Millions of Stars and Candles in the Wind (duck!)

[katefans@chinet.chi.il.us (Chris n Vickie)]

Vickie here. Re: Single Gun Theory and Candle in the Wind.

I thought I was Jon Drukman but it was only a mirage, so I didn't say:
> Second, the most recent Single Gun Theory album ("Like Stars In My Hands")
> is a wonderful excursion into female vox territory.   I can't say enough
> good things about it, in fact.  Was the video for "From A Million Miles" or
> "Words Written Backwards"?

The video I have is "From A Million Miles" and I (gasp!) agree with you
wholeheartedly about this album. It's one of my favorites for the year.
I call them "ethereal" (with an eclectic, ethnic, tough and dance beat edge
though, not ethereal like Enya) and I know Jon wouldn't really classify them
as such, but my definition of ethereal emcompasses a wide range, from 
Virgina Astley to Beautiful Pea Green Boat to Dead Can Dance. I don't know
what else to call them. They throw in everything from Latin to Islamic
chants, and range from beautiful, simple, DCD-like songs to wild and very
interesting uh..dance music. Er, music you could dance to, if you were so
inclined. I like all the songs on this album, but my favorites are "A Am
What I See" and "Great Palaces of Immortal Pleasure" and "From a Million
Miles" and "Blue Seas" and....well, I like them all. *Highly* recommended by
me too.

If you put Dead Can Dance, a dance beat, "My Life In the Bush of Ghosts" and
A.C. Marias in a blender and turned it on high....you might get something
very similar to this album. 

Single Gun Theory  _Millions, Like Stars In My Hands, Daggers In My Heart,
Wage War" Nettwerk (IRS) X4-13113. That's the number of the promo cassette I
have. I got it free, but I like it so much I plan to buy it on CD. That's
the highest recommendation I can think to say.

Does anyone know where that (silly, IMHO) album title came from? How about
the (stupid, IMHO) band name?

> Anyway, great album, buy it now.  I like it more than their first record,
> "Exorcise this Wasteland."

100% agreement here too. I only *really* like a couple of songs from the
first album. It's much harder edged than _Millions..._ and I'm rarely in
the mood to listen to it for sheer pleasure, but I can put Millions on
auto repeat and not get tired of it. 

Say Jon, I don't have any liner notes, will you tell me a couple of things?
First, is that David Sylvian singing on that one song? If so, I have friends
who would love to know about this album. Second, would you be a dear and
send me the song timings? This cassette will have to hold me for a few more
weeks and it's really hard to know where some songs end and begin to know
the correct titles.


> It certainly pummels Kate's latest offering into a pile of bloody whale
> meat.

Oh darn, I didn't think we'd get through an entire post without some 
disagreement and I was right :-)

IMHO, they're both excellent offerings, just very different in style and
attitude from each other. 

I'm one to listen to something over and over and over again, if I like it
or if I don't, but think that there's something there that warrants 
repeated listenings. I've probably listened to Rocket Man over 100 times,
and CitW at least 20+. These tracks hold magic for me. I don't want to get
into another "magic" debate, I'm just saying that the songs are special for
*me* personally. Both songs are very sad and I feel the emotions that I
think she's trying to convey. Both songs speak of lonliness and quiet
desperation, RM in a fictional sense and Candle in a biographical sense.

Candle especially tears at my heart much more than I thought it would. I've
only very marginally been into Marilyn Monroe. I like her, and I always
feel torn between pity, admiration and disappointment whenever I think
about her life and career, but I couldn't call myself a fan.

I always liked Elton's version just because it's a pretty song and it's
nice that there's a song about someone so fascinating and sad. I have
never known Kate to ever express any opinions or thoughts about Marilyn
Monroe, so the first time I listened to the song it seemed, hmmm, well,
fairly straight-forward and even somewhat stilted. I liked it, but I
wasn't sure what I thought about it, if that makes any sense. btw, the
synths never bothered me, I like the arrangement. After repeated 
listenings, especially today, with headphones on, I came to feel the
emotions behind the song. I believe that not only does Kate know and
understand what the song is about and who Marilyn Monroe is and what she
went through, but maybe (that's *maybe*, that's IMHO) Kate even feels a
bit of empathy for Marilyn. In one line, I'm positive she is singing
from the depths of knowledge of the situation. Listen to Kate sing the
lines "they crawled out of the woodwork, they whispered in your brain.
they set you on a treadmill, they made you change your name" which is
exactly the kind of thing Kate herself has fought against succesfully
all these years. 

This particular line "...all the press were hounding you..." is sung from
a heart, soul and mind that *knows* what this line means. 

I imagine that some aspects of Marilyn's life would horrify Kate, but that
others would fascinate her. She sings the song in a way that, for me,
emphasizes the schitzo and sad life Marilyn Monroe led. I say that CitW
is a beautiful song, but it's beautiful in a very unusual way. The unusual
points are very subtle. Boring is what this song has been called, and I
can see how it might seem boring on the surface, but a little digging
may, as it did for me, reveal the subtle weirdness of the song. I wish I
could be more articlulate, but I'm not quite sure what I'm talking about,
I just know what I feel and how I hear the song, and it's not easy for me
to put into words. 

I wouldn't want CitW to appear on the album, and, for a b-side, it doesn't
come close to "Under The Ivy" or "Ne T'en Fui Pas," but I love it, and I'm
glad she recorded it.

Vickie (one of Vickie'n'Chris)
katefans@chinet.chi.il.us