Allow me to introduce you to one of my favorite albums EVER



Gosh, where do I start Well, if you were to poll PJ fans, this will not rank as favorite with most of them. However this is my favorite of hers for so many reasons I will try and explain. At this point in her carreer, she had 4 albums under her belt and her fans were accustomed to experiencing a very brash rocker chick. This album is a clear departure of the woman her fans had come to know.

They had become accustomed to this mad operatic diva shrieking and moaning her pain so when many heard this toned down vision, they thought she had lost her strength. But no, she found her strength. In her subtelty she lays claim to power and becomes a whole new artist. Many were also lost on the electronic nature of this album but that only added to her invention. This album is a marvelous blend of electronic elements and organic instruments. Skin to the muscle, blood to the veins. Intimately connected.....


My first Name Angeline
Prettiest Mess you ever seen
Love for money is my sin
Any man calls, I'll let him in.....

And the search begins..... This song to me, sounds like a hymn, but more like a lost spiritual than anything you'd hear in a regular church. That's how much of this album feels to me, like lost spirituals. The kind that you'd only hear in a place where there was no pomp and no tradition, just the open wounds of those in search of healing bleeding until they either have no blood left or have been completely healed. My very dear friend, Gangstafam, characterizes this album as "haunted" and I feel that is really perfect description.

The album is very focused on female characters.....Angeline, Leah, Elise, Catherine, Joy, Mary/Dawn..... And word has it that many of these are literary characters which stories have been written about. However, I will never read any of the stories these characters are based on for I would ruin the truth I have created in my heart.

I'm walkin in the city tonight
I'm walkin in the city at dark
Remembering, remember light
Thinking of nothing and the shooting stars

And this world tonight is mine
a world to be remembered in
Think on a faded photograph
My hair longer than it's ever been, and then

THE SKY LIT UP!
the sky, my friend
the sky lit up and i'm lighter than I ever been...

OMG! Amazing what can happen in less than 2 minutes..... My mind's sky turns to fire when I hear this song.....and I become lighter than I've ever been. By the time this song is over, your sky will be on fire too







The Wind.....

Catherine liked high places
High up on the hills
A place for making noises, like whales
Noises like the Whales

Here she built a chapel with
Her image on the wall
A place where she could rest and rest
A place where she could wash.....shhhhh

and listen to the wind blowing, and listen to the wind.....blow

This is the church of lost spirituals I have longed to be like Catherine at her chapel.






Did you see her walking?
Did she come around here, Sir?
Black hair, brown eyes
My beautiful Leah
She was always so needing
Said, "I have no-one"
Even as I held her
She went out looking for someone
She only had nightmares,
And her sadness never lifted
And slowly over the years
Her lovely face twisted
Did she come around here, Sir?
I swear you would remember
Black hair, Brown eyes
Late September
October
November
December
It never leaves my mind
The last words she said
"If I don't find it this time,
Then I'm better off dead".

Cold desperation Sadly, this reminds me of my cousin Lisa who was murdered in March She was always searching for something in her life, even searching unto her death. When Gangsta calls this haunted, I can't think of a more perfect song to really characterize that feeling. I included this on a mix disc that focuses on social ills, anguish and pain. This song was just perfect for that mix.





It's a perfect day.....a perfect day Elise.

Perfection is the furthest thing from the truth.





Catherine Debara you've murdered my thinkin
gave you my heart, you left the thing stinkin
I'd shake from my spell if it weren't for my drinkin
the wind bites more bitter with each light of mornin....

'til the light shines on me
I damn to hell every second you breath

Here is Catherine's reintroduction. You get your first glimpse of her at her chapel high up on the windy hill. And now you know what conclusion she's come to.....





The beauty of her, under electric light

Joseph had a dream. In it, he saw her under a splendid and amazing light. She lay on her bed and it was as if he was floating above her, looking down on her beautiful face lit with the most wonderous colors, many of which he had never seen before. He was filled with the most eternal feeling and felt his heart bursting with love. At the same time of Joseph's dream, Mary received a visit from an angel with some unbelievable news.....








One of the most famous stories ever told is the act of humanity's genesis. Imagine the perfection of that day. God taking dirt and forming a man, taking a rib and fashioning a mate for him. A New Earth, pure skies, crisp clean air, warm sunshine washing the skin with its golden rays. Every day after became more perfect than the day before and this was the most perfect of all days. And then.....

He was walking in the garden
and he was walking in the night
and he was singing a sad love song
and he was praying for his life

Adam sensed something was very wrong for it had never turned so dark so quickly and so early, neither had it been so cold. Searching the garden, he noticed Eve standing at the foot of the Tree of Knowledge in discourse between the highest powers. Adam saw the flaming eye of God's wrath focused on the cool slick veil of smoke that surrounded Eve and there enveloped in the shroud of Satan's lie stood Eve with a half eaten fruit. Remembering the commandment to never eat of the Tree of Knowledge, in fear he ran.....


and the stars came out around him
he was thinking of his sins
and he's looking at his song-bird
and he's looking at his wings

Having not come to Eve's defense, Adam's guilt bore down on him like a thousand crimes. Grieving over the knowledge he would never see his Eve again, he went in search of the one thing he knew would bring him comfort.....his song-bird. Adam's earliest days in the garden had him searching for this creature. Just one of many of God's creations, this one made the most beautiful music of all. However, of all the times Adam heard the bird's majestic symphonies, he was never able to spot it. Having never seen his songbird before Adam stood in shock and awe as he stood looking at his mirror image. The song-bird was not a bird, but a man.....


there inside the garden
came another with his lips
said, 'Won't you come and be my lover?'
'Let me give you a little kiss'
and he came, knelt down before him
and fell upon his knees
'I will give you gold and mountains
if you stay awhile with me'

The first words of his creator upon his waking moments rang clear in his memory.....For I have fashioned a mate for you..... and Adam realized that God had given him a choice. God created Adam 2 mates and now the choice was there before Adam, but which one was right? Should he stay with his song-bird? Should he validate Eve's disobedience to their creator? Adam's heart surged and swelled and, he got down on his knees and pled for the love of his bird. Adam promised him everything the Lord had created on his earth, if he stayed with him.


and there was trouble taking place, trouble taking place.....

Eve tried in vain to make the argument to her creator that he had Created her with the drive to know and now he was going to punish her for seeking knowledge? She argued that she could not have known the difference between right and wrong before eating the fruit so how could she have known she was sinning if she didn't know what sin was? God marveled at the intelligence of the woman creature and the snake laughed heartily in the face of the God who was too proud to admit to the contradiction.

In disbelief, Eve screamed

You Snake, you crawled between my legs
Said "want it all" it's yours you bet
"I'll make you queen of everything
No need for God, no need for him

Just take my hand, you'll be my bride
Just take that fruit, put it inside

You snake,
You Dog,
You Fake,
You Liar,
I've burned my hands I'm in the fire!

It mattered not, as Adam pled with his song-bird, Eve was being banished from the garden.....


there inside the garden
they kissed, and the son rose
and he walked a little further
and he found he was alone

Adam found his song bird to be as glorious as Eve. They kissed and kissed and kissed. The songbird crying tears of joy, Adam crying tears mixed with grief, and relief. They kissed and embraced for what seemed an eternity. The song bird slowly pulled away from Adams lips and adam felt something at his feet. He looked down and between them was a child. Adam smiled in wonder and looked at the song bird and declared that he would call him Abel. Having been lost in the comfort of his lovers arms, Adam stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed the jealous rage filled glare of a woman he used to know named Eve.


and the wind, it gathered round him
he was thinking of his sins
And he's looking for his song-bird
He was looking for his wings



and there was trouble.....taking place. Trouble, taking place

In Scorn, the wind of Eve's rage whirled around them as she spotted Adam with another creation. Her womb burned with envy as she spotted the child. In her short time on the earth she had been betrayed by the snake, her creator and her mate. In shame, Adam could barely meet her gaze. Remembering how he ran in fear instead of standing in solidarity with his charge, the burden of guilt was too much and Adam cried hot bitter tears, facing an impossible decision.


Which mate should he choose? Should he choose the path Eve has taken and become banished from his paradise forever? Does he leave the loving arms of his song-bird never to see him again? What about the child? How to make up for the fact that he left Eve alone when she needed him the most? Eve walked over to Adam as the Song-bird tearfully looked on from afar.

Oh Adam, Please you must believe, that snake put it in front of me!
That snake put it in front of me!

Eve grabbed the baby with one arm and stretched out her other arm, extending her open hand. In it was the half eaten fruit.....






Joy was her name
A life un-wed
Thirty years old
Never danced a step

She would have left these red hills far behind if not for her condition
'Would have left these red hills long ago if not for my condition'

Pitiful Joy
She looked away
Into a hollow sky
Came face to face

With her own innocence surrounding her until it never was a question
Innocence so suffocating, now she cannot move, no question

No hope for Joy
No hope or faith
She wanted to go blind
Wanted hope to stay
'I've been believing in nothing since I was born, it never was a question.'

:shudder:








And they came to the river
And they came from the road
and he wanted the sun
just to call his own

And they walked on the dirt
And they walked from the road
til they came up close

Throw your pain in the river
To be washed away slow

And we walked without words
And we walked with our lives
Two silent birds
Circled by

Like our pain in the river
And we followed the river
And we followed the road
And we walked through this land
And we called it a home

But he wanted the sun
And I wanted the whole
And the white light scatters
And the sun sets low
Like the pain in the river

PJ is famously known for singing about cutting off her lovers legs so he cannot run away And one of the really intriguing things about her as an artist is that she gives voice to the things that many cannot find the courage or the ability to speak. She is able to sing and play her feelings in the way that many of us wish we could but simply aren't able. I feel that is the kind of purpose she was made to serve. I think this is really the first time you get a glimpse of the PJ that strives for cleansing and healing. I feel that this is the first peak at the evolved person she is to become







In came the girl with the saddened eyes
And asked him over again and again
"Was I too weak ? Was I a child ?
And can't we leave here and start again ?"

Said "I don't mind if you take me down"
And "I don't mind if you break it all"
But "how much more can you take from me?"
"How much more did you take from me?"

"I'd like to take you inside my head"
"I'd like to take you inside of me"
"You came from heaven" is all he said
"You came from heaven and came here to me
And I love you"

He drove it fast to make the night
And looked at his angel where she lay
Resting her head and closed her eyes
And outside the heat and the summer fades

Deep in the sky a storm he'd seen
Deep in the sky a storm he'd seen
"There ain't nothing no girl so sweet"

"Took her from heaven and gave her to me".....

This is probably the primest example of how excellently fused the electronic and natural are. Anyone who feels that they miss the old PJ and therefore neglect this album, can feast on this song because aside from Sky Lit Up, it's singly the performance that characterizes the PJ that people claim is missing from this album....






Mary and Joseph went on and on..... The Sun went down..... It was getting cold..... They saw fire.....





Mary's story is universally known, to the point of reverence. This.....this is Joseph's story.

Joseph grew up hoping he'd be promised a wife he could truly love. Coming from a world of arranged marraiges, Joseph knew from a young age that love was rarely part of the equation. Joseph time was near. This night he would discover his bride. The girl's family was at the door and Joseph felt a mixture of fear and anticipation. He had no control or choice in the matter and when the family entered his home Mary followed! He could not believe his blessing and fortune. Mary...Mary! Oh he would be the envy of the town.

Mary was frightened. He could read it all over her face. But he already loved her and he knew he would be able to calm her fear and show her his undying devotion. She was his "Dawn", his day, his light, his life. She would come around, she would. He was going to live the rest of his life loving and honoring her. On their marriage night, Joseph sought to calm her fears but Mary had a secret.....

Mary told him about her conception by the Holy Spirt and she became frightened when Joseph came unhinged. What kind of fool do you take me for!? Mary knew Joseph all her life and she had never seen him angry before. His warm and gentle eyes were replaced with those of a madman. It's true! I am with the child of God. Joseph, it happened, please believe me! But Joseph was no fool.

In absolute devastation Joseph approached his father to inform him he would refuse to take Mary as his bride. Both sets of parents had already agreed and bound them together. There was no option. Joseph told his father about Mary being with another man's child. His father held onto his pride and would not release Joseph from his obligation. Respecting his family, Joseph chose to take Mary away from their town to protect both their families from Mary's shame.....

Walking towards Nazareth, Joseph could not shake the dream from his thoughts. He dreamed of an angel coming to tell him that Mary was truthful about conceiving through the Holy Spirit and Joseph had had lucid dreams before but this took place while he was awake. It was unlike any dream he'd ever had.

Tired and weary from the days walk towards Nazareth, he decided to test his belief and faith in the vision he had the night before. The only way to know if Mary were telling the truth was to test her love. He'd know it in her eyes.....

Joseph,
walked on and on
The sunset,
went down and down
Coldness,
cooled their desire
And Dawn said,.....'Let's build a fire'

The sun dressed,
the trees in green
And Joe said,
Dawn 'I feel like a King'
And Dawn's neck,
and her feet were bare
Sweetness,
in her golden hair

Said, 'I'm not scared'
Turned to her and smiled
Secrets in his eyes
Sweetness of desire

Is this desire
Enough enough
To lift us higher
To lift above?

Hour-long,
by hour, may we two stand
When we're dead,
between these lands The sun set
behind his eyes
And Joe said, 'Is this desire?'

Is this desire
Enough enough
To lift us higher
To lift above?

Is this desire
Enough enough
Enough inside
Is this desire

In Mary's eyes, he saw Desire and they were enveloped in The Truth.....





Is this Desire? Is.....this.....Desire?

That question can be asked many many times over during this 40 minute spell. 8 years after it's release, this album continues to remain a mystery to me. That is one of the things about it that I love so much.


.
[Edited 10/16/07 18:22pm]
[Edited 3/25/09 16:32pm]

Can't wait to read this!

GangstaFam said:

I finally explained The Garden

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I'm going to listen to this today.

GangstaFam said:

Make sure you read my story first

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I will.

You've totally thrown me off my projected listening path today.

And I love it!

GangstaFam said:

thekidsgirl inpsired me to put this together from her "Sell Me an album" thread I would love to be able to turn someone on to one of my biggest musical heroes

.
[Edited 12/15/06 13:35pm]

This album contains my favorite four bars in any PJ song ("He got lucky, got lucky one time / Hittin' with the girl in Room 509").

Shame about the haircut, though.

Wow!

But I still rank this album low on my list of PJ favorites. I just don't think electronica suits her.

sextonseven said:

Choirgirl syndrome?

I have hear some of PJ's songs thanks to my friend who's a major fan, but I hadn't seen this album in her collection! Sounds very interesting, especially with her incorporating more electronic elements into it while still remaining very personal!

Besides that, she's a fantastic writer in my opinion, I'm gonna check if my record shop has this cd on my walk home tonight

THANKS SUPA!!

and WOW! what a review, but a good read

GangstaFam said:

No, it isn't THAT bad!

I still think 'Is This Desire?' is a good album. But I like many of PJ's other albums more.

I rank them this way:

Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
To Bring You My Love
Rid Of Me
Uh Huh Her
Is This Desire?
Dry
Dance Hall At Louse Point
4-Track Demos

Okay, so maybe it's more in the middle instead of "low".

sextonseven said:

Ace said:

When you say favorite bars, are you talking musically, delivery...?

One of the few PJ albums I heard. A friend used carry it in her car.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Just the whole deal: the sounds, the words, the melody, the delivery, the way the guitar answers each line. Somethin' 'bout the way she performs them in Please Leave Quietly, too. It gives me a tingle up me penis.

sextonseven said:

My first introduction to her was 2 Bring U My Love A co-worker of mine asked me if I knew who she was and when I said no she handed me that disc and told me she thought I'd like it

Well I was so astounded by it I went out an bought Rid of Me and Dry and I was simply hooked. But I was really really ready for this album when it dropped. Dancehall is between 2 Bring U My Love and Desire but I didn't get that album until after I had listened to Desire so Desire was an even larger departure for me. I classify Dance Hall as the bridge between her old work and her new work.

You can clearly hear the evolution happening there and I think Desire just took it to the next natural and logical level. Having been into Tricky and Bjork, it wasn't really hard for me to accept the electronic nature of this album. I thought it to be a breath of fresh air. She could have put out yet another rock album but she didn't and I loved that she was comfortable enough to do something that surely she knew many fans wouldn't be receptive to and that made me love it all the more.

Ace said:

I agree, it's simply tight tight tight I love the version that surfaced on one of the singles from this album. It's more stripped down and more natural.

This song really spooks me. It's about murderous obsession right?

GangstaFam said:

The funny thing is when Tori went electronica I loved it. With PJ, I just see it as an interesting experiment.

sextonseven said:

Choirgirl is pretty electronic in places. But it's also her rock record. She tried a lot of new things with that one.

Do you think of Venus as being more strictly electronic?

Never heard the chick but I will read your post and maybe follow up on her since I like your tastes

VoicesCarry said:

You might really dig her. She's original and HUGELY musical. I might start with "Stories..." or "To Bring You My Love" first though.

Great CD!!! This is my "Stay inside on rainy day" CD... My tattoo atrist turned me on to "Is This Desire?"

For the record, I am not an Eve blamer I am absolutely fascinated with songs that deal with Adam & Eve and creation and all that and I just wanted to give the interpretation of the song as it has come to be realized in my head. I personally think Eve was framed

GangstaFam said:

You're going to diss Desire in it's own thread? !

VoicesCarry said:

I thought she might be off your pop radar and I guess I was right She is absolutely one of my all time favorite artists EVER. She ranks as huge as Prince to me

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

No. I didn't mean it that way.

But I don't know if it's the best way to get into her. It's by FAR her most challenging listen. Maybe her most rewarding too.

As awesome as "Angels with Dirty Faces" is, it would never be the first thing I'd recommend to somebody wanting to get into Tricky.

I'd probably say the same thing with Tori about "Choirgirl". The reason I thought it'd be a good place for you to start is because of your other musical faves. I knew how much you loved those difficult, freaky '98 albums and it fits right in. Plus, you always seem to be up to a good challenge.

But for some people, I wouldn't want to scare them away before they've started.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Nope, she's not off my radar. I know who she is but never bothered to listen. Meanwhile, I have a lot of Beth Orton.

GangstaFam said:

I know what you're saying. I was just bein a boob Strangely, Angels was an INSTANT hit with me And it's hilarious how hard and long I slept on Choirgirl cuz that shit is crazy amazing