I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: ANI DIFRANCO-“Hearse” (2012).

I used to really like Ani DiFranco.  Back in the 90s, she was a personal hero of independent spirit–self releasing records, gaining a huge fan base (while living in Buffalo(?)), speaking her mind, and basically not kowtowing to the man.  And all along she was making great music–folky yes, but also alternativey, with rebellious, fighting lyrics.

Then at the dawn of 2000, I lost interest in her.  I didn’t enjoy the kind of music she was making anymore.  She seemed to be writing much longer compositions (not a good sign for a girl from the punk side of the tracks.  And her arrangements were growing bigger and bigger.  The occasional funk jam was fine, but once she started really letting her experimental side go, her songs were buried by smooth sounds.  And they were hard to listen to.  Especially since as she started embracing more interesting sonic sounds and textures, she seems to relax her grip on melody.  Her early songs were easy to sing along to but by 2005, mmm, not so much.

The funny thing to think about is that once you stop listening to an artist, you kind of think they must stop making music.  But that’s not the case, most of the time.  So imagine my surprise to see that since the last Ani album I listened to, she has released eight new ones!  This track comes from her most recent album, Which Side Are You On?  I can’t speak to the content of the rest of the album, but this song is a pretty ballad.

It’s a romantic song, even if her metaphors aren’t so pretty and romantic after all (hence the title).  But for some reason this song just doesn’t grab me.  It has all of the elements of Ani DiFranco songs of old, but it doesn’t make me want to sing along.

But the most surprising thing for me is just how different she looks in that picture (from NPR).  It’s not that she looks older or has grown her hair out, she looks completely different.  I don’t see anything of her old self in this photo.  That’s bizarre!

[READ: May 11, 2012] “Nero”

Warning (but not spoiler), there’s a dog death in this story.

This story shows us a world that (I assume) doesn’t exist much anymore.  It’s full of Midwesterners (of German descent) from many years ago when certain things were done a certain way and roles were very strictly defined.

The narrator is a woman and the story is set during her childhood.  She was sent to go live with her grandparents while her mother was having a new baby.  They figured she’d be there a couple weeks so her mother could adjust.  Her grandparents run a butcher shop and market; they live upstairs.  As the story opens, the narrator tells us about Nero, the attack dog who lives in the backyard, but “works” in the store at night.

She also explains How It Is in the house.  Nero is an employee.  He is not treated with kindness.  He is fed scraps and lives outside.  The other dogs who live inside are there to keep the humans feet warm.  The other animals outside are meat, except for the chickens, which provide eggs and then become meat.  That is How It Is.

The story settles on the narrator’s attempts to bond (somewhat) with Nero.  She begins feeding him gingersnaps and saying the word aloud.  And Nero starts to respond to the word.  But Nero is pretty much feral.  And Nero’s man enjoyment in life stems from leaping the (now) seven-foot fence and running down the street to get to the Cocker Spaniel.

The Cocker Spaniel is owned by a woman named Priscilla who lives with her father (her mother died some time ago).  Her father does not want her to leave.  Ever.  So he chases off every beau that comes knocking.

On the day that the narrator sees Nero hop the fence, she heads down to Priscilla’s door and after warning her about Nero, she learns that Priscilla has a new beau.  He is the narrator’s Uncle Jurgen (who also lives with her and her grandparents).  Jurgen is a tough man who takes no guff.  When Priscilla’s dog tries to bite Jurgen (she tries to bite everyone), he flicks it on the nose a few times until it cowers to him.

The remainder of the story has two incidents which I never would have expected, given the way the story begins.  The first is an incident at the narrator’s school that involves a man with exotic, dangerous animals (snakes and tarantulas) and the second is the confrontation when Jurgen fights Priscilla’s father.  Both are quite surprising and rather exciting, given the languid pacing of the beginning of the story.

The story is pretty straightforward–there’s not a lot of surprises here.  And yet I found the connection between the events and the storytelling to be very engaging.

I have enjoyed much of what Erdrich has written.  She has a simple style that is very effective and which surprises you when she packs a punch (emotional or otherwise).

Oh, and Karen has written a post about this story.   Read it to find out about the Rule of Balanced Romantic Justice for Dogs and People.