Dear Readers,
At the end of 2022, I was listening to a lot of Kimya Dawson, specifically the song “Happy Home (Keep on Writing)” from her “Alphabutt” album, which is hilarious and weird and aimed at children. But the lyrics to this one floored me. At the start, Dawson sings about when they were a child, they always scraped their knees playing the dog in Annie. They always had to play the dog because they were the smallest: “[…]but I never complained / Because I didn’t think that I could sing / See, I never perfected that nasally thing / The way all the kids sang in the school play / Now, I know it’s better if we don’t all sound the same.”
It’s so simple but so effective. A moment where the listener goes, “Oh, you’re right. I’m glad we all sound different” What’s particularly poignant to me is that Dawson doesn’t really sing. I mean, it’s way better than I can do, but they’re no Sinatra or Dion. But it works. Dawson sounds like Dawson, sincere and raw and, well, human.
As an aside, the late Barbara Walters did an interview with Elliot Page when Juno first came out and mentioned Dawson’s music specifically as being quirky and gimmicky and bad, and Page defended it calling it vulnerable and real. Dawson found this whole exchange hilarious and wasn’t hurt in the least. It seems Dawson has internalized their own credo: It’s better if we don’t all sound the same.
Here, too, we have a choir in harmony, which, of course, only works because the singers are singing different notes. Sure, I know I prefer free verse to formal, images to abstractions, but even so, Young does not sound like Duncan does not sound like Winston does not sound like French. Tall’s and Florens’ work does not look alike. Everyone looks and sounds like themselves.
I hope no one had the play the dog in the school play. But most of us probably had to at some point. Or, I don’t know, maybe I’m projecting.
The important thing is, writing, writing, keep on writing, just make sure your life’s exciting.
Keep on writing, though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
Best,
Nadia
