Alicia and Mary Cole, our dear friend and an alumnus of Agnes Scott, a private all girls' school, took me to hear Jennifer speak and perform at Agnes Scott College in Decatur March 31st. Decatur is a suburb of Atlanta near Alicia's home.
Jennifer spoke and performed in the campus theatre to a packed house of students, faculty, and other admirers like Alicia, Mary, and me.
AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE is affectionately known by alumni as the institution of the BLACK RING MAFIA because graduates are presented a beautiful gold ring with a black onyx stone upon which the letters ASC are engraved. At concerts, if an alumnus shows Jennifer Nettles that ring, that person may receive free passes to future concerts.
At Agnes Scott, Jennifer wrote her master's thesis in Spanish, performed with college music groups, played piano and guitar, and is remembered by professors as a stellar, straight A student, very nice, friendly, and poised, as she used to lead other students by chiding them to behave appropriately. She performed often in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta, during and after college. Her album back then was "Soul Miner's Daughter."
Her music now is a departure from that era because she has risen to to great heights in the world of country music. You will know her by her hit, STUCK LIKE GLUE, an upbeat, sing-along with lyrics that stay in your brain for hours.
Jennifer's speech/lecture about music resonated with the audience as she discussed the history of music and the people or ideas that inspired her lyrics. She mentioned WORTH, a song she wrote when she was just out of college, a heart-rending tune. A mistress is the subject of the song. time Jennifer wrote this song at a time when a subject like this was very unique and controversial. She remembers writing those lyrics while sitting on the couch in her apartment in Decatur. She explains how the mistress comes to terms with her situation. The themes of self worth, redemption, and power resonate in this song.
Jennifer said that writing lyrics that got picked up on radio was a challenge. Songs had to be no longer than 3 1/3 minutes, had to reel in the listener with a hook [like that line you adopt like a mantra in those those sing-song commercials: "A liitle dab'll do ya. She used the word vibration as a reference to that hook and talked about the difficulty of telling a story in a conversational tone, employing that hook to grab the listener, in just 3 1/2 minutes.
BABY GIRL deals with the theme of a person leaving home and family to seek the bright lights of fame. It is a sad song because she misses her family, but it ends on a good note [double entendre]. The line "down on your knees," a reference to her mother reminding her to pray, was interpreted in all sorts of ways, some negative. She mentions being a bit taken back by this clean-cut, Southern girl in her song who some listeners view as tainted by the drama of the big city and fame.
By the way, after her talk, she sang all of these songs, prefacing each with her inspiration and joy in writing these.
Jennifer the sang CLOWN, which she had not yet recorded. She said she tries to paint emotions in each of her songs. This one she wrote to cheer up a sad friend.
INCREDIBLE MACHINE delivers the idea that hope changes your day or your life and your energy and refers to the power of the spoken word. This song stirred some controversy with radio stations that tore the song apart, sometimes deleting parts of the lyrics. Jennifer was astounded. She compared that notion to removing a star from the famous painting "Starry Night." Fans spoke out; there were over 1 million downloads of INCREDIBLE MACHINE, and radio stations resumed playing the song in its entirety.
STUCK LIKE GLUE, which speaks to my heart, sounds like reggae. Like a rap song, "up in your hair," is one of my favorite lyric. The person in love is obsessed with her lover or perhaps her friend?? Open to interpretation.
Jennifer's delivery this night was formal; she used a newscaster's formal accent. Her elocution and enunciation were perfect. She did not sound like that twangy Southern girl from Douglasville, GA. I think she adapted her speech to the scholarly audience. She used an allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's coined phrase, the celebrated suspension of disbelief, which refers to the verisimilitude we feel when a work of art draws us in so powerfully that we become part and soul of it. I was beyond impressed. What a smart cookie! She wrote her thesis in Spanish, for heaven's sake. Wow! Think about that next time you hear one of her songs.
By the way, in her early career, three people were part of SUGARLAND. What happened to that other female singer??
And, I think next time I visit Alicia, we may stalk Jennifer at a Decatur coffee shop so I can get her autograph and tell her how much I love her music and how I admire her.
No comments:
Post a Comment