I bought Short Sharp Shocked on CD. Hadn't heard it in, what, a decade. Not sure why - except I vaguely remember it being deleted when I tried to buy it in 2000/01. Anyway, a shiny new edition, a boxed set with demos and whatnot. Which I'd mostly heard, although I never owned it on vinyl or anything, but because Jane taped it all for me, back in the early '90s.
Why Michelle Shocked isn't hugely famous I don't know (well, actually, I suspect I do know, it'll be an 'attitude problem' and record company 'issues') because she has a lovely voice. And she's a great songwriter. Funny and wise, who could ask for more. I guess it's nostalgia but the emotional impact was quite painful. And all the words, there they are, waiting for the tune, and when you hear the tune, the words tumble out, although if you'd asked me to come up with lyrics to Anchorage the day before I expect I'd have been relatively stumped. The brain is a funny thing...
Like REM, she helped form my imagined America. Memories of East Texas and VFD in particular, and The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore. I know that's a 'Trad. Arr.', 'cos Johnny Cash sings it too, (it's by Jean Ritchie, famous in the Appalacian bluegrass scene, so there) and I guess that's why it can bring a lump to my throat, such is the joy of country music.
I talked to Mark about her and he played it when we were in Wales, and sang along. You can always sing along at the Mansons. It made me very happy that it should have been important to him too, although we'd never discussed it before, too busy talking about Nick Cave and The Fall and Copey.