great storytelling: "seventeen septembers"

[renee]

It's not often i have a whole Saturday morning to do nothing, but this last one I decided to take time to just sit and listen to songwriters. I'm working on some new songs and needed some inspiration. So, i dug out my Sweet Mistakes cd, and really listened.
I think we all listen to music for different reasons. It evokes different feelings by its beat or percussion or the cadence of the artist's voice. But, when I want to hear a really well told story, I dig out Ellis Paul. He has a gift...for spinning words like sugar. You can take ordinary sugar and heat it to a consistency that it spins and looks like gold. I feel like that's what he does with words. That might be an exaggeration, but I'm in a good mood...so you can keep it.
But now I have that song Seventeen Septembers stuck in my head. I like the imagery and the way the words play together. And how you start with one concept and by the end of the song its wrapped back to the beginning. That's talent. I'm not that talented, my songs fall on the page from a divine source. I've tried to sit and write a song before and it was horrible. But, I enjoy listening to people who are using their gifts.
Keep blessing us Ellis.

[Lauren]

Renee

Seventeen Septembers is one of my all-time faves, and it really does provoke such clear vivid images. The corn fields, the old blue jeans, popping the clutch... I can almost taste the dust on the air. Great post!

~Lauren