Sorry the longish break, but welcome to the newly migrated Justgiblets.com! Had to change my webhosting platform, but fortunately everything seems to have gone just fine. So we’re back looking at my favorite Happy Rhodes tunes, entering the Top 25 this week! Things almost start to get arbitrary here, with the order really reflecting my tastes of the day, I think. All the songs from here on in are just that good. This batch of songs also sees the first appearance of songs from Find Me, the last album Happy recorded of her own material, way back in 2007! (Too long, Ms. Rhodes).
#25.) Play the Game – Equipoise (1993) – I love the sincerity and earnestness that Happy tackles gender roles and identity in Play the Game. It’s pretty direct with its message, almost to the point of treacly, but the simple keyboard arrangement, and the gentle manner in which Happy delivers the melody are undeniably beautiful. I always liked how she points out the difficulties of both genders…
“If I have to be pretty to be liked
Then I think I’m dead in the water
I never want to have to be like the boys
To be allowed to play with the toys”
And it’s a bit of a throwback musically, with Happy on keyboards, and Kevin Bartlett on percussion, but it augments the simpleness of the song that belies the message.
#24.) Warpaint – Warpaint (1991) – It’s mind-boggling, that Happy Rhodes fifth album was recorded and released THIRTY YEARS AGO! I was still two years away from discovering her, but as I’ve mentioned before, Warpaint was the first album Happy conceived of as a piece, rather than just a collection of recorded songs from her past. It’s also the first album for which she used musicians other than herself, and you can feel the change, especially on the title track. Sure the tribal drums and percussion were handled by Ms. Rhodes (programmed or otherwise), but the sinuous guitar parts courtesy of Happy’s new producer, Kevin Bartlett, and that gorgeous fretless bass by Bob Van Detta add the perfect texture fo Happy’s keys.
The song, Warpaint is a powerful one, whether you interpret the lyrics that include references to warpaint, eagles, and the warpath, to apply it to the near genocide of Native Americans, and their resistance, or take it broader, and how experience and the past are represented as the lines on your face, and prepare you for the battles you will inevitably face as you move through life. I love the passion in Happy’s voice on this one too, especially the last few lines of the live version when she sings “I fight to the death.” In a sense, isn’t life one big fight? One struggle to survive? I’ve included a lovely live rendition of Warpaint along with the audio track. I love how so much of Happy’s work is keyboard washes, and when she performs lives, she often replaces those with acoustic guitar, and it still works.
#23.) Fall – Find Me (2007) – The first song to appear in my Top 40 from Happy’s most recent album is a gentle song about passing. Whether it’s about a person dying, or the passing of a season is up for interpretation. On first read, the lyrics seem pretty clear that something is ending, and it very well could be a person’s life. But there are a lot of references that could be pointing to a seasonal transition, spring/summer turning over to fall/winter. There is reference to gardens, cold, moss, moon… all referencing the cycle of time. I really love how Happy writes lyrics that can be open to many interpretations.
Musically, this one really grabs me. I always love a descending melodic progression, and Happy augments that falling melody that she’s singing with some lonely piano notes. (In fact, it’s very reminiscent of one of my favorite Emm Gryner songs, Visiting Hours – ranked at #11 in my Emm Top 40 – which is also about someone dying.) Fall has that same gentleness in the music and the way Happy sings it. I love the gorgeous interplay between the finger-picking of the acoustic guitar, and the spare and haunting, but somehow (for me) comforting piano part. And I love the tenor of Happy’s voice in the final verse.
#22.) Many Worlds Are Born Tonight – Many Worlds Are Born Tonight (1998) – The title track to Happy’s 1988 album, Many Worlds Are Born Tonight is a sonic epic. From the strange scuttling sounds that start the song, I just get drawn right in. Then Happy’s voice, used as a tapestry against which the song will be sung.The layering of the keyboards, Kevin Bartlett’s e-Bow, and the many vocal parts that Happy offers creates a gorgeous sonic pallet. The sounds she creates with her voice are so lush and full, supporting her vaguely inspiring, vaguely cautionary lyrics. In fact, the song ends with the growl of a beast, so I’m left with conflicting thoughts on its meaning.
The song starts off as an exploration of inspiration, or energizing, or a call to live and feel to the fullest, explore the wonders and scary spaces in your head — ‘If you want, then want a lot…’ Happy says, but embrace yourself in your alone time as well: ‘Turns the lights out for a while, and have a rock with the solitude.’ To me it feels like a very uplifting song, and so gorgeously constructed. It sneaks up on you though… I overlooked it for years before really discovering it’s beauty.
#21.) Queen – Find Me (2007) – Queen catches me right from the intro, with those intricate layered harmonies, and Happy’s declaration that she is my queen. Then the song launches into those crunchy rhythms… there are a series of Happy songs that have a similar rhythm that I refer to as crunchy. The song has the feel of a lumbering beast. There’s something about that feel that I love. Another stand-out about Queen are definitely Happy’s vocals. From the layered textures she constructs from her voice, to the afore-mentioned harmonies, to the ping-ponging between registers. Add to that those sustained electric guitar wails, and you’ve got a powerful song that draws you in and thrills your senses.
Lyrically there’s a lot going on, as usual. The narrator is professing her loyalty as a queen, and calling forth lost souls that she will support. Toward the end of the song though, she talks about how wearing it’s been and she can no longer do it. Not sure if this is about a particular character, or an allegory for Happy’s position as a musician with admirers.Either way it works well, but this one is all about the music and production for me.
Glad to see that the countdown has resumed. 😀
Interesting choices as always.