Mr. Dickson, you surely missed the point of "Mother Of Pearl." Perhaps Ms. McKay's tongue was planted so firmly in cheek that you could not see it. Rather than skewer feminists, the song skewers the stereotypical attacks against them.

I'd also add that "Zombie" is about more than the "purely mediocre, just going through the motions." It also alludes to people following others, not thinking for themselves.

Otherwise, I completely agree with your praise for McKay's CD. Her artistic sophistication continues to grow. Her humor is at turns obscure, ironic and infectious. Bringing along so many veteran jazz musicians is also a treat to my ears.

Bill,

Re: Mother of Pearl -- Perhaps. Maybe I felt her arguments resonated so well that I wished she were being serious. I'll take it!

Re: Zombie -- You say tomato, I say tomato.

Your thoughts as to why she's not touring more? I've seen her live and when she's singing, it's all eyes on her. I know a lot of things go into it, but the talent and marketability is there.

I don't really disagree with you on "Zombie," I just think she goes a little further with the metaphor. FWIW, most of the feminists I know (including myself) have wicked senses of humor - though child molestation is not exactly a winning subject of jokes. : ) She's a vegetarian -mentioned also for "ridicule" in the song. If nothing else, MoP may be a zippy & sarcastic plea for the more strident feminists to lighten up.

Good question on the minimal touring. I've only seen her twice, right after "Get Away From Me" and about 3 months ago. Well, 3 times if you count seeing her in Threepenny Opera. I agree that she captivates the room. The show in Philadelphia recently was nicely attended, though not sold out.

Her stage presence is a little nervous and scattered. I don't know if that's stage fright or part of her act. It could be both. It works for me. It makes her seem very real and sweet, even as she gets ready to sing the next very self-assured & opinionated song.

Her CDs frequently make "Top 10" lists for the years they are released, she does a lot of interviews (at least on NPR) and you're absolutely correct on the talent/marketability. Were she still attached to a major label, they'd likely insist that she tour more extensively. This is a young woman who calls her own shots. I'm sure she lost big money in her split from Columbia, but she regained artistic control. Call her a feminist, an artiste, a schizophrenic voodoo musician, whatever. I can only conclude that she choses not to tour. But I'd love to see her many more times.

It's interesting to get a conservative's take on Nellie McKay's music. She is obviously very talented and delivers her music in a disarmingly charismatic way, but that just masks the insidiousness of her lyrics. I'm not sure that James would be as enamored with Nellie if he really listened to what some of the songs are about, and particularly paid attention to what she has to say on Zombie. Now, if Mother of Pearl can give a chuckle to both feminists and anti-feminists then maybe Nellie does indeed have potential for wide appeal. But I kind of liken it to the early years of All in the Family, when it was the number one show on television. Most of the audience laughed at Archie Bunker's bigotry, but there was a significant audience share that was laughing with him. Once they figured out that the joke was on them they tuned out. I suspect that this is what will happen to James with future releases by Nellie McKay.

You guys have talked about WHAT McKay is suppposedly doing.

I haven't heard a WHY.

Any takers?

I don't think there's any "Why" about it other than Nellie being Nellie. If you know anything about her story (particularly her breakup with a big record label before her career could get off the ground) you'll see that she is a fiercely independent artist, commercialism be damned. (She has worked on a couple of mainstream movies (Rumor Has It and P.S. I Love You) and a few other commercial ventures, probably to pay the bills and allow her to produce music independently in the same way that John Cassavetes carved out a film career.)

I think Nellie sees herself as an activist first and foremost. While she has at times shown herself perfectly capable of writing and performing music that is moving and personal, that doesn't seem to be what she sees as her calling. At the same time, she has a love of the old romantic standards and those who wrote and performed them, and draws inspiration from them. Put all that together and you get "schizophrenic voodoo". That's the best I can explain it.

Wow. We have some true music fans on this site.

So maybe you guys can help me out?

Give me three names of artists that the average person hasn't heard of, but would LOVE if they had?

I'm trying to broaden my horizons.

Thanks so much.

just three? hmmm...ok, how about four:

Dar Williams

Greg Brown

Pink Martini

Regina Spektor

I thought Bill O'Reilly would be the only person on the face of the planet not to "get" Mother of Pearl.
Seriously, dude- how could you not understand that this song was scathing satire? So by your logic, apparently Nellie McKay thinks child molestation IS funny? Or there's really nothing wrong with rape or rampant prostitution? I guess this must be the fantasy world that you inhabit...one where all of these things are socially acceptable. Have you considered the priesthood? I hear the Catholic church is looking for a few good men. Sorry...did I violate your comment policy (boo-hoo). Add your comment, speak your mind!