I listened to the Buffy the Musical cd over and over again yesterday and last night and this morning in bed, when I wasn't listening to it, my two favourite lines kept running through my head, "Will this do a thing to change her?/Am I leaving Dawn in danger?" and "The battle's done and we kind of won/So we sound our victory cheer," and as I look at them, I realize that there is nothing that special about the lyrics themselves, it's how Anthony Head phrased them.

They are actually perfect examples on the almost lost art of phrasing a song, that it's not about blasting the sound or making one note into twenty (yes, I'm looking at you, Christina Aguilera), it's about bringing the feeling through, making sense of the lyric, serving the melody, and...something undefinable. Putting something of yourself into it, making the song more than itself. Having a voice that you can control helps more than having a beautiful voice, though ASH certainly has a beautiful voice.

Am I over-thinking this? Probably. I like my phrasing, but it's never been as solid as I wish it were, it's something I work on. I'm doing another Randy Newman fan cd, you see, and I'm singing an incredibly hard song to phrase, "I Think It's Going to Rain Today", as well as the much easier "My Old Kentucky Home".

I was recently listening to the last cd, and I'm not ashamed of my work, but they are a little blander than I would have liked. Though I don't want to over-sing, which is worse, I think, than the blandness. This time I'm also recording in a professional studio with the help of a professional musician, and if I song not-quite-right, it will be only my own fault, I cannot blame the cheap mic or the fact that a couple of good takes were recorded on a bad tape and we had to start over.

It's all about the phrasing, baby. And staying on-key. That matters so much more than sounding beautiful.

Lucy's talking so much lately about her identity as an artist, as a musician, and it's funny how I tend not to think of myself as one, even though that is part of what I am.

I guess because I don't think that anything I do is hard--if it were difficult, I wouldn't be able to do it, therefor it is easy. Photography, acting, directing, writing, singing, all easy, but while I am a photographer, and actor, a director, a writer, basically, an artist, I tend not to think of myself as a singer or a musician, because that sounds so much harder than what I do.

My artistic identity is so hard-wired into me that I consider myself to be an artist before literally anything else, plus that term is handy to encompass all my different artistic endevours, but a musician is someone who plays the piano or the oboe or something, not someone who sings, and a singer is someone who makes records, not someone who sings in church and walking down the street.

But when it comes right down to it, I cannot stop singing--I sing every day, every hour, sing with the radio and in the shower and in bed, I sing on the street and sometimes in the bathroom at work when it's late and no-one's around. When I am sick and I lose my voice, it causes me actual pain not to be able to sing--that's when I realize how much I sing unconsciously, and how much I need to sing, it's like breathing.

As far as my voice goes, it's good, but nothing incredibly special. I mean, my musical comedy voice is reasonable, but I could never get into a Broadway show with it, there are way too many stunning singers out there, I'd only be able to do a musical if I were a star. Like, I sing way better than Sarah Jessica Parker, were I as famous as her, I'd be cast ahead of her, but otherwise, forget it.

I have a pretty damn good hymn-singing voice, though, choir music is absolutely my forte. My soprano is strong, usually the key is one that I'm comfortable with, and I sing very loudly, I am complemented by a stranger about every third time I'm in church.

My pop voice is reasonably good, I'm inventive without being pushy, and can manage a few different styles, which means that I don't force a song into the style I am most comfortable with, I can instead go with how the song sounds best.

All this, and I don't think of myself as a singer? All this and I think that a musician is something that is far above me? Now that I think about it, maybe not anymore.

Today's horoscope:
Investigative instincts are strong today. Play CLUE, read Sherlock Holmes, explore the attic, do research, archeology in the yard, etc.

One year ago today:
Who wants to bet that he cancels tonight's rehearsal, too?

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Last Updated Thurs 22 November 21:55:09 2001