Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. DXXVIII--Kathleen Edwards: Hockey Skates

 What's eight days late between friends?

My introduction to this week's tune is one I've used a time or two before--Nick Hornby's book about his favorite songs, Songbook. Tucked away at the end of the book was a section where Hornby mentioned newer songs (at the time) that he'd heard and was enjoying.  Pretty much gave a listen to all of them on Napster (remember Napster?), and this week's song, an exceptional folk ditty, hit me immediately and has stayed with me to this very day....

Kathleen Edwards hails from the Great White North (not to be confused with us, the Shithole Down South), where she was born in Ottawa in 1978.  At the ripe old age of twenty-one she recorded her first EP and pressed 500 copies.  Within a year she was on her first tour, and in 2002 released her first studio album.  Edwards has had a modicum of commercial success, with four of her albums charting on the Billboard 200 (highest peaked at #39) and has also had a #2 album in her native Canada.  She's also been nominated for seven Juno Awards.  For her career, Edwards has released five studio albums, four EP's, and thirteen singles.  Edwards took a break from music for mental health reasons in 2014 but returned with a new album in 2020.  She continues to tour.

Fun Fact:  Edwards brother bought her the first album she ever owned--a record by emaycee fave Tom Petty.  

"Hockey Skates" was the third single released from her debut album, the rather inauspiciously entitled Failer.  Neither the single nor the album charted in either country.

Sad. Angry. Disappointed.  Edwards sings of the perils of being yourself when you're a woman, whether in the context of a relationship or being one of the guys.  I absolutely love the guitar in this one, from beginning to end, but especially the one, two, three, I'm outta here vibe off and on.  Edwards captures the small-town ennui both lyrically and vocally, and the resignation of that life in her voice is heartbreaking.  Edwards was in her early twenties when she wrote "Hockey Skates," and she shows and an eye for detail that is beyond her years.  Kudos for the Canadian writing a song with a nod to the country's national sport, hockey--it's a light touch that resonates.  Just a wonderful piece of work, especially for an old fart folkie like me.

Lyric Sheet:  "I am so sick of consequence/And the look on your face/I am tired of playing defense/And I don't even have hockey skates..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump

Peace,

emayce