Disc 92 is...40 Days
Artist: The Wailin' JennysYear of Release: 2004
How I Came To Know It: My friend Casey introduced me to both the band and this album when he brought it over one night. I instantly loved it, and when he mentioned a few weeks later they were coming to town, Sheila and I joined he and his wife, Helene, for the concert (which was awesome).
How It Stacks Up: I only have two Wailin' Jennys albums - I'm not sure how many they have - maybe three. This is my favourite.
Rating: 5 stars.
This is one of my favourite albums from the oughts. In recent years I've had to ration it out, lest I hear it so much I get tired of it. That is what happened to me with Mark Knopfler's "Sailing to Philadelphia" and since then I've been a lot more careful.
The Wailin' Jennys are three women, but the three women change around a fair bit. It seems every couple of years there is a lineup change - usually an acrimonious one. This is a real shame, because the lack of continuity has really hurt this trio's considerable talents. "40 Days" features the original three, Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta and Cara Luft.
Shortly after this album came out, Luft left the band and was replaced by Annabelle Chvostek (which is the lineup I believe I saw). Chvostek has since left the band and been replaced with Heather Masse.
It sounds like the whole matter is emotionally complicated, so I think I'll just leave it at that, and stick to the record.
It is one hell of a folk record - and tragically the only one with this particular line up.
Every one of these women has an incredible voice. Every one is an artist on her instrument(s) of choice, and together they produce harmonies with a quality that would lure sailors onto treacherous reefs.
The first song, "One Voice" is one of my favourite songs, period. It begins with Ruth Moody singing alone and strong, expressing the yearning that each of us has to be heard, and for our opinion to matter in the world:
"This is the sound of one voice
One spirit, one voice
The sound of one who makes a choice"
She is joined by a second voice (Cara, I think), blending into a beautiful duet:
"This is the sound of voices two
The sound of me singing with you
Helping each other to make it through"
A reminder that we have our own voice, but how enriched we are when we lend it to the cause of another. How we are all here to help each other out. Of course, before you know it...
"This is the sound of voices three
Singing together in harmony
Surrendering to the mystery."
As the song progresses, it captures an ideal, where we all have our own voice, with each of us lending it to our fellows. Then, this multitude of individual voices somehow becomes one voice again. But now that one voice has transformed, able to express the needs of each individual singer in the choir. How it happens - that's the mystery.
As a species, this mystery often eludes us, but for three minutes and twenty one seconds, you will feel in your bones that it is just around the next corner.
Given what has happened to this band over the last five years, it is a deeply ironic song, but no less beautiful for it.
The rest of the album holds up to the high standards set in "One Voice", with each Jenny taking turns at songwriting and lead vocals, but all pitching in to make each of their bandmate's tracks that much better.
Most of the album is original material - all of it top tier. However, folk albums often have traditional works, or remakes. "40 Days" features a beautiful cover of Neil Young's "Old Man", which has always been one of my favourite tracks. The album ends with an a capella version of the traditional standard, "The Parting Glass", which is a perfect cap to what is essentially, a perfect album.
For me, my favourite Jenny is Ruth Moody, who writes both "One Voice" and my other favourite, "Beautiful Dawn", which I believe is a break up song. Most break up songs are either sad, mournful affairs, or angry recriminations. "Beautiful Dawn" is instead a prayer for understanding. It always hits me emotionally, and leaves me wanting to be a better man.
So I'll end this review with my favourite verse from "Beautiful Dawn". I hope that it gives succor to all the Jennys out there; past, present and future.
"Teach me how to see when I close my eyes
Teach me to forgive and to apologize
Show me how to love in the darkest dark
There's only one way to mend a broken heart"
Best tracks: One Voice, Beautiful Dawn, Untitled, This Is Where, Take It Down, Something to Hold Onto, Old Man, The Parting Glass.
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