Saturday, January 22, 2011

Song of the Day: "Sweet Jane" by Cowboy Junkies

First post on the new venture.  I finally got a theme I am interested in, and one that I think won't get too much flame traffic coming in (crossing fingers).  Let's walk down the road together and see what happens, eh?

"Sweet Jane", Cowboy Junkies

This song basically pushed me into taking this path.  I had been interested in doing a "Song of the day/my favorite songs" blog for a while now, but I never really got the compulsion to do it.  Then I was going through my CD collection and stumbled upon a copy of The Trinity Sessions by Cowboy Junkies.  Suddenly I went through a time warp.

It was 1989, and I was a young, naive and thoroughly idealistic man.  I had dreams of getting out of Aiken SC with the woman of my dreams and making something of myself.  Trouble was, I had never really kissed a woman up to that point, let alone connected with the "woman of my dreams", and I had no earthly idea what I wanted to do for a living.

In between pining for the attention of a woman who ended up being a stripper and wondering if the plays I was doing at the local university might lead me somewhere, I discovered the Cowboy Junkies on MTV.  Mind you this was 20 years BJS (Before Jersey Shore).  Their video for "Sweet Jane" had gone into a regular rotation, and I turned up the volume whenever I saw it come up.

"Sweet Jane" was a cover of a Velvet Underground song, but it took the song on a different course.  Where VU's version was edgy and a little bit cynical, Cowboy Junkies' effort was ethereal and full of longing.  Margot Timmins' voice reached into my heart and held it tight, reassuring me that I would find a real love - someday.

Years later, when I did meet the woman of my dreams, I looked on the CD rack in her home,  Sure enough, there on the rack was a copy of The Trinity Sessions.  I knew I was home.  I knew she was the one.  I mean, there were plenty of other clues, but this was a clincher for me. :)

"Sweet Jane" reminds me of love lost, love unrealized and (most importantly) love finally found in a cruel and uncaring world.  It feels like home and gentle words of welcome whispered sweetly in my ear, "I love you."

In any case, I am attaching a couple of videos of "Sweet Jane".  The best copy of the original music video won't allow embedding, so I posted a link to it at the bottom of the page.  In the meantime, enjoy a live performance of the song, recorded in Savannah GA in 2008.



Original music video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8W7VSS2ChY

No comments: