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.
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Eva Cassidy Lyrics
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And a needle so fine
I, I would weave a magic spell
Of a rainbow design, mm
Of a rainbow design
In it I would weave the courage
Of women giving birth
Of the children of all the earth
Children of all the earth
Want to show my brothers and sisters
My rainbow design
'Cause I would bind up this sorry world
With hand and heart and mind
Oh, hand and heart and mind
Oh, had I a golden thread
And a needle so fine
I would weave a magic spell
Of a rainbow design
Of a rainbow design, hmm
In this song, Eva Cassidy talks about the power of a golden thread and a fine needle to weave a magic spell. She imagines herself creating a vibrant tapestry of a rainbow design, incorporating the courage of women giving birth and the innocence of children from different parts of the world. Cassidy wants to share this magical work of art with her brothers and sisters, as she believes it could help to bind up a sorry world, using her hand, heart, and mind. The song is a reflection on the potential for human connection and the importance of inclusivity, kindness, and empathy in building a better world.
The metaphor of the golden thread and the fine needle suggests the fragility and subtlety of human connections, but also their intrinsic value. The magic spell invoked through the weaving refers to a deeper spiritual understanding of how interconnectedness works to create beauty and meaning in the world. At the same time, Cassidy recognizes the challenges we face as a global community and calls for us to rise above adversity by finding commonalities in our shared human experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, had I a golden thread
The singer wishes they had a special tool to help them create something beautiful.
And a needle so fine
The singer needs a very precise tool to create something beautiful and intricate.
I, I would weave a magic spell
The singer has a desire to create something that will have an enchanting effect on those who see it.
Of a rainbow design, mm
The artist wants their creation to be colorful and vibrant, like a rainbow.
Of a rainbow design
The artist reiterates their desire for their creation to be colorful and vibrant, like a rainbow.
In it I would weave the courage
The singer wants to include the bravery of women giving birth in their creation.
Of women giving birth
The singer admires the strength and bravery that women have while giving birth.
And in it I would weave the innocence
The artist also wants to include the purity and innocence of all children in their creation.
Of the children of all the earth
The artist wants to include the purity and innocence of all children in their creation, regardless of where they come from.
Want to show my brothers and sisters
The artist wants to share their creation with their fellow humans.
My rainbow design
The singer is proud of the colorful creation they have made.
'Cause I would bind up this sorry world
The artist believes that their creation can help to heal the broken and sorrowful world we live in.
With hand and heart and mind
The singer wants to use all of their available resources to create something beautiful and powerful.
Of a rainbow design
The singer reiterates their desire for their creation to be colorful and vibrant, like a rainbow.
Of a rainbow design, hmm
The singer expresses their contentment with the idea of their creation being colorful and vibrant, like a rainbow.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Peter Seeger
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@oakbank214
Who is still listening to this in 2024 ❤
@marydwyer3241
Lost my brother in 2019 to brain cancer. Been playing this song ever since😢.
@olwinmcdonald563
I am 💗
@joerowlinson4498
Me too at 81.Joyful
@MrVaug
@@marydwyer3241Lost my mother to cancer, we played this at her funeral 💔
@Christian-fk9xg
i am
@benefitpartnersdirect2065
I graduated from high school with Eva and had the privilege of seeing her live before she died. So, so good. An amazing talent and also a very humble and sweet lady. A tragic loss....
@laurieelliott1969
That is so cool, this will play when I go to heaven. Love rainbows and what God made. Gonna fly like a bluebird and troubles fly away.
@bryanrendleman2001
She was the most amazing singing talent to ever perform.
@AngelaDoyle-jh9gn
How privileged you are to have known such amazing talent.