There's something happening here, but what it is ain't exactly clear, there's a man with a gun over there, telling me...I'm (only one day!) late again....
My introduction to this week's tune, amazingly enough, did not occur with my viewing of their classic rockumentary The Last Waltz. For whatever reason, though The Band did play the song on that magical night of their final concert (of sorts), director Martin Scorsese chose to not include the song on his film, as did those who assembled the soundtrack album. Nope, I first heard it on an early greatest hits package of theirs, and while I wouldn't say it was love at first listen, as time wore on it became one of my favorites....
I wrote about The Band in Vol. CLXXXVI, and if I do say so myself, it was a hell of a bio paragraph so I won't be adding much here. I also wrote about them backing Bob Dylan in Vol. CDLXIX, which means I've written about the songs of one of my favorite bands of all-time only twice (though they've been referenced in nine posts). Yikes, I've a little work to do. Sadly, The Band's career was permanently closed last year with the death of Garth Hudson, their only remaining survivor. Luckily for me, their music lives on forever.
"Acadian Driftwood" was the fourth song on what would be their originals incatnation's final studio album, the rather polar oppositely named Northern Lights-Southern Cross. The song was released as the B-side of their track "Twilight," which did not chart. The album peaked at #26 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: "Acadian Driftwood" is an historical account (songwriter Robbie Robertson had a few inaccuracies) of the Expulsion of the Acadians, an ethnic cleansing by Great Britain from 1755 to 1764 from what is now known as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the state of Maine. Robertson drew from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, Evangeline (itself an account of the Acadian expulsion), for inspiration.
One of the (many) musical elements The Band excelled at was illuminating the exquisite vocals of Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Ricard Manuel, and "Acadian Driftwood" is an example par excellence of that ability. Each gives his vocal take on the tragedy of the Acadians and propels the deep emotion behind the song. Lyrically, Robertson captures the sorrow and perseverance of the Acadians with a soft eloquence. Finally, musically the band plays with an understated ambiance, except for the fiddling of Byron Berline which carries the song from beginning to end. The song closes with some singsong lyrics sung in French, akin to a lullaby. A masterwork from one of America's finest bands ever, says the guy who's been worshipping them for the last fifty-some-odd years....
Lyric Sheet: "We had kin livin' south of the border/They're a little older and they been around/They wrote in a letter life is a whole lot better/So pull up your stakes, children, and come on down..."
Enjoy:
Fuck Donald Trump
Peace,
emaycee
No comments:
Post a Comment