Christine Fellows (born 1968) is a Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter from… Read Full Bio ↴Christine Fellows (born 1968) is a Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Born in Windsor, Ontario and raised in France and Kelowna, British Columbia, Fellows lived in Toronto, Vancouver, Guelph and Montreal before settling in Winnipeg in 1992.

In 1993, she formed her first group, Helen, with Barry Mirochnick, Paul James, and Chang. Helen broke up in 1995, and in 1996 Fellows teamed up with singer-songwriter Keri McTighe, Barry Mirochnick, Keith McLeod and Peggy Messing, to form Special Fancy. The group released one album, King Me.

In 2000 Fellows released her debut solo album, 2 Little Birds. This was followed by The Last One Standing in 2002, Paper Anniversary in 2005, and Nevertheless in 2007. These albums feature Leanne Zacharias (cello), Jason Tait (drums, vibraphone), Barry Mirochnick (drums, vocals), John K. Samson (vocals, guitar), Keith McLeod (mandolin), Monica Guenter (viola), Greg Smith (bass), Ed Reifel (percussion), and Cristina Zacharias (violin).

Fellows has performed with the Rheostatics, Veda Hille, The Mountain Goats, Kim Barlow, Old Man Luedecke, and The Weakerthans. She is married to The Weakerthans' lead singer, John K. Samson.

In 2006, Fellows and Samson recorded The Old House, an album intended only as a Christmas gift for friends and family, although they released two songs, "Taps Reversed" and "Good Salvage", for airplay on CBC Radio 3 in early 2007. Fellows and Samson also performed live on the network on March 17, 2007, to mark the final night of the network's terrestrial simulcast on CBC Radio 2.

Fellows also composes music for dance, film and television. She scored part of Clive Holden's Trains of Winnipeg film series, as well as collaborating with Tait and Samson on the associated album. In 2007, she wrote several songs for a dance piece by choreographer Susie Burpee; they were later included on her fourth solo album, Nevertheless, which was released on November 6, 2007.
Fellows has also toured as a member of The Pan-Canadian New Folk Ensemble with Kim Barlow and Old Man Luedecke.

Recently, she was artist-in-residence at Le Musee de Saint-Boniface Museum in Winnipeg (2009), and she has been writing songs for a new solo album, scheduled for release on Six Shooter Records in fall of 2010.

Saturday Night on Utopia Parkway
Christine Fellows Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Night. There's a lantern in your window.
If we could come in closer we would see you in your housecoat.
What a sight.
Grains of sawdust mist the air,
Like your kitchen is a movie set and you're the heroine in there.

In your place
A renaissance collage

Next to the plastic lobsters
A reverent homage.
Then you might
Write another bashful letter
To a Russian ballerina
All the way in New York City

It's Saturday Night
On Utopia Parkway
I pray that you might
Think of something you'll love to love

Tonight
My dear Mary Baker Eddy
I pray for Brother Robert
And those boots of lead again.

Despite all I know I can't contain
I'll gather all the parts I need and hope that we remain.

Whitewash over me until
Pure Varathane runs through my veins
And I'll at last be still.

Right when the arrow leaves the bow,
It erases all uncertainty and love I'll never know.

It's Saturday Night
on Utopia Parkway

I pray that I might
Make you something you'll love to love

Overall Meaning

The opening lyrics of Christine Fellows's song Saturday Night on Utopia Parkway, “Night. There’s a lantern in your window. If we could come in closer we would see you in your housecoat. What a sight,” create an immediate and vivid image of a woman at home on a Saturday night, likely alone. The line “grains of sawdust mist the air” further adds to the ambiance of the scene, as it suggests that the woman has been busy with a project, perhaps woodworking. The line “like your kitchen is a movie set and you’re the heroine in there” enhances the sense that the woman is the singer of her own story, and that there is something both momentous and comforting in the mundane activity of working on a DIY project at home.

The following section of the song adds even more depth to the character of the woman in question. The lines “a renaissance collage / next to the plastic lobsters / a reverent homage” reveal that she is a person who is interested in art and culture, but not necessarily pretentious or overly serious about it. The lyrics “then you might / write another bashful letter / to a Russian ballerina / all the way in New York City” add yet another layer, depicting the woman as both lonely and romantic, but also slightly ridiculous or out of touch. The final stanza, which seems to be addressed to Mary Baker Eddy and Brother Robert, is more difficult to interpret. The lines “whitewash over me until / pure Varathane runs through my veins / and I'll at last be still” suggest that the singer is seeking some kind of catharsis or liberation through art or craftwork (“whitewash” and “Varathane” are both types of wood stains), but the references to Mary Baker Eddy (the founder of the Christian Science movement) and Brother Robert (who is not further identified) are more cryptic.

Line by Line Meaning

Night. There's a lantern in your window.
It's night time now and I see a lantern glowing in your window

If we could come in closer we would see you in your housecoat.
If we could come closer, we could have a better view of you in your comfortable and cozy housecoat

What a sight.
It's such a wonderful and delightful sight to see you in your housecoat by the lantern light

Grains of sawdust mist the air,
The sawdust in the air gives an impression that your house is like a film set where you are the main character

Like your kitchen is a movie set and you're the heroine in there.
Your kitchen with the sawdust and other props feels like it is from a movie set and you are like the main actress there

In your place
At your home

A renaissance collage
There is a collection of different things at your place that creates an artistic and historic collage

Next to the plastic lobsters
There are even fake lobsters near the collage

A reverent homage.
It seems like an honor and tribute to something or someone important

Then you might
At that time, maybe you would like to

Write another bashful letter
Write a shy letter

To a Russian ballerina
To a talented Russian dancer

All the way in New York City
Even though she is far away in New York City

It's Saturday Night
It's the night of Saturday

On Utopia Parkway
On a certain street called Utopia Parkway

I pray that you might
I hope that you would

Think of something you'll love to love
Find something that can give you happiness and contentment