So I bought the recent Norah Jones album. It’s got some absolutely incredible songs on it, and some okay ones; this is unlike the first album, which was pretty much good from beginning to end. Still, well worth the money, if only for the vast array of instruments. Here’s a short list of some of the weird things that are played on the CD:
- Slit Drum: Sounds kinda like a euphemism for doing the horizontal mambo, if you catch my drift, but it’s kinda slick. Sounds like rain drops, from what I can tell, or people of every shape and size doing the “S. S. Lollipop” thing with the finger in the mouth. You know what I mean? I’ll demonstrate next time I see you.
- Banjolin: Either a banjo-sized instrument that lacks a banjo’s drumhead body, or a mandolin-sized instrument that includes the drumhead body. I think it’s the latter, but it’s hard to tell. You’d think they’d’ve just, ya know, picked a mandolin or banjo, one or the other. MAKE UP YOUR MINDS!
- Resonator Guitar: I think it’s basically a dobro without the raised strings. Like, a regular acoustic, but with that weird metal thing in the body that makes all the strings sound like they’re mounted on rattly springs. Somehow it works.
- Foot Tapping: Really. It’s listed as an instrument played by Kevin Breit on “Above Ground.”
- Box: I’d like to pretend that this is some kind of neat name for a percussion instrument with all kinds of sticks and drumheads and electronic doohickeys, but from what I can tell Andrew Borger just tapped on a cardboard box with his fingers. Seriously.
- Norah Farting Into An SM58: Just kidding. But after the Foot Tapping and Box, I wouldn’t’ve been too surprised.
Anyhoo, if you get a chance to pick it up, you’ll find your foot tapping along nicely with track 1, “Sunrise,” which you may have seen videos for on VH1 or CMT. Most of the next 7 are unremarkable, but I’ve listened to track 9, “Humble Me,” approximately 1,348,487 times in the last 3 days. A tasty morsel of the lyrics:
What do you say when it’s all gone away?
Baby, I didn’t meant to hurt you.
Truth spoke in whispers will tear you apart,
No matter how hard you resist it.
It never rains when you want it to . . .
You humble me Lord
Humble me Lord
I’m on me knees empty
You humble me Lord
You humble me Lord
Please, please, please forgive me
The verses are even better, but it’s getting a little dusty here in the Hearn-cube, and the last time my coworkers saw me crying they staged this whole intervention and gave me a tshirt that said “Here comes a special boy!” It sucked.
All right, I guess I better go home and practice my box. I think I’m ready to go into the studio with it, but I wanna make sure I’m playing with feeling. (I’m working my way up to cowbell.)
