LA MAGIE DE JUDEE SILL

7 Mars 2009

THE KISS ( JUDEE SILL)
Love, risin' from the mists
Promise me this and only this
Holy breath touchin' me
Like a wind song
Sweet communion of a kiss

Sun, siftin' thru the grey
Enter in, reach me with a ray
Silently swoopin' down
Just to show me
How to give my heart away

And once a crystal choir
Appeared while I was sleepin' and called my name
And when they came down nearer
Sayin', "Dyin' is done",
Then a new song was sung
Until somewhere we breathed as one

Stars, burstin' in the sky
Hear the sad nova's dyin' cry
Shimmerin' memory
Come and hold me
While you show me how to fly

Sun, siftin' thru the grey
Enter in, reach me with a ray
Silently swoopin' down
Just to show me
How to give my heart away

And lately sparklin' hosts
Come fill my dreams descendin' on firey beams
I've seen 'em come clear down
Where our poor bodies lay
Soothe us gently and say,
"Gonna wipe all your tears away"

Love risin' from the mists
Promise me this and only this
Holy breath touchin' me
Like a wind song
Sweet communion of a kiss

Judee Sill (7 octobre 1944 – 23 novembre 1979) est une chanteuse et auteur américaine.

Après une enfance et une adolescence difficile, durant laquelle elle s'essaye à l'héroïne, et un séjour en prison, elle se lance dans l'écriture de chansons. Elle rencontre Graham Nash et David Crosby, ainsi que David Geffen, qui lui offre un contrat sur son tout jeune label, Asylum Records. Son premier single, Jesus Was a Cross Maker, sort le 1^er octobre 1971, bientôt suivi de son premier album, Judee Sill, qui mêle des influences country, folk et classiques avec une production luxuriante ; sa voix est souvent doublée pour donner une impression de chorale à quatre voix.
La critique apprécie, mais cela ne se répercute pas sur ses ventes, malgré sa présence en première partie des concerts de Crosby et Nash.

Sill retourne en studio fin 1972 et sort Heart Food, aux arrangements encore plus élaborés, début 1973. Il se vend également très mal, et Sill, insatisfaite de jouer seulement en première partie, mais incapable d'attirer un public suffisant, tombe peu à peu dans l'oubli.
Les dernières années de sa vie sont mal connues et sujettes à de nombreuses rumeurs, mais il est certain qu'elle est retombée dans la drogue pour calmer les douleurs dues à plusieurs accidents de voiture. Graham Nash a déclaré qu'on lui avait rapporté que Sill était morte d'une overdose dès 1974, signe de sa disparition complète des mémoires. Elle meurt finalement d'une overdose de cocaïne en novembre 1979.

Son œuvre a été redécouverte après sa mort, notamment par Jim O'Rourke, qui a mixé les démos inédites prévues pour un troisième album finalement parues en 2005 sur l'album Dreams Come True.

L'année suivante, ses deux albums ont été réédités par Rhino avec des titres bonus. Plusieurs artistes ont également repris ses chansons, parmi lesquels les Hollies (dès 1973), Fleet Foxes ou Warren Zevon.
(WIKIPEDIA)

THE LAMB ALWAYS RUN WITH THE CROWN(Judee Sill)
Once I heard a serpent remark,
"If you try to evoke the spark,
You can fly through the dark,
With a red midnight raven,
To rule the battleground,"
So I drew my sword and got ready,
But the Iamb ran away with the crown.
So I drew my sword and got ready,
But the lamb ran away with the crown.
Tho' the beast within me's a liar,
He made me glow with a strange desire,
And I rode on the fire, with a blue sacred opal
To bless the battleground,
But I turned to see its reflection,
And the lamb ran away with the crown.
But I turned to see its reflection,
And the lamb ran away with the crown.
Once a demon lived in my brow,
I screamed and wailed and I cursed out loud,
And I sailed through the clouds on ten crested
cardinals
To guard my battleground,
But I laughed so hard I cried,
And the lamb ran away with the crown.
But I laughed so hard I cried,
And the lamb ran away with the crown.

LADY-O (JUDEE SILL)

While you sit and seek a crescent moon
Is layin' at your feet,
With hope that's made of sand,
You don't think you can
But you have held it all in your hand
Lady-O.
I've been tryin' hard to keep from needin' you
But from the start,
My heart just rolled and flowed
I've seen where it goes
And still somehow my love for you grows,
Lady-O.
So on my heels I'll grow wings,
Gunna ride silver strings
But I'll see you in my holiest dreams,
Lady-O.
I've been tryin' hard to keep from needin' you
But from the start,
My heart just rolled and flowed
I've seen where it goes
And still somehow my love for you grows,
Lady-O.
So on my heels I'll grow wings,
Gunna ride silver strings
But I'll see you in my holiest dreams,
Lady-O.

CRAYON ANGEL (JUDEE SILL)

Crayon Angel songs are slightly out of tune
But I'm sure I'm not to blame.
Nothin's happened but I think it will soon,
So I sit here waitin' for God and a train,
To the Astral plane.

Magic rings I made have turned my finger green.
And my mystic roses died.
Guess reality is not as it seems,
So I sit here hopin' for truth and a ride,
To the other side.

Phony prophets stole the only light I knew,
And the darkness softly screamed.
Holy visions disappeared from my view,
But the angels come back and laugh in my dreams,
I wonder what it means.

JESUS WAS A CROSSMALER ( JUDEE SILL)
Sweet silver angels over the sea
Please come down flying low for me

One time I trusted a stranger
'cause I heard his sweet song
And it was gently enticing me
Though there was something wrong
When I turned he was gone

Blinding me his song remains reminding me
He's a bandit and a heartbreaker
Oh but Jesus was a crossmaker

chorus

He wages war with the devil
A pistol by his side
And though he chases him out my window and
Won't give him a place to hide
He keeps his door open wide
Fighting him
He lights a lamp inviting him
He's a bandit and a heartbreaker
Oh but Jesus was a crossmaker

chorus

I hear the thunder come rumbling
The light never looked so dim
I see the junction get nearer
And danger's in the wind
And either road's looking grim

Hiding me I flee desire's dividing me
He's a bandit and a heartbreaker
Oh but Jesus was a crossmaker
Yeah but Jesus was a crossmaker

THE PHOENIX ( JUDEE SILL)

The sun was red, and the fires were roarin'
Stars aligned and the webs were spun
I coulda sworn I heard my spirit soarin'
Guess I'm always chasin' the sun
Hopin' we will soon be one
Until it turns around to me, then I try to run...

On phosphorous wings the phoenix floated
The fires froze and the sea was hushed
And when I tried to speak, the sun imploded
And the war will wage in my guts
Till the Devil bites the dust,
I never say him losin' a race, but I think he must...

The great storm raged and the power kept growin'
Dragons rose from the land below
And even now I wonder where I'm goin'
Ever since a long time ago
I've tried to let my feelings show
I'd like to think I'm bein' sincere, but I'll never
know...