On her fourth … Read Full Bio ↴Edie Carey is an American folk-pop singer-songwriter.
On her fourth studio album, Another Kind of Fire, Carey explored the myriad kinds of "fire" - romantic and otherwise - that keep us burning below the surface: old resentments, creativity, anger, lost friendships, lust, and, of course, love. The disc, released September 19th independently on Accidental Poet, maintained much of the organic, woody sound of its predecessor, When I Was Made (2004), touted by Harp Magazine as "a little country, a little adult-contemporary, and a lot of fine music." But on her latest effort, producer Crit Harmon (Martin Sexton, Lori McKenna, Mary Gauthier) introduces a somewhat moodier, darker sound, painting haunting, vast landscapes behind her intimate vocals.
Drawn from her own experiences and the stories of those around her, Carey's poetic lyrics are the focal point of her songs. Paste Magazine confirmed this in a 2004 review of Made:"Economic instrumentation forces all your attention toward the gentle storytelling, rich with humanity and insight...Carey draws us into her world, where we find we have a lot in common."
Several fires have raged within Carey over the past two years - both personally and professionally - creating fertile ground for songwriting. After three years south in her adopted hometown of Atlanta, Carey has returned to her native Boston - though she plans to spend little time at home.
The 2004 Telluride Bluegrass Troubadour Finalist will hit the road in earnest this fall, performing at clubs, coffeehouses and colleges across the country. Carey kicks off her CD release tour for Another Kind Of Fire on September 8th at The Living Room in New York City.
Touring internationally since 1999, Edie has shared stages with Norah Jones, Leo Kottke, Ani DiFranco, Jonatha Brooke, Catie Curtis, Lucy Kaplansky, and Sandra Bernhard. She was asked to perform at The Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City and on Ed McMahon's "Next Big Star" ("Star Search"), and has had her songs featured on The WB's "Charmed" and MTV's "Road Rules". She was recently a featured act on Public Radio International's "Mountain Stage," and When I Was Made was a finalist for Album of the Year in the 2003 Independent Music Awards.
More About Edie...
"Accidental Poet," one of Edie Carey's earliest songs, describes a particularly eloquent friend, but could just as easily refer to Carey herself and the circuitous and serendipitous route that led her to become one of the country's most notable young songwriters. Somehow, all of the seemingly unrelated turns - from her intention to become a doctor, to a tiny music room in the basement of a Morningside Heights' chapel, to a year in Italy - managed to steer her towards music.
Born in Burlington, Vermont and raised in the Boston suburbs by her English teacher father, therapist mother, and poet stepmother, Edie Carey couldn't help but learn to love words. But her ear for music only became apparent after she "took the stage" in the back seat of her babysitter's green Cadillac, belting out her own rendition of "Up Where We Belong." From age nine, after beginning voice lessons, she became involved in singing groups and musicals, which she continued all the way through high school. A child of the 80's, she dressed in lace and sequins and dreamed of appearing on Ed McMahon's "Star Search." However, as much as she loved performing, Carey was unaware that there was any middle ground between singing at weddings and being Madonna, and never considered music a real career possibility. So, she made plans to major in English/Creative Writing with Pre-Med classes at Barnard College in New York City. However, during her freshman year, two pivotal discoveries knocked those plans right off course - The Postcrypt Coffeehouse and the Italian language.
In the Postcrypt, an intimate music venue in the basement of St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University, the seeds of possibility were sewn as Carey watched Jeff Buckley, Ani Difranco, and Lisa Loeb among others perform unplugged to candlelit audiences. She saw how words could sometimes have even greater power when used in a song, and simultaneously came to appreciate the sonorous quality of words regardless of their meaning or the melody in which they were framed. This appreciation for their musicality grew deeper with the study of Italian, which eventually led her to spend a year abroad in Bologna, where she taught herself to play the guitar.
In Italy, Carey set herself up in a corner of the main piazza and played every Bonnie Raitt, Shawn Colvin, Sarah McLachlan, and Rickie Lee Jones song she knew, throwing in a few of her own tunes, which would later land on her debut album, The Falling Places . Her experience abroad gave her a newfound confidence and encouraged her to begin performing on campus, where she started to build a student following. She made her first album in 1997, while working long days at Worth Magazine and recording until 3 am each night. Though the process was a daunting one, by the time she was finished, Carey was sure she had "accidentally" ended up exactly where she was supposed to be.
After the release of The Falling Places in 1998, she began venturing outside of New York City to play neighboring east coast cities, and gradually expanded throughout the United States, then Canada and the UK. While the debut was a very sparsely produced acoustic contemporary folk album, Call Me Home, Carey's follow-up in 2000, was by comparison an all-out pop record, a tribute to her early inspirations and the reckless abandon of her childhood. With its release, the "accidents" continued, and Carey unexpectedly found herself achieving her childhood dream of appearing on television with Ed McMahon.
Since 2000, she has been working as a full-time performing songwriter, touring rigorously to promote all of her independently self-released records, which now include Come Close, her 2002 live CD, When I Was Made (2004), and the latest addition to her growing catalog, Another Kind of Fire. Looking back, she has to wonder if maybe this wasn't an accident after all.
Official Website
The Middle
Edie Carey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Years from depressed
Across the board content
A step below dramatic
Nowhere near repressed
Sometimes I just need to vent
I've got an understated chest
But with the right clothes
I manage to balance out
One part prudish
Three parts crass
Sometimes these words just slip out
But I like the view
From where I stand
From up here
I can see both sides
And the middle
Is a little like no man's land
But it's a pretty nice place
To hide
I can be funny when I talk
And too damn serious when I sing
I wish I could just lighten up
I'm go-with-the-flow
But obsess over every little thing
I wish my head would just shut up
I lose my heart
Without looking down
They could be
Sarah, Chloe, or Clyde
And I suspect the question's
Been going around
As to whether I'll ever decide
But there's more than
One single facet to my face
I've got infinite schizophrenic sides
The middle is a little like
Wide open space
Like the time in between the tides
You might as well brand
A big fat 'M' on my chest
'Cause I'll never be
A woman of extremes
I've never been the worst
And I'll never be the best
But that'll never stop
Me or my dreams
So go on, go ahead
Put me to the test
I wouldn't be
The first or last to lose
'Cause falling somewhere
In between the worst and the best
Leaves a hell of a lot of
Room to improve
ABut I like the view
From where I stand
From up here
I can see both sides
And the middle
Is a little like no man's land
But it's a pretty nice place
To hide
The song "The Middle" by Edie Carey is a heartfelt reflection on the complexities of personality, especially the struggle to balance different aspects of oneself. Carey opens the song by describing her emotional state as "miles from ecstatic" and "years from depressed," indicating that she has achieved a degree of stability in her life, but without the extremes of joy or despair. She goes on to describe herself as "across the board content" and "a step below dramatic," suggesting that she has found a comfortable middle ground between emotional excess and repression. However, the lines "sometimes I just need to vent" and "sometimes these words just slip out" show that even she struggles to fully contain her emotions.
Carey then moves on to describe herself physically, with an understated chest and an exaggerated ass, but manages to balance it out with the right clothes. The duality of her personality is further emphasized by her being "one part prudish, three parts crass." The use of opposites continues as she describes herself as "funny when I talk and too damn serious when I sing," and as having "infinite schizophrenic sides." Carey seems to be suggesting that she is a complicated person with many different facets, and that she is still figuring out how to reconcile them all. However, she sees the middle as a "pretty nice place to hide," indicating that it's okay not to have everything completely figured out.
Line by Line Meaning
Miles from ecstatic
I am not extremely happy.
Years from depressed
I am not extremely sad.
Across the board content
I am happy in a general sense.
A step below dramatic
I am not quite dramatic, but close to being one.
Nowhere near repressed
I am not withholding any emotions.
Sometimes I just need to vent
Sometimes I need to express myself.
I've got an understated chest
I am not showy.
And an exaggerated ass
I have a tendency to exaggerate things.
But with the right clothes
I am able to balance myself out.
I manage to balance out
I can maintain a balance in looking modest and crass.
One part prudish
I am a bit conservative.
Three parts crass
I am also a bit vulgar.
Sometimes these words just slip out
Sometimes I involuntarily use vulgar words.
But I like the view
I appreciate the perspective from where I stand.
From where I stand
From my current position.
From up here
From a higher vantage point.
I can see both sides
I can understand two opposing views.
And the middle
The middle ground.
Is a little like no man's land
It is a place that is undefined or unclear.
But it's a pretty nice place to hide
It is comfortable to stay in the middle.
I can be funny when I talk
I have a good sense of humor when speaking.
And too damn serious when I sing
I take singing seriously.
I wish I could just lighten up
I hope to become more carefree.
I'm go-with-the-flow
I am flexible.
But obsess over every little thing
I worry excessively over small matters.
I wish my head would just shut up
I wish I could stop overthinking things.
I lose my heart
I fall in love easily.
Without looking down
Without considering the consequences.
They could be Sarah, Chloe, or Clyde
They could be anyone.
And I suspect the question's
I am aware that people wonder if
Been going around
People have been asking.
As to whether I'll ever decide
If I will ever choose someone.
But there's more than
I'm not just defined by one characteristic.
One single facet to my face
I have many different sides to me.
I've got infinite schizophrenic sides
I have countless different personalities.
The middle is a little like
Being in the middle is similar to
Wide open space
An undefined space.
Like the time in between the tides
It is like the time between high tide and low tide.
You might as well brand
It's almost like
A big fat 'M' on my chest
I am marked for mediocrity.
'Cause I'll never be
Because I will never become
A woman of extremes
Someone who is either all good or all bad.
I've never been the worst
I've never been the worst version of myself.
And I'll never be the best
I'll never be the best version of myself.
But that'll never stop
That won't hinder me from
Me or my dreams
Pursuing what I want.
So go on, go ahead
Feel free to
Put me to the test
Challenge me.
I wouldn't be
It wouldn't be the first time that
The first or last to lose
I've experienced failure before and I will again.
'Cause falling somewhere
Since I am in the middle,
In between the worst and the best
Having characteristics of both the worst and the best.
Leaves a hell of a lot of
Provides a substantial amount of
Room to improve
Opportunities for self-improvement.
Contributed by Savannah J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.