Eva Cassidy was the third of four children born to Hugh and Barbara Cassidy. From an early age, she displayed artistic and musical talent. When she was nine years old, her father taught her to play the guitar, and she began to play and sing at family gatherings.
While a student at Bowie High School, she did sing with a local band, called Stonehenge, and received considerable praise.
At the age of eighteen, Cassidy began her professional career, singing and playing guitar in a Washington, D.C., area band, called Easy Street. This band performed in a variety of styles, at weddings, corporate parties, and pubs.
During the summer of 1983, Cassidy sang and played guitar, six days per week, at Wild World, in Maryland. Her brother Dan was also a member of this working band.
Throughout the 1980s, Cassidy worked with a number of other bands, including the soul and Motown-oriented band The Honeybees, and the techno-pop band Characters Without Names, later called Method Actor.
During this period, Cassidy also worked as a propagator at a plant nursery and as a furniture painter in Annapolis, Maryland. In 1986, she met (bassist and recording engineer) Chris Biondo, who encouraged her and helped her find work as a backup singer for various acts. In 1990, Biondo and Cassidy hired the so-called "Eva Cassidy Band", composed of Chris Biondo, Lenny Williams, Keith Grimes and Raice McLeod, and she began to perform frequently in the Washington area.
In 1992, Biondo played a tape of Cassidy's voice for Chuck Brown. Best known as the "Godfather of Go-go", Brown is also a jazz and blues vocalist. This led to the first commercial recording of Cassidy, the duet album with Chuck Brown, The Other Side; which featured performances of classic songs such as "Fever", Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child" and Cassidy's signature tune "Over the Rainbow". The album was released and distributed by Liaison Records, the label that also released Brown's Go-go albums. The duet CD attracted the attention of various record companies, but the offers all required Cassidy to pigeonhole herself within a single style (e.g., pop or jazz), something she adamantly refused to do.[citation needed]
In 1993 Eva Cassidy was first honored by the Washington area music community when she was awarded two Wammie awards for "Female Vocalist Roots/Traditional R&B" and "Vocalist Jazz/Traditional." The next year she was chosen to perform for the awards ceremony.
In January 1996, Cassidy recorded the album Live at Blues Alley, about which The Washington Post later commented that "she could sing anything and make it sound like the only music that mattered". [1] Cassidy was unhappy with her singing on the album, because she had a bad cold on the night of the recording; she began recording a studio album which was eventually released as Eva by Heart posthumously in 1997.
During a promotional event for the Live at Blues Alley CD in July 1996, Cassidy noticed an ache in her hips, which she attributed to stiffness from painting murals. The pain persisted, and, a few weeks later, Cassidy was diagnosed with melanoma. By the time of her diagnosis, the cancer had spread throughout her body. Cassidy's health rapidly deteriorated, and her final performance was in September 1996. At the performance, she had used a walker to reach the stage, sang "What a Wonderful World" in front of an audience of friends, and was subsequently admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital.[citation needed]
Eva Cassidy died on November 2, 1996, at the age of 33. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Area Music Association.
Dark Eyed Molly
Eva Cassidy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Blacker still is the winter's turning,
As the sadness of parting proves.
And brighter now is the lantern burning
That lightens my path to love.
No fiddle tune will take the air,
But I will see his swift feet dancing
His smiling face and his dark eyes glancing
As we stepped out Blinkbonny Fair.
And if my waiting prove in vain,
Then I will pack and track ever take me.
The long road will ease my pain.
No jewel of mankind would ever make me
Whisper love's words again.
For in drink I'll seek good company,
My ears will ring with the tavern's laughter,
And I'll hear not his last sweet sigh.
And who's to know in the morning after
How I long for his dear dark eyes
How I long for his dear dark eyes
How I long for his dear dark eyes
The song Dark Eyed Molly by Eva Cassidy is a lament for a lost love. The first stanza sets the tone, with the deep and dark eyes of the singer's love becoming even darker as winter sets in. The sadness of parting is felt keenly, and yet there is a glimmer of hope in the form of a lantern lighting the path to love. The second stanza is nostalgic, with the singer remembering dancing with their love at a fair, the swirl of hair, and the smile on their face. There is a sense that these memories are fleeting, and that the waiting may be in vain. If that is the case, the singer plans to take to the road, seeking solace in good company and the laughter of the tavern. However, in the morning after, the longing for their love's dark eyes remains.
The lyrics of Dark Eyed Molly are a poignant reminder of the pain that comes with losing someone we love. The darkness of winter and the sadness of parting both serve to accentuate the sense of loss. The memories of happier times serve as a comfort, but they are tinged with the knowledge that they cannot be relived. The final stanza hints at the possibility of finding solace in new company, but it is clear that the singer's heart belongs to their lost love. The repetition of the refrain "How I long for his dear dark eyes" serves to reinforce the central theme of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Deep and dark are my true love's eyes,
My true love's eyes are not simply black, but deep and dark, symbolizing a certain depth of character and emotion that draws me to him.
Blacker still is the winter's turning,
Winter is a time of darkness and cold, and yet my love's eyes are even darker than that, perhaps symbolizing the distance or separation between us.
As the sadness of parting proves.
Our separation only deepens my sadness, further emphasizing the intensity of my feelings for him.
And brighter now is the lantern burning
Despite the darkness surrounding me, the light of our love still shines bright and guides me towards him.
That lightens my path to love.
Love is not always easy to find, but the light of our love illuminates the way and makes the journey worthwhile.
No fiddle tune will take the air,
The absence of music signifies the lack of joy in my life without my love, and the inability of anything else to fill that void.
But I will see his swift feet dancing
In my mind's eye, I can still see him dancing, symbolizing the memories and moments we shared together.
And the swirl of his dark brown hair,
Even the smallest details of him, like the way his hair moves, bring me comfort and remind me of him.
His smiling face and his dark eyes glancing
His smile and his gaze, filled with warmth and tenderness, are etched in my memory and bring me solace in times of loneliness.
As we stepped out Blinkbonny Fair.
This memory of us together at a fair illustrates the simplicity and happiness of our time together, giving me hope for a future reunion.
And if my waiting prove in vain,
Despite my hope, there is always the possibility that our reunion will never come to fruition.
Then I will pack and track ever take me.
Rather than wallow in despair, I will continue on my journey, moving forward and exploring the world around me.
The long road will ease my pain.
Traveling and experiencing new things may not replace my love, but it will bring a sense of comfort and healing to my heart.
No jewel of mankind would ever make me
Material possessions and wealth hold no value to me compared to the love I have for my true love.
Whisper love's words again.
I will hold onto the memories of our love and cherish them, refusing to let them fade away.
For in drink I'll seek good company,
In the company of friends and the warmth of spirits, I will find temporary solace from the pain of my separation.
My ears will ring with the tavern's laughter,
Though the sound of laughter and merriment may be just a temporary distraction from my pain, it will help to lift my spirits and bring me joy in the moment.
And I'll hear not his last sweet sigh.
For a brief moment, I will be able to forget the pain of our parting and the last moments we shared together.
And who's to know in the morning after
When the night is over and the morning comes, the memories of our love and the pain of our separation will return once more.
How I long for his dear dark eyes
Yet even as the pain returns, the memory of his deep and dark eyes will remind me of the love we shared and the hope for our reunion that still burns within my heart.
How I long for his dear dark eyes
The repetition of this phrase emphasizes the intensity and depth of my longing for my true love, and the hope I hold onto for our eventual reunion.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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