Song For Judee

Album: case/lang/veirs (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This melancholic number eulogizes folk icon Judee Sill (October 7, 1944 – November 23, 1979). The songstress was perhaps the most tragic victim of the late 1960s Laurel Canyon scene, plummeting from huge promise to ignominious death within just a few years. The first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, Sill released two albums before falling out with Geffen. She then quit the music business and lapsed into drug addiction, eventually being found dead in 1979.
  • Kd lang admitted to Uncut: "I hated that song! I literally sat here on this couch, and went, 'Who cares? That song is stupid!' But you know what, I have to say it's now one of my favorite songs on the record. When I heard Laura track it all of a sudden I heard the song, I'm embarrassed to say I didn't hear the song before that."
  • Neko Case, on the other hand, liked the song from day one. She told CBC Music: "The chorus is maybe one of the more fun songs to sing a harmony to. That easy, immediate, open harmony that it just feels so good to lock in with. And the song is upbeat enough, yet it's really super sad, and that combination is something that Roger Miller does and Ray Davies from the Kinks does. Where something is really sad and when you put it in a major key and there's little details, that is the straw that broke the camel's back. Where it seems like this light, beautiful thing but then there's this little thing that just gets in and pokes into you and it breaks your heart. It's extra moving for that reason."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

The End Of The Rock Era

The End Of The Rock EraSong Writing

There are no more rock stars - the last one died in 1994.

Movie Stars In Music Videos

Movie Stars In Music VideosSong Writing

Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis and John Malkovich are just a few of the film stars who have moonlighted in music videos.

Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets

Curt Kirkwood of Meat PuppetsSongwriter Interviews

The (Meat)puppetmaster takes us through songs like "Lake Of Fire" and "Backwater," and talks about performing with Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged.

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."