#1001. Lineage of Song: “Nothing Compares 2 U”

 

Prince

Sinead O’Connor

Here’s another I kind of can’t believe took so long to reach. By the time O’Connor did her version, not only did it define her popular career, but it really felt as if it was her song. But the spelling kind of is a dead giveaway that its origins are pure Prince. Prince’s career is peculiar in a lot of ways. He hit big in the ‘80s. But by the time he was fighting with his record label and changing his name to a symbol…He was a living legend people talked about as being hyper talented more than his output, or success, suggested. Then he was kind of the Super Bowl act that defined what those are apparently supposed to be, nostalgia shows where the performer(s) is a legend that can still perform at their peak. He became a throwback to all those careers Blues Brothers had to fight to include.

#1000. Lineage of Song: “Peggy Gordon”

Sinead O’Connor

 

Schooner Fare

From The Proposition

Here’s the big thousandth post! When I started this blog back in 2002, I certainly wasn’t thinking about what I’d be doing twenty-odd years later. The blog was an extension of what I was doing online, then, being a part of a message board community and trying to expand that experience. I’d already tried a couple different approaches, and by that record it would’ve looked to any observer that Scouring Monk was destined for the same fate. But it expanded! For a time I operated a whole network of blogs, and Monk was the central hub…No one was ever as interested in all of it the way I was, but it didn’t matter.

And anyway, “Peggy Gordon” is a great way to celebrate. It’s a song I first heard from Schooner Fare growing up, and then later in the film The Proposition in much different context, and that was a touchstone moment in realizing even beloved songs can have a life far beyond what I’d first known. But that’s life, right?

#999. Lineage of Song: “Captain Kidd”

 

Great Big Sea

I really did toss a bunch of GBS here in the countdown to the thousandth post, which is also the secret origin of my return to Scouring Monk, which I had all but abandoned, letting it lie fallow for a year, and then deciding to jumpstart it, and then realizing a regular gig could be had out of “Lineage of Song.” Not exactly the post-A to Z heyday, but that’s okay. 

Anyway, “Captain Kidd” is one of those sea shanties that makes its lineage pretty clear. Sue me for enjoying the ability to find pleasure in links to the past.

#998. Lineage of Song: “The River Driver”

 

Great Big Sea

One of my very favorite GBS songs.

#997. Lineage of Song: “John Barbour”

 

Great Big Sea

One of my very favorites from GBS, the best track, ironically, from the Something Beautiful album, the one marking the departure of Darrell Power from the band for having drifted too far away from its folk origins.

#996. Lineage of Song: “Scolding Wife”

Great Big Sea

Irish Roots

Here’s Newfoundland’s Great Big Sea again. They introduced me to a lot of traditional songs. Sometimes I think I’d like nothing more than to just sit back as the folds of history embrace me in their lyrics.

#995. Lineage of Song: “Rant and Roar”

 

Great Big Sea, “Rant and Roar”

“The Ryans and the Pittmans”

The next several entries lean heavily on Great Big Sea and their emphasis on traditional songs. One of the original members, Darrell Power, actually left because he thought they strayed too far from the classics.