Songs From The Road
Released 11/11/2014 on Ruf Records
… Read Full Bio ↴Dana Fuchs
Songs From The Road
Released 11/11/2014 on Ruf Records
The road has led Dana Fuchs everywhere. But when it came to choosing a
location for Songs From The Road, it had to be New York. The singer and the
city have history. Almost two decades have passed since Dana left her home
in rural Florida and beat a path to the Big Apple. Stepping onto the mean
streets of the Lower East Side aged 19, she was an unknown singer with a
voice and a dream, ready to slug it out on the city’s bearpit jam-circuit.
Since then, New York has been the backdrop to Dana’s meteoric rise.
There were the early buzz-sets in the city’s late-night sweatboxes. The off-
Broadway musical Love, Janis, which saw the multi-talented performer play
the iconic Janis Joplin. Followed by the endless shows and sessions all across
town. No wonder, then, that for Songs From The Road, the Highline Ballroom
on West 16th Street was the perfect fit – and the singer was received like a
local hero.
Released in 2014 on Ruf Records, Songs From The Road is the latest in
the German label’s famous series of live albums, with Dana following in the
hallowed footsteps of legends including Luther Allison, Jeff Healey and the
Royal Southern Brotherhood. As ever, the Songs From The Road concept isn’t
about overdubs, Auto-Tune or opulent production, but the honest bottling of
the two-way energy that only occurs when great artists go nose-to-nose with
their fans. It’s hard to imagine a performer who deserves the treatment more
than Dana: a vocalist who means every note, every night.
A live show by the Dana Fuchs Band is an assault on all the senses. As
such, comprised in Songs From The Road’s two-disc pack, you’ll find an audio
CD capturing the soul power of that classic set on March 14th, 2014, plus a
DVD, directed by Kevin Mackall. Prowling the stage, pouring her heart into
the microphone and owning every song on the setlist, you won’t question the
wisdom of the UK’s Classic Rock Magazine, who famously declared Dana’s
once-in-a-generation voice as “juke-joint dirty and illicit, evoking Janis Joplin,
Mick Jagger and a cigarette butt bobbing in a glass of bourbon…”
You won’t take your eyes/ears off her, but Songs From The Road is far
from a one-woman show. At the Highline Ballroom, Dana’s performance was
taken to even greater heights by her stellar cast of players. On guitar and
backing vocals, give a big hand to long-time wingman and co-songwriter, Jon
Diamond: the former session ace who gave the singer an engine-room shortly
after her arrival in New York. Matt Beck (guitars), Jack Daley (bass), Pete
Levin (keys) and Joe Daley (drums) provide the thrilling musical canvass,
while the so-called Screaming Sirens (aka. Elaine Caswell, Nicki Richards and
Bette Sussman) dovetail with Dana’s lead vocal to create a wall of sound that
rattles your speakers.
Yet it’s the songs that are the true stars on the night. By this point, three
studio albums into their writing partnership, Dana and Jon have amassed a
solid-gold back catalogue, and Songs From The Road mines some of their very
best nuggets. Long-term fans will be delighted to get reacquainted with Tell
Me I’m Not Drinking and Sad Salvation: formative songs that date back to the
Dana Fuchs’ Band’s 2003 debut album, Lonely For A Lifetime. Film nuts who
caught Dana’s feted turn as Sadie in Julie Taymor’s highly acclaimed Beatles
movie, Across The Universe, will adore the closing cover of Don’t Let Me Down.
Those who came onboard with 2011’s Love To Beg, meanwhile, will be
thrilled to find cuts from that album including Set It On Fire, Summersong and
a cover of Otis Redding’s I’ve Been Loving You Too Long. And of course, the
Highline setlist had to have a healthy smattering from 2013’s Bliss Avenue: the
career-best third album that Dana once noted “really purged my soul in a
starker, more naked way, both lyrically and musically”. You won’t dispute
that after hearing the band’s powerhouse live readings of those classic songs,
which include Livin’ On Sunday, Handful Too Many, So Hard To Move and
Vagabond Wind.
Since the noisy birth of rock ‘n’ roll, New York has hosted hundreds of
were-you-there concerts by a roll-call of favourite sons, from The Ramones at
CBGBs to The Velvet Underground at The Factory. Now, with Songs From The
Road, Dana Fuchs has chalked up another entry in the NYC annals and staked
her claim as the city’s most exciting adopted daughter. So start spreading the
news. You’ll want to be a part of it…
-Henry Yates
Classic Rock Magazine
External Links:
http://www.last.fm/music/Dana+Fuchs+Band
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Dana+Fuchs+Band
https://www.facebook.com/danafuchsverified
https://www.youtube.com/user/allmack
https://twitter.com/DanaFuchsTweet
Officlal Website:
http://www.danafuchs.com/
Bad Seed
Dana Fuchs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wanna grow up to be young and dead
Run with the worst-I wanna finish last
Don't want a future rather drown in the past
Wanna be blind, stupid, lazy, and bored
Tortured and crazy, outcast and ignored
Truly hated - I wanna be a bad seed
So what if I had all those little girl dreams
Now I know that's just some junk on a screen
I got my own plan and if all goes well
I'm guaranteed a lifetime of living hell
Chorus
Well I've had this hole in my heart
For some time
All of my life I've had something to hide
Thanks for nothing, I guess you meant well
But I better be going I got a body to sell
Won't you come around if your ghost surrenders
Take one look at me and I'm sure you'll remember
Chorus
The lyrics of Dana Fuchs's song "Bad Seed" describe a desire for a life far from the expectations that society imposes. The song's protagonist wants to be reckless, free, and careless, and she does not want to conform to the traditional path of growing up, getting a job, and starting a family. Instead, she strives to be a "bad seed" and live in the moment, not caring about the consequences. The lyrics suggest a sense of rebellion against society and the norms she has been taught to follow.
Throughout the song, Fuchs delivers a haunting vocal performance accompanied by a blues rock-style of instrumentation. The chorus, "I wanna be a bad seed", is repeated several times, emphasizing the singer's desire for a life of trouble and rebellion. The lyrics suggest that the singer has been hiding something throughout her life, and she's ready to confront it and live life on her own terms. Overall, the song is powerful and dark, leaving listeners to ponder the meaning behind its lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Yeah you heard it right, that's what I said
I am aware of what I just said and I stand by it
I wanna grow up to be young and dead
I have no interest in living a long life and would rather die young
Run with the worst-I wanna finish last
I want to run with the most troubled crowd and don't have any concern for winning or succeeding
Don't want a future rather drown in the past
I have no interest in making plans for the future and would rather dwell on past events
Wanna be blind, stupid, lazy, and bored
I want to be unmotivated, uneducated, and inactive, with no desire for accomplishment or intellectual growth
Tortured and crazy, outcast and ignored
I want to experience emotional distress and be ostracized from society
Truly hated - I wanna be a bad seed
I want to be disliked by most people and considered a misfit in society
So what if I had all those little girl dreams
I used to have fantasies about a better life, but now I see them as irrelevant and unrealistic
Now I know that's just some junk on a screen
I now realize that the media's portrayal of a perfect life is a fabrication
I got my own plan and if all goes well
I have my own agenda and if things pan out, I am guaranteed a lifetime of misery
I'm guaranteed a lifetime of living hell
I am so convinced of my impending misfortune that I regard it as an assurance.
Well I've had this hole in my heart
For some time, I have struggled with an emotional void
All of my life I've had something to hide
Throughout my life, I've concealed something about myself from others
Thanks for nothing, I guess you meant well
I appreciate your attempts to help, but ultimately they are ineffectual
But I better be going I got a body to sell
I need to leave since I have another source of income to attend to
Won't you come around if your ghost surrenders
If you decide to change dramatically, I suggest we meet again
Take one look at me and I'm sure you'll remember
I am confident that you will not forget me because of my unconventional demeanor
Contributed by Allison G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.