Does Sixpence None the Richer have a sense of humor? Is there anything fun on their records? Their live shows have shown some signs of mirth. On bootlegs, Leigh Nash comes across as positively goofy, and it's a joy to hear her self-deprecating jokes between the somber moods of their songs. In his message explaining Sixpence's breakup in 2004, Matt Slocum fondly remembered "Beetle Bob, who showed up...in Austin Powers garb and, no matter what the tempo or feel of the song, kung-fu danced the whole concert." And in one recently unearthed recording from 1996, during the extended jam at the end of "Meaningless," Matt Slocum and J.J. Plasencio find a way to interpolate riffs from Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and War's "Low Rider." (You really have to hear it for yourself; download here.)
In fact, Sixpence's main claim to pop-culture fame is "fun" pop songs -- "Kiss Me" and "There She Goes" are both easy, breezy, light, pleasant -- but I'm not sure if they are actually fun, the former being a rather sincere (and serious?) declaration of love, the latter a cover of a song about heroin. Still, it remains true that Sixpence has a reputation for bouncy, fun, three-minute head-bobbers, and it almost makes you wonder why "Eyes Wide Open," maybe the catchiest track on Divine Discontent (and the closest Sixpence has come to the Beatles, perhaps), wasn't considered as a single. (Then you remember that all the singles were tacked on to the beginning of the album. But I digress.) It's got a huge, driving beat through the verses, and a big Elton John pop chorus with super-simple lyrics -- Bye bye bye -- words that have served other pop songs well.
I guess the thing that keeps "Eyes Wide Open" from being the happy-go-lucky singalong it could have been is that it's about a prostitute having an abortion. Leigh Nash, who wrote the song, said in an interview (again, I can't find the citation, but I have been reading magazine articles about this band for fifteen years, so I'm going to ask you to trust me) that she started writing it on an airplane, the paranoid melody and lyrics born from her fear of flying. "I wrote a song about a hooker," I seem to recall her saying. That part is obvious - "she walks the streets at night," "she's one for the money," etc. But am I going out on a limb by suggesting that this song is about an abortion? And if so, is that what really stops it from being a pop hit (recall Ben Folds Five's sad, moving, and surprisingly chart-topping "Brick")? I don't know. But consider the chorus: "She's saving what she kills / she'll build herself a loom / and spin another womb." If you've got another reading of that lyric, I'd like to hear it. (Honestly, I would. Sorry if it sounded sarcastic.)
Even though "Eyes Wide Open" is, musically, one of Sixpence's most playful songs -- note also the sly references to one of Nash's favorite bands, Drugstore, in both the opening lyrics and the driving cello (which to my ears recalls Drugstore's "El President") -- but as a whole, it's a rather unsettling experience.
Maybe you'd like to listen to a live version of this song recorded on April 6, 2009, at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, Tennessee: here.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hi,
Loved this post. I see what you mean about it being a story about a hooker.
The info you gave that Leigh wrote it when she was in a plane particularly hits home for me, as the fear of being in a plane translates in me as that moment you definitely think how vain life can be. I have once defined E.W.O. as follows:
"Eyes wide open connects me with the fugacity of life nowadays. Everything is vain and foolish and time gets more and more wasted. The 'she' in the lyrics could be any of us, or a whole community full of many of 'us', a whole society that rebuilds itself, recreates itself, as it realizes how much of itsesf it has destroyed/killed ... then she desolates herself within her own fears and nightmares.
Hi Juca! Thanks for your comment. I like your insight. Any way you look at it, it's a pretty depressing sentiment for such a happy song! I'm always amazed that Sixpence can make something heavy and light at the same time.
Post a Comment