Christine Lavin s Music Makes You Think of Her As a Friend - Good Thing He Can t Read My Mind is a typically enjoyable album by Christine Lavin - my first copy was on vinyl. She is an absolute genius of a songwriter and performer, and this album demonstrates her abilities well. Most of the songs are her originals.The title cut talks about that getting to know you... stage of a relationship when partners who are just starting to pair up will submit themselves to all kinds of things they usually would NOT - just to please their prospective mate. So - the protagonist of the song endures skiing, sushi and the opera when she really doesn t like those things. The song includes some of the funniest passages I ve ever heard in a song:Some say eating sushi is like chewing on your own cheekOr sucking down a bucket full of tentacled slimeI do not like sushi, but Hey! I m eating sushi....It s a good thing he can t read my mind.This collection includes her trademark wit as well as some pieces more introspective such as Realities, in which she laments the human tendencies to overvalue fantasy and undervalue things more familiar - such as your already existing relationship. It also includes some tunes that are just plain fun - One of my Favorite Lavin tunes is Santa Monica Pier which is just a little narrative ballad about how wonderfully blissful it is to be at that magical place. She has a real gift for description: The palms trees all look a little bit like Tina Turner from behind - which she wrote at that time when Tina Turner was the sexiest 40-something on the planet. The humor tour-de-force is Mysterious Woman where she writes about balancing the desire to be seen as mysteriously desirable as a woman with the reality of things like defrosting your refridgerator. She covers the 60 s pop tune Downtown with Livingston Taylor, and they turn it into a nice folk hook.I wrote in another review that listening to her recordings was like having a conversation with a cherished friend. This is one of the discs that makes me think that.
Not much humor on this album - I discovered Christine s music after first discovering Cheryl Wheeler, a singer with a similar type of appeal. Both are singer-songwriters who can write about serious topics when they choose to, yet they each have a great sense of humor although this particular album seems mostly serious (sometimes tragic) to me. Christine provides extensive liner notes about the songs as well as lyrics for them.Christine wrote all the songs here except Downtown, which is a cover of the sixties pop classic. While lacking the energy of the original, it is one of the more interesting covers of this song. Christine sings it as a duet with Livingston Taylor. In the liner notes, Christine goes into great detail about her idea for a video version of the song in which she is a poor unfortunate who gets mugged while Livingston is a big-hearted cab driver who comes to her rescue. I do not know if this video ever got made but I enjoy their interpretation of the song.The title track is amusing though I m surprised at the lyrics. It seems that Christine is doing all the things that her man likes but she hates, yet convincing him that she likes them anyway. In an age when women sing about their independence, this song goes against the grain. Still, I m not complaining. The other amusing song is Mysterious woman. In the liner notes, Christine explains that she ll never be mysterious because she talks too much. Another cheerful, though not funny, song is Santa Monica pier - a song simply about having a good time.This set includes several sad songs including Realities (about a breaking relationship), 85 (contrasting the pleasures of Miami Beach with the loneliness of one individual who lives there), Never go back (wishing it were possible to go back but knowing it isn t), Somebody s baby (about homeless people) and Ain t love grand (about an old woman who never bothered with love when she was young but wished she had).If you are looking for humor, this is not the album to buy. This shows (mostly) the serious side of Christine s music. If you enjoy singer-songwriters in contemporary folk music, Christine is definitely worth listening to.
High-quality performances throughout... - Most Lavin collections have two or three songs you just have to hear over and over, and will never forget, and then two or three which just don t quite work, more due to execution than to the idea. This album doesn t have the highest of her highs, or the lowest of her lows. It is very steady, very pleasant, and certainly a must-have if you are already a fan, and a great introduction to her work if you are a rookie. Christine mixes humor and seriousness better than almost anyone else out there, and she is one of those rare women s point of view performers who attracts and can hold on to male fans. I like all the songs on this one, but her most remarkable pieces are scattered on her other studio discs.
mysterious woman - This was a great song. It summed up all of women s delimma s as to what to aspire. Should I be alluring or should I have a clean refrig. Except she sings it much better than I can say. All the tunes are great and all the lyrics come home.
mysterious woman - This was a great song. It summed up all of women s delimma s as to what to aspire. Should I be alluring or should I have a clean refrig. Except she sings it much better than I can say. All the tunes are great and all the lyrics come home.