RE: How did you find Jane?

I especially love the 'touched by the hand of Jane Siberry'...puts me in
mind of Boy George's musical 'Taboo', where there's a featured song
called 'Touched by the Hand of Cool', a tribute to Leigh Bowery-ish
number.  Love it, Love Jane, Love this list.
Ben T

>>> Shawn Syms <[email protected]> 11/16/05 11:53 AM >>>
This discussion thread led me to write a bit about Jane in my online
journal
(http://2fruition.livejournal.com).

Much of what I had to say about Jane's work is old news to the people
on
this list, but I thought I'd reproduce it here anyway...



"Take a lesson from the strangeness you feel... and know you'll never
be the
same" 


I was first touched by the hand of Jane Siberry at the age of fourteen.
The
lyrics to her initial Canadian pop hit "Mimi on the Beach" were the
first
time I heard the word "queer" and didn't feel like it had poked me like
a
sharp pointed stick. I devoured the rest of the album that spawned it,
the
aptly named No Borders Here. 

As a lonely gay teen growing up in an unsupportive small town back in
the
1980s, her artistic nourishment reinforced in me the importance of
seeing
the world through your own eyes-and the intrinsic value of being
different,
of being yourself. 

Jane's music struck me first for its unpredictable intellect: her
songs
seemed to speak of geometry, of cartography, maybe even of Vikings-all
things I wasn't used to hearing on the radio. She employed quirky,
lumbering
time signatures I'd never heard used before. Behind icy synthesized
squalls,
she talked of being abandoned in the frozen dirt. She sang of being
two-hundred years old. 

Twenty-one years later, Jane's work speaks to my older self on a deep
emotional level. Her annual winter concerts bring me to tears and
rejuvenate
me for the year to come. When I was younger her work validated my
experience
of non-conformity. Now, it's a touchstone reminder of how much I have
in
common with everyone else.

Songs like "Love is Everything," "Red High Heels," and "The Life is the
Red
Wagon" are touching reminders of the fragile beauty of shared human
experience. If that sounds like a clichi, it's only because my writing
capabilities pale next to Jane's, and because her oeuvre defies easy
description. Listen to it to find out what I mean.

If you're interested in exploring Jane's work, visit her website,
where
she's currently offering free/pay-what-you-wish downloads of much of
her
twenty-five-year artistic catalog. And if you like what you hear,
please
consider purchasing one of her albums online, and thus supporting an
independent Canadian artist with a poignant and distinctive vision.

I know there are other Jane aficionados who may have favourite songs
to
recommend. I suggest starting with "Hockey"-I consider it an vital
component
of Canadian culture. Her song, that is-even more so than the sport. 



Shawn Syms
http://2fruition.livejournal.com