Sorry for the lengthy since my last post. Back to work in person full-time, pandemic restrictions starting to lift, a recent project where I’m filling the gaps in my movie viewing history have all kept me away from the blog for a while, but I’m back, and hoping to finish off my favorite Happy Rhodes songs soon.
With this entry, we enter my Top 10 favorites. Surprisingly, five different albums are represented, even going all the way back to 1986, and Happy’s third album, Rearmament. We haven’t had a pre-Warpaint song show up since #32’s The Revelation from Rhodes II. The remainder are taken from each of her last four studio albums.
#10 – She Won’t Go – Find Me (2007) That’s three in a row from Happy’s final album to date, and I’m not sure why that should be such a surprise as I think she just keeps getting better. Perhaps it was the lengthy span between when she recorded the songs to when she finally released them, the album sticks in my head as a compilation, when it’s not. This #10 song is the final song from Find Me, however. She Won’t Go is not one of Happy’s pretty songs, in fact it kicks off with some discordant wailing that persists throughout the track, much like the “she” referenced in the title, throwing tantrums in Happy’s mind. It’s another one of those lumbering, chunky songs that Happy does so well, and I find it rather thrilling.
Happy says of She Won’t Go, “… is a very caustic, almost abrasive-sounding song. I’m not sure I personally would want to listen to that song. I don’t even know how it happened. However, it has some of the most difficult vocal accuracy singing on it that I’ve ever had to do.” Her singing is truly on point in the song, and I like to think the “she” is the bitter, angry girl in Happy’s head who may have evolved out of the bullied child in If I Ever See the Girl Again, Musically, I love the flutter of tom’s that come in after the wailing, that then launch into full drums. The verses are delightfully atonal, with s bouncing bass line that all resolves into the grim chorus. The wailing guitars are used to great effect to had highlighting to the verses while Happy’s voice ping pongs from discordant lows to highs. It’s pretty amazing, and pretty impressive, and maybe it’s not a pleasant song, but it’s certainly a compelling one.
#9 – I Have a Heart – Rearmament (1986) Reaching way back to 1986, and Happy’s third album, which was basically part of the back catalog of songs she had written throughout her youth, there is her tender, heart-breaking ballad, I Have a Heart. Gentle finger-picking of an acoustic guitar leads to Happy’s hesitant voice… a lost lonely voice that is wrapped in some lush synth-strings, before being joined by some gorgeous harmonies. It’s a simple, straight-forward song sung by a young girl dealing with suicidal thoughts. “All I can do is beg her to stay…” is the singer’s mournful plea to her heart, which has been broken and beaten and just wants to leave. It’s hard to deny the sad beauty of the song and it’s enough to make Happy’s Top 10 here.
I’m not sure if she re-recorded the song for her Rhodesongs compilations, or just remastered the existing recording, but i suspect the former. The song sounds like it was sung by a slightly more mature Happy whose voice and grown since the initial recording. So that’s the version I’ve included below.
#8 – Pride – Building the Colossus (1994) There’s something about Pride that’s reminiscent of I Have a Heart but tonally they are nearly opposites. There is such a lovely feeling of self-acceptance in Pride, clearly written and performed by a far more mature Happy who has learned many of life’s lessons. I love how the lyrics are so tied to nature, which seems to be where she finds peace and humility. There is such a gentleness to this song, it just touches my heart. And the instrumentation, a simple blend of acoustic guitar, bass, and electric guitar washes, is gorgeous.
Now for the confession. For years… until today, actually, when I read the lyrics, I thought the first line of verse two was, “Walk on out and catch a bee in my hand…” which I loved. The lyrics are actually, “Walk on out and catch a beam in my hair…:” Okay, so it doesn’t resonate quit as much for me as what I thought, but it’s still lovely. Enjoy Pride as taken from Building the Colossus, and then from a live show at the Tin Angel in 2005.
#7 – Proof – Many Worlds Are BornTonight (1998) From the opening drumbeats, the powerful bass, and the wailing guitar licks, Proof captures me instantly. Then Happy’s deep, commanding voice starts making demands, and the chunky rhythm drives us into the song. A standout in the otherwise largely atmospheric Many Worlds Are Born Tonite, Proof seems like it belongs on Building the Colossus. I love the sparse, nearly whispered verses in contrast to the chorus, and then there’s the soaring instrumental bridge that seems like it’s swooping in from a different song.
Lyrically this one’s pretty impenetrable to me. It could be how you have to justify your life more and more as you get older, leaving the carefree days of youth behind. I’m not certain, but as a piece, it’s certainly intriguing, and the closest thing to a follow-up single to Roy that this album produce. I’ve included the original studio version along with a nice live version from 1999.
#6 – Runners – Equipoise (1993) The first track from Equipoise, Runners has the distinction of being the first song by Happy Rhodes I ever heard, and it clearly had quite an impact on me, topping the lower half of the Top 10. Despite its subject matter (which we will get to) Runners is arguably the closest that Happy has ever come to “single” material. I mean, it’s even got a pretty straight forward kick-snare action to drive it forward. Add to that a fairly traditional verse chorus structure, and some nice synths to provide the color and you’ve got alternative single written all over it. I love the gorgeous guitar lines that weave in toward the end while Happy repeats the chorus and adds her ad libs. The whole close out of the song, maybe the last minute and a half, really thrills me. Her voice is strong and commanding, and I love those soaring high notes she wails as the song fades out.
Then there are the lyrics. Runners is about the race to cheat death. There is toxicity everywhere trying to kill us. In what is surely a first for pop music, Happy sings about carcinogens, toxic dumps and malignant lumps. It’s all around us “coming around to take your (sic) heartbeat.” But as the song shift to the halfway points, Happy sings about all the things she is doing to combat the inevitability of death, from diets, to doctors, to wearing a tin hat to protect herself from the ozone. 😉 Only Happy could take such a grim topic, add some black humor, and turn it into a pop song. First I ever heard, and it’s still sticking with me.