodbye Horses,” Q Lazzarus

This track is often referred to as “The Buffalo Bill Song,” as it was featured in The Silence of the Lambs during the infamous “butterfly scene.”  Despite its association with the film, it also ranks well as a stand-alone song.  Listening to it induces a trance-like state.  The vocals beckon one to fall under the song’s siren spell.

Although Q Lazzarus is a woman, her voice is so throaty and deep that it would be easy to mistake her singing for a performance by a man.  This ambiguity serves the song well, for it widens its outlook from one that is gendered to one that is less finite in addressing its universal themes.

The lyrics of “Goodbye Horses” are extremely descriptive.  Like the best poetry, what’s not said is just as important as what is, and this recording’s real power exists in the allusions it conveys.  Longing and loss, acceptance and redemption are all thematically present, but not in the usual way.  Here, the struggle is internal rather than external.  Although there are two voices in conflict in the lyrics, the “He” and “I” are really two parts of the same person, connecting the stagnant past and its disappointments to the fluid present’s hope for the future.  With the lyric, “I must disagree, oh no sir, I must say you’re wrong | Won’t you listen to me?” the genderless present responds to the past’s omniscient claim that he has “seen it all before.”

The song is not joyous or uplifting, but it is not particularly brooding, either.  Rather, it is meditative.  The track examines the changes that occur when problems and worries cease to be constraints when viewed from another perspective.  Deeply-held beliefs can be just as helpful as they can be stifling, and searching the self for how these beliefs actually function can be both comforting and liberating.  Letting go of one’s mental and emotional chains is transformative in the song’s closing line: “Goodbye horses, I’m flying over you.”  Repeated multiple times, it is almost as if the repetition is out of disbelief and awe that this transcendent feat has finally been achieved.

Question: “Goobye Horses” is interesting because it depicts the conflict between two parts of the self, rather than between two people.  What other good songs are there that address this problem of being of two minds about an issue?

I’m in Distress, I Need a Caress

“What Do I Get?,” The Buzzcocks

After last week’s idealistic stroll down lover’s lane, it seems appropriate—particularly today—to present the exasperating side of romance.  “What Do I Get?” is strikingly upbeat for a track that is a depiction of failure.  This about someone who is down, but not out.  Instead of feeling hopeless, the voice of this song is more bewildered by a lack of romantic success.  The tone is almost playfully self-deprecating rather than resolutely bitter.

“What Do I Get?” can be found on the Buzzcocks’ must-have compilation, Singles Going Steady.  The sparse melodic line feels spontaneous and lends an authenticity to the confessional quality of the track.  The guitars are kinetic—a heart that is racing, but has no one to make it pound.  The energy of the record drives straight to the end, with a final cadence that is a punky, du-wop surprise. This song is an influential part of English punk, and presents a refreshing take on the dilemma of a lover with no one to love.

Question: This song is critical of love, but doesn’t dismiss it.  What are your favourite tracks about unsatisfied desire?

A Love for All My Life to Have and to Hold

“A Sunday Kind Of Love,” Etta James

On January 20^th we lost one of the best friends a song ever had.  Etta James had an unmistakable capacity for expression that made the songs she sang her own.  Although “A Sunday Kind Of Love” is considered a standard, the 1961 James recording represents the pinnacle of its possibility.

The opening line of this song is bewitching.  The way James’ voice draws you in is captivating—you can’t not listen to the rest of the story.  The sweeping string accompaniment provides a romantic setting that James matches with enthralling conviction.  James’ instrument has a richness that is befitting such a beautiful piece of music—the composition itself gives her a lot to work with, but she really makes everything come together.  There is something that is just so warm and comforting about her voice; it’s like an intimate embrace.

There are so many tired or trite ways to approach the subject of love, but calling it “a Sunday kind of love” is such an effective metaphor to communicate the elation of a settled match.  The song speaks of longing, but the tone is optimistic: “I’m hoping to discover | A certain kind of lover | Who will show me the way!”  This song is about all of your life finally coming together around that one person—that Sunday kind of love.

Question: This song has been recorded by many different artists.  What other standards are your favourites?