•
Rating:
"...if love were a train, I would throw myself on the tracks..."
So sings Karen Michelle Johnston in "If Love was a Train".
Michelle Shocked is a stage name derived from the expression "shell shocked", used by soldiers returning from the front who suffer from post-war syndromes.
Born in Dallas but raised in Texas, by a carpenter and Mormon father and a mother who had her committed to an asylum at age 22: the visceral love for art, rock in particular, for guitar and poetry, and especially the anti-militarist political engagement comes at a high price in some families where puritanism and "God, Country, and Family" are unique and absolute values.
"Short Shaped Shocked" came out in 1988 and followed two years after "The Texas Campfire Tapes", which was released as a sort of bootleg after journalist Pete Lawrence recorded it with a Sony Walkman during the Kerrville Folk Festival. Michelle was among the audience with her guitar and harmonica, sharing her compositions with some attendees.
"The Texas Campfire Tapes" received wide critical acclaim in Europe and particularly in the UK (Lawrence is English), and I recall her in an exciting appearance on Renzo Arbore's show "DOC", where they played strictly "live".
And if the "Campfire Tapes", amidst the rumble of trucks and the chirping of crickets in the background, prove illuminating regarding Michelle's talent, with "Short Shaped Shocked" we are already at the masterpiece: folk, blues, rock, and bluegrass are wonderfully mastered in these compositions by Shocked. And what to say about the lyrics: pure poetry. Evocative and often autobiographical ("Memories of East Texas"), they perfectly marry with crystalline melodies. "Anchorage" is downright chilling.
A group of excellent musicians accompany her on the banjo, Hammond, violin, and more. The result is a timeless album: fresh and current even today, twenty years after its release. America also passes through these parts, fortunately.
I have an unbridled love for this record, and I believe I am doing justice to Michelle Shocked, who had no presence on DeBaser.
"...if love were a train, I would throw myself on the tracks... I would launch myself straight on the tracks..."
Thank you for everything, Michelle.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 When I Grow Up (03:34)
When I grow up I want to be an old woman
When I grow up I want to be an old woman
Oh, an o-o-o-o-old, an old, old woman
Then I think I'm gonna find myself an old man
Then I think I'm gonna marry myself that old man
An old, an old, an old, an old, a really old man
We're gonna have a hundred and twenty babies
A hundred and five, ten, fifteen, twenty babies
Uh huh, that's what I said a hundred and twenty babies
We'll raise 'em on tiger's milk and green bananas
Mangoes and coconuts and watermelon
We're gonna give 'em that watermelon when they starts yellin'
Here's what they'll yell...
In the summer we'll sit in a field and watch the sun melt
In the winter we'll sit by a fire and watch the moon freeze
Me my old man and a hundred and twenty babies
Me my old man and a hundred and twenty babies
I said, me my old man and a hundred and twenty babies
Oh, when I grow up I want to be an old woman
When I grow up I want to be an oooooold...
07 Anchorage (03:24)
I took time out to write to my old friend
I walked across that burning bridge
Mailed my letter off to Dallas
But her reply came from Anchorage, Alaska
She said:
"Hey girl, it's about time you wrote
It's been over two years you know, my old friend
Take me back to the days of the foreign telegrams
And the all-night rock and rollin'... hey Shell
We was wild then
Hey Shell, you know it's kind of funny
Texas always seemed so big
But you know you're in the largest state in the union
When you're anchored down in Anchorage
Hey Girl, I think the last time I saw you
Was on me and Leroy's wedding day
What was the name of that love song they played?
I forgot how it goes
I don't recall how it goes
Anchorage
Anchored down in Anchorage
Leroy got a better job so we moved
Kevin lost a tooth now he's started school
I got a brand new eight month old baby girl
I sound like a housewife
Hey Shell, I think I'm a housewife
Hey Girl, what's it like to be in New York?
New York City - imagine that!
Tell me, what's it like to be a skateboard punk rocker?
Leroy says "Send a picture"
Leroy says "Hello"
Leroy says "Oh, keep on rocking, girl"
"yeah, keep on rocking"
Hey Shell, you know it's kind of funny
Texas always seemed so big
But you know you're in the largest state in the union
When you're anchored down in Anchorage
Oh, Anchorage
Anchored down in Anchorage
Oh, Anchorage
08 The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore (04:10)
When I was a curly headed baby
My daddy set me down on his knee
Saying "Son you go to school, you learn your letters
Don't you be no dusty miner boy like me"
C: I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
I used to think my daddy was a black man
With scrip enough to buy the company store
But now he goes to town with empty pockets
And Lord his face as white as February snow
C: I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
(Break)
Never thought I'd live to learn to love the coal dust
Never thought I'd pray to hears those tipple roar
But God I wish the grass would turn to money
And them greenbacks would fill my pockets once more
C: I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
Last night I dreamed I went down to the office
To get my payday like I done before
But them old Kudzu vines was covered up the doorway
And there was leaves and grass growing right up through the floor
C: I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
10 Black Widow (02:44)
Time is red
Time is deadly
Time under glass
Time will tell
Time will tell
The tale of the widow
Who walks her web
Mourning the night
Mourning the dead
Mourning the dead
Aw, did you lose him to a broom
Trapped in a corner of the room
Or was it under the foot
Of the marching black boot
The marching black boot
Is it the loneliness of night
That makes you reach out and bite
The unawakened flesh
You lady in distress
Oh you poor poor suffering
Murderess
Time is red
Time is deadly
Time under glass
Time will tell
Time will tell
Time will tell
Time will tell
Loading comments slowly
