Sinead & Ferron: Tales of Two Break Ups
They are both singular female artists who've got so much going on that they can get by with just one name. And they have both composed break up songs of the highest order, though the experiences they relate could not be more different in emotion and tone. Sinead's "This Is the Last Day of Our Acquaintance," is pure acrimony and bitterness; Ferron's "Ain't Life a Brook" is stoic, but also wistful, melancholic, and even a bit nostalgic. What they do share is very clear imagery that drives the narrative forward while also resonating as pure poetry.
The lyrics of "Last Day" focus on the sterile, anonymous nature of getting legally divorced. A once intimate lover is now described sarcastically and bitterly as nothing more than an acquaintance. "This the last day of our acquaintance / I will meet you later in somebody's office / I'll talk but you won't listen to me / I know what your answer will be." Romance has devolved into a matter of finalizing "the details."
Where Sinead's core image is an office, Ferron's is a brook, a gentle, even soothing part of the natural world. Like a brook, the relationship took its natural course. When the lovers were together things were good, and after they parted things were good, too. Well, good enough once the edges of the pain got smoothed. And the pain isn't cause for acrimony or guilt. "But ain't life a brook / Just when I get to feeling like a polished stone / I get me a long drawn look / It's kind of a drag to find yourself alone / And sometimes I mind / Especially when I'm waiting on your heart / But life don't clickety-clack / Down a straight-line track It comes together and it comes apart."
Both Sinead and Ferron are true artists who have been marginalized: Sinead as a bit of a nut job, and Ferron as a niche practitioner of Women's (i.e. lesbian) Music. But they clearly transcend any boundaries such as these that have been superimposed from without. Brava!
P.S. Can I just add as a personal aside that Sinead looks equally cute with and without hair?
The lyrics of "Last Day" focus on the sterile, anonymous nature of getting legally divorced. A once intimate lover is now described sarcastically and bitterly as nothing more than an acquaintance. "This the last day of our acquaintance / I will meet you later in somebody's office / I'll talk but you won't listen to me / I know what your answer will be." Romance has devolved into a matter of finalizing "the details."
Where Sinead's core image is an office, Ferron's is a brook, a gentle, even soothing part of the natural world. Like a brook, the relationship took its natural course. When the lovers were together things were good, and after they parted things were good, too. Well, good enough once the edges of the pain got smoothed. And the pain isn't cause for acrimony or guilt. "But ain't life a brook / Just when I get to feeling like a polished stone / I get me a long drawn look / It's kind of a drag to find yourself alone / And sometimes I mind / Especially when I'm waiting on your heart / But life don't clickety-clack / Down a straight-line track It comes together and it comes apart."
Both Sinead and Ferron are true artists who have been marginalized: Sinead as a bit of a nut job, and Ferron as a niche practitioner of Women's (i.e. lesbian) Music. But they clearly transcend any boundaries such as these that have been superimposed from without. Brava!
P.S. Can I just add as a personal aside that Sinead looks equally cute with and without hair?
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