SLS: Daddy Rocked The Baby

Posted on by

 

As he tells us in his post February Music Birthdays, Jim’s invitation for Song Lyric Sunday this week is to play a song written or performed by someone who was born in the month of February. As their birth month isn’t the first thing I think of when listening to my favourite musicians this necessitated a little research, but I found a website that listed loads, many of whom I knew nothing about! I was blessed to find two of my all time favourites in there and in my usual state of indecision I decided that I should play you something by both of them, rather than choose one ahead of the other. That still left the need to decide on the songs, which wasn’t easy, as both have given us so many great ones. But I got there in the end!

My first choice is one that will come as no surprise to regular readers , as she appears in big letters in the word cloud of my most used tags. She is, of course, the wonderful Mary Chapin Carpenter, who was born on 21 February 1958. Amidst all of her deep, heartfelt songs, this lighter piece is one of my favourites:

In case you missed it, that was Halley Came To Jackson. This would be the point at which I would share its lyrics but I’m not doing that, for two reasons. Firstly, they are on the video so there’s no need to repeat them, and secondly I have been struggling for weeks with paragraph formatting for SLS posts. As this doesn’t happen with any others I can only assume that it is down to adding in a large block of lyrics, so I’m trying it without them today to see what happens.

I have played this song before, though not for SLS. I have even based a post around it, showing just how much I like it! It was written by her, and is featured on her third album, Shooting Straight In The Dark, which was released in October 1990 and peaked at #70 in the US, and at #11 in the US Country Albums chart. It was also the B-side to the single release of Down At The Twist And Shout, which made #2 in the US Country singles listings. She is one of those artists who, during a career which has been thriving since her first album (Hometown Girl) in 1987, has been a conundrum for those who like to pigeonhole their music. Early associations with Nashville meant that she was seen as a country musician, and her albums have enjoyed much more success in the country charts than the mainstream ones, but if you look at Apple Music they seem to put her in a different category every time she releases a new album! To me, she is the writer of classy, intelligent lyrics, which are woven into beautifully crafted songs, all sung with her lovely warm voice. I had the great pleasure of seeing her play live several years ago, and the whole evening was an absolute delight: not only was the music fantastic, but her words between the songs were charming and witty. I’d have expected nothing less of her, to be honest.

As you can tell from the lyrics, the song relates to the appearance of Halley’s Comet in 1910, and was inspired by the writings of a lady called Eudora Welty, who told a story like this about her own childhood in Jackson, Mississippi. MCC also turned the song into a book for children, illustrated by Dan Andreasen, and several of the pictures in the video are taken from that. Halley’s Comet is only visible from Earth every 75 or 76 years, so the next appearance was in 1986 – as indeed the song tells us. Realising that I would have to live to 108 to see its next scheduled appearance in 2061, I didn’t want to miss my chance in 1986, even though it was only going to be possible to see it at some unholy hour. Sadly, having stayed downstairs so as not to awaken my heavily pregnant wife, I made my way into the bedroom we had prepared as a nursery and waited patiently, through several false alarms. These were, apparently, the worst conditions in 2,000 years for viewing Halley from Earth, as they were on opposite sides of the Sun, a mere 39 million miles apart. In those days we lived quite near Stansted Airport, so it was much more likely that what I did see were distant planes. I still love the song, though, and played it to my daughter in later years while telling her of the story – she was born just a few days after Halley’s invisible night.

 

 

My second choice for today is Peter Gabriel, who was born on 13 February 1950, which meant that he shared a birthday with my Mum, though a good few years later! Again, I have a huge number of songs I could play you, but in the spirit of sharing lyric videos today I’m going for this, a beautiful song for which you can follow the words:

Don’t Give Up was written by Peter and was on his fifth solo album, So, which was released in May 1986. It got to #1 in the UK and several other European countries, as well as in Canada, and was his breakthrough album in the US, where it reached #2. It sold 5m copies in the US and 900,000 in the UK and is still, I think, my favourite of his records: nine tracks, all of which are exceptional. You probably already knew that this was a duet performance with Kate Bush, and I think it’s a remarkable song. It was released as a single and peaked at #5 in Australia, at #9 in the UK, but only reached #72 in the US – I guess they were all busy buying the album!

The song was inspired by Depression-era photographs of Dorothea Lange, showing poverty-stricken Americans in Dust Bowl conditions. Peter saw Lange’s images in a book entitled In This Proud Land (1973) and felt that a song on this topic was appropriate. He also cited unemployment in the United Kingdom under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher as further inspiration. The song won the 1987 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically And Lyrically. I still think it is amazing, and the performances of both are brilliant.

That’s me done for today. As always, I hope you have enjoyed my choices, and give my thanks to Jim for his great work in running Song Lyric Sunday, without which there would be a big hole in my blogging week! I’ll see you again for Tuesday Tunes, so until then stay safe and warm  😊

32 thoughts on “SLS: Daddy Rocked The Baby”

  2. I liked the first song a lot, by MCC. Probably because it was a song about Halley’s comet. I love things in the sky! When I was a kid we saw some comet or other. I was told it was Halley’s, but I don’t think it came around in the 50s. Then we did see the Hale Bop one for lots of nights. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  5. has that rare, quiet gravity that sneaks up on you. Mary Chapin Carpenter handles return and reckoning with remarkable restraint, understanding that coming home isn’t a victory lap—it’s complicated, tender, and a little bruised. She doesn’t dramatize the moment; she observes it, letting compassion do the work.

    Don’t Give Up carries a similar strength. Peter Gabriel doesn’t offer easy hope or neat resolutions, just presence. Sometimes survival isn’t loud or heroic—it’s simply staying upright one more day. Both songs honor that quiet endurance, meeting vulnerability with patience instead of answers.

    Beautiful selections.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Clive, two wonderful songs. I have heard MCC before and liked what I heard but not that familiar with her. Peter Gabriel much more familiar with and I adore that song. You make me want to put together a playlist of these encouraging, healing songs.

    Hope you are enjoying your Sunday ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  7. Halley’s comet reached its farthest point from the sun (aphelion) on December 9, 2023, and has officially begun its 38-year journey back toward the inner solar system. I know I won’t be around to see it again, but I am sure with the advances in science that we will learn much more from it on its next visit. Mary Chapin Carpenter has a lovely voice, and I enjoyed the duet with Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. Wonderful selections, Clive.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. Two wonderful songs Clive. I particularly love the Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush song. There is something about his voice that I’ve always loved.

    if you are having trouble with placement of lyrics in your post use the Verse block. Use paragraph block for the rest of your post. They are written like poetry and that will work for you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Please leave a reply, I'd like to know what you think