Music |
Jann Arden
By
Published: Oct 12, 2011
Category:
Rock
In distant 1990-something, Jann Arden had a hit. "Insensitive." You may remember it:
oh I really should have known
by the time you drove me home
by the vagueness in your eyes
your casual goodbyes
by the chill in your embrace
the expression on your face
that told me
maybe you might have some advice to give
on how to be …insensitive
Don’t recall it? Worry not. Jann Arden is Canadian. Doesn’t tour much. Is used to being overlooked in America.
Canada? Different story. Canadians go mad for her. Sometimes she tours a little, and then it’s back to Calgary, and the very nice life of a national treasure. Not bad for a singer-songwriter who, as a child, dreamed of being Karen Carpenter.
A friend with perfect taste pressed "Living Under June" into my hands a decade ago. By then it had sold six-times platinum in Canada and 500,000 CDs in the United States — despite no radio play; this was a classic case of word-of-mouth — and was on its way to a total of 1.3 million CDs sold world-wide. [To buy the CD from Amazon, click here. For the MP3 download, click here.]
What do all these people see in Jann Arden?
Astonishing talent as a writer, massive ability as a performer. Simply, she’s a natural. That is, her heart holds the pen. That process bypasses the mind, delivering the emotions fresh and pure. And what emotions! When she loves, she’s right out front ("Could I be your girl?). And what range! There’s praise for her mom ("I’ve got a good mother/and her voice is what keeps me here"), a look at her spiritual search ("I lost the truth, I lost my way/but I am looking for it") and a terrific sense of humor about her living arrangements ("Living Under June" is literally about living underneath a woman named June; " sexual atrocities are happening right over me/and I can’t sleep").
Here’s how the CD starts:
Hide your heart under the bed and lock your secret drawer
Wash the angels from your head won’t need ’em anymore
Love is a demon and you’re the one he’s coming for
Oh my
He’s bringing sweet salvation, let temptation take him in
He’s every fear and every hope and every single sin
He is the universe, the love you’ve been imagining
Oh my lord
If you can resist that — delivered against a lovely melody, played by a first-class band, and sung with passion — you’re tougher than I am.
And when she has it bad? Watch out. Here’s a bit of "Unloved," a duet with Jackson Browne:
There will be no consolation prize
This time the bone is broken clean
No baptism, no reprise and no sweet taste of victory
All the stars have fallen from the sky
And everything else in between
Satellites have closed their eyes
The moon has gone to sleep
Unloved unloved unloved unloved
Once, in a bad way, I played this song over and over. It just nailed the feeling better than anything else he could think of. And it was no great achievement to realize this wasn’t just a smart piece of writing — it was a lived truth. If Jann Arden hadn’t been there herself, she surely was great at channeling heartbreak.
But don’t think this is a dark and brooding woman, flighty as Joni Mitchell. Jann Arden is jaunty — indeed, in performance, she’s so screamingly funny you almost feel like you’re watching a standup comedian who also happens to sing. "Facing forward, be yourself," she sings, and she’s her own best example.
You didn’t know Jann Arden? Now you do. Loving her music is the inevitable next step.
