Ferron is featured in the documentary on women's music, Radical Harmonies 2002.
Ferron's rough-hewn voicing, chewy phrasing, and poetic songwriting has brought many favorable comparisons, including Kitty Wells, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen (cf. Stephen Holden 1994). One wit aptly summed up Ferron's legendary status by calling her "the Johnny Cash of lesbian folksinging" (Bett Williams 2000).
She learned to play guitar at age 11, and left home at 15. Ferron attended Total Ed, an alternative high school in Vancouver, graduating in 1973 (Thomas 2002). She made her professional debut in 1974, playing the song "Who Loses" at a benefit for the Women's Press Gang. She subsequently established her own record label, Lucy Records, and released her debut album in 1977. The album, Testimony, was her first professionally produced record, and brought her much interest in the United States, particularly in the women's music community.
Her 1984 album Shadows on a Dime received a four-star review (highest rating) from Rolling Stone magazine. Awarded a Canada Arts Council grant to further develop her musicianship, she took several years off from touring, returning in 1990 with Phantom Center. The album featured backing vocals by a then unheard of Tori Amos, and consequently is highly sought after by collectors. It was re-released with a duet with The Indigo Girls on the first track.
Between 1992 and 1994, Ferron released three albums on her own Cherrywood Station label. Driver was then picked up by Earthbeat! Records, and was highly acclaimed by critics as a masterwork and nominated for a Juno Award in 1995. Warner Bros. Records signed Ferron which gave her great freedom in the studio to produce Still Riot with db Benedictson. She received an Outmusic Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards in 1996.
As a benefit for the Institute for Musical Arts (IMA), Ferron released Inside Out (1999), covering well-known tunes from the 1950s-1970s. She published a handmade book, THe (h)UNGeR POeMs, while she was teaching classes at IMA. She gathered some of her earlier, then out-of-print recordings to create Impressionistic (2000), a retrospective double album with a 24-page, autobiographical booklet.
Ferron continues to tour and teach master classes in writing, and in 2004 she returned to the very island where some of her earliest recorded songs were written to create Turning Into Beautiful produced by db Benedictson.
Almost Kissed
Ferron Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The sun burns through an almost kiss
Now gone away
Not surprised to find me lonely now
Parade of dreams stroll by and bow
Not meant to stay
I say hello there brittle and bone
For sure you must be my home
With you
Oh it's true, you are a special one
Your very laugh makes my blood run
Where are we now?
Cemented in our city dreams
Ambition like a sifting screen
On an old farm plow
Ah, you know that some love to love
Some love to change
Some have to have their own free range
And some tear my heart all apart
But if loss is just a step behind
A dancing door
A circus mind
I leave my bed
And I stumble through my rituals
I fight my mind
My memory pulls
To things been said
Oh I admit that I
Hold to words
I hold them tight
I've known colder comfort
In the night
It's only time after all
As I waken to a morning mist
The sun burns through an almost kiss
Now gone away
Not surprised to find me lonely now
Parade of dreams stroll by and bow
Not meant to stay
But I say hello there brittle and bone
For sure you must be my home
What's more I can aIways feel alone
With you
The lyrics of Ferron's Almost Kiss form a poignant depiction of the singer's feelings of loneliness and despair, even as she tries to find comfort in her routines and past memories. The song opens with an image of morning mist and an almost-kiss - a fleeting moment of closeness that could not be sustained. The sun "burns through" this moment, underscoring the transience of human connection and the painful realization that nothing can be held onto forever. The singer is not surprised to find herself alone again, as she watches a "parade of dreams" pass by that are not meant to stay.
As the song progresses, the singer tries to find solace in the familiarity of her daily rituals and in the company of another person who is "brittle and bone," representing both fragility and solidity. However, she also acknowledges that love can take many forms and that some relationships are more destructive than others - some people "tear my heart all apart." The singer holds onto words as a source of comfort, even as they remind her of past hurts and regrets. The song ends where it began, with the singer greeting the same familiar sense of loneliness that has followed her throughout the day.
Line by Line Meaning
I waken to a morning mist
I wake up to a hazy morning
The sun burns through an almost kiss
The sun breaks through a near-kiss moment
Now gone away
The moment has passed and it's no longer there
Not surprised to find me lonely now
It's not unexpected to be feeling lonely
Parade of dreams stroll by and bow
Ideas and aspirations cross my mind but don't stick around for long
Not meant to stay
The ideas and aspirations are fleeting
I say hello there brittle and bone
I greet my own vulnerability
For sure you must be my home
Vulnerability is where I feel most comfortable
What's more I can always feel alone
Even in the company of others, the sense of loneliness always persists
With you
The vulnerability, and the loneliness that comes with it, is always present
Oh it's true, you are a special one
Admitting to the irresistibility of being vulnerable
Your very laugh makes my blood run
The effect the vulnerability has on the person is profound
Where are we now?
Reflecting on the current state
Cemented in our city dreams
Being stuck in a cycle of wanting success and adventure
Ambition like a sifting screen
Difficulty in choosing the right path and focusing on the right things
On an old farm plow
Feels like hard work on a rusty tool
Ah, you know that some love to love
Some people love falling in love
Some love to change
Some people crave change and excitement
Some have to have their own free range
Some need freedom and independence
And some tear my heart all apart
Some people cause great emotional damage
But if loss is just a step behind
If potential loss is always lurking around the corner
A dancing door
It's like a door that sways in the wind
A circus mind
A mind filled with chaos and confusion
I leave my bed
I get out of bed
And I stumble through my rituals
Going through the motions of daily life
I fight my mind
Trying to resist the negative thoughts
My memory pulls
Memories and emotions resurface
To things been said
Reminiscing about what has been said in the past
Oh I admit that I
Admitting to one's vulnerabilities
Hold to words
Holding onto words that have been said
I hold them tight
Clutching onto them tightly
I've known colder comfort
The comfort that vulnerability provides, no matter how distressing, is better than feeling nothing at all
In the night
Especially during dark times
It's only time after all
Time makes the vulnerability easier to bear
Contributed by Caleb R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.