This morning my least favorite song from CMIARS came on, and it just
has never grown on me. Still after all the listens I've given it, the
melody is blah, almost non-existent, the production is poor with those
plodding echoing drums, and on the whole I'm happy when it's over, if
indeed I stick out the whole song. Joni's vocals are also poorly
recorded, it's hard to make out a lot of what she says, even when I
know the words!
Geez, Bob, worse than 'Dancing Clown'?
I've never understood why a few people on this list hate this song. I
believe it makes Sue McNamara cringe as well. It's always been one of
my favorites from one of Joni's albums that I don't listen to very
often.
>
> But I must say that lyrically there's maybe more going on then I
give it credit for, although it seems to be disjointed in a "No
Apologies" sort of way.
>
> I like the story of her parents' courtship, and the scene of the
three of them listening to the radio together (reminds me of our Darn
Kids thread), but wonder about the constant "Lay Down Your Arms"
chant. It really becomes a distraction for me.
>
> <<"Sleep little darlin'!
> This is your happy home
> Hiroshima cannot be pardoned!
> Don't have kids when you get grown
> Because this world is shattered>>
>
> This section of the verse caught my ear...I wonder if this is the
sort of thing that Joni constantly got from her Mom? If so, it would
have made her pregnancy that much more difficult to deal with.
>
> Just wondering what some of your takes on this song are...I know I'm
missing something, just can't seem to get a handle on what it is.
War is an underlying theme in the song and a force that has shaped the
lives of this family. It was because of WWII that Myrtle met Bill the
'young flight sergeant on two weeks leave'. Joni was born during the
war & would have been a toddler at the time the bombs were dropped on
Hiroshima & Nagasaki. The effects of those events were very far
reaching and there must have been a lot of people who wondered if
there was any point to carrying on with life from one generation to
the next.
However, in the end, Myrtle has decided to carry on. 'Ah what does it
matter? The wash needs ironing & the fire needs stoking.'
Study war no more, study war no more, study war no more
Another one of Joni's choral backdrops. I think it works. I like it.
Mark in Seattle
