Peggy Seeger - Everything Changes

  by Lisa Torem

published: 12 / 7 / 2014

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'Everything Changes' is Peggy Seeger’s 22nd album. On it, she has co -written some magnificent songs and she sounds like an absolute angel, although an angel, at times, who has been hounded in a back alley by a bunch of scoundrels. That’s the thing – her voice is pliable and really takes on the characters here of each song. When she sings about the decline of a beloved elderly parent, she’s soft and determined. But when she performs a ditty about a potentially scorned and wrathful female, she’s clever and biting. Seeger, now in her 80s, performed for years with her brothers, Mike and Pete and with Ewan MacColl. She embraces this part of her life but relished the opportunity to work with other collaborators. “It’s been a total pleasure to make from start to finish,” she exclaims in her biography. The album begins with ‘Swim to the Star’: “women and children float away/Nearer my God to thee,” she sings against churning piano and continues: “lost lovers, fathers and brothers/Some weeping, weeping…” “Grey houses, covered in roses in the rain” are what bring alive the gorgeous lullaby, ‘Go to Sleep.’ “The place you lived in when you were small,” she recalls in her lilting, clear, expressive manner. The instrumental breaks are sensitively woven between the moving verses. ‘Nero’s Children’ makes mention of mythology and the bible. “Nero’s children play with matches,” “Noah’s children can not swim.” Tune the fiddle, build the arc,” she continues. The story is rife with strong imagery and references to even stronger historical figures, whose vulnerabilities creep through the cracks in lyrics like: “Split the sky, trample flowers.” The most haunting is ‘We Watch You Slip Away’ where dementia overtakes a life. It recalls some of Judy Collins’ sensitive works about her own mother and makes us appreciate the wisdom of our elders. Seeger’s lovely voice closes in on every moment of the story, and the piano trails the images with delicacy. “I must remember who you were back then” is a truly effective statement and philosophy. ‘Flowers by the Roadside’ is another very well written composition, spilling over with colourful and heartfelt thoughts. ‘When Fairy Stories End’ injects some brilliant humour into the set. Everyone from the very American tooth fairy to an iconic holiday reindeer visit – it’s brimming with mirth and levity. “When she fled from the ball, the camera saw it all,” Seeger sings about Cinderella in a contemporary way. ‘Over The Mountain to You’ is old timey, plaintive and rural American to a tee. It’s the attitude-heavy ‘You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are’, which brings us to our knees with fabulous horns and a vintage style. Don’t mess with this lady, fellas! ’Miss Heroin’, by Rutthy Tabb, is absolutely gripping, fatalistic and poetic. “Don’t get no illusions, you’ll be my slave,” Seeger warns. “I’ve sent folks much stronger than you to their grave…” ‘Everything Must Change’ finds Seeger again in magnificent voice as she reminisces about the transformation of her original home, where her childhood trees have been cut down and the familiar has become sadly foreign. This is a wonderful album, which deserves an attentive listen. Seeger wrote ‘Nero’s Children’, ‘When Fairy Stories End’, ‘Over The Mountain to You’, ‘You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are’ and ‘Everything Changes’ by herself and the rest are co-writes with Calum MacColl and Neill MacColl, Kate St. John and Peter Berryman and Lou Berryman.

Track Listing:-

1 Swim To the Star
2 Go To Sleep
3 Nero's Children
4 We Watch You Slip Away
5 Flowers By the Roadside
6 When Fairy Stories End
7 Do You Believe In Me?
8 Over the Mountain to You
9 You Don't Know How Lucky You Are
10 Miss Heroin
11 Everything Changes

Band Links:-

https://twitter.com/peggyseeger
http://www.peggyseeger.com/
https://www.facebook.com/PeggySeegerMusic

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