[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
The first time I heard the Chalk Mark album - which was the first new Joni release I got on CD (not vinyl), I remember thinking that although I liked it as a whole better than its predecessor, Dog Eat Dog - there was only one track on it that I instantly loved. And that was Tea Leaf Prophecy. There's nothing I can say that will endear it to you if you don't like it, as you've probably by now played it a few hundred times. I know there are songs I'm not wild about, which I've played a lot just because I don't hate them enough to move the record needle or to program them out of my disk.I also enjoyed your "20 performances" list. I was surprised to see "Tea Leaf" there as I for the life of me find nothing of value in that song whatsoever. So if you feel like it, I'd be interested to know what you appreciate about it. Not so I can disagree, but rather so maybe I can listen for what you're hearing.
What I like about it is the atmosphere it creates. It's very homy and it's like a movie I can picture in my mind. The surprise of finding love when there are no men in the town - then the fulfillment of the tea leaf prophecy - and running throughout it is the routine of life...planting gardens, doing shoveling...I like the mix between big world issues "nazi dread" "Tokyo Rose" "Hiroshima" -- and then her own simpler world away from that at home sitting around the radio. I love the line about "just a sneeze in long, long bad winter cold."
And I like the melody - both the spoken voice and the background melody "study war no more..." - I think they're woven nicely together. I think her phrasing is exquisite on it and the words just flow - I enjoy singing along to it. It's one I would have liked revisited on Travelogue because I think it would have been interesting to hear it orchestral, without some of those mid-1980's studio touches on the original.
From your list, Bob - I love the songs you mentioned in your list - although I've never heard the medley of Circle Game/Little Green, which sounds like it must be something else.
NP: "I Forget" Carly Simon
