Born at home in 1981 (midwife, Venice Beach), singer, pianist, and composer Kahane was reared in medium-sized cities on both coasts of the continental United States by a psychologist mother (relational) and concert pianist father (unaffiliated). While a convenient and tidy psychological reading might suggest that his hybrid of blistering, chromatic counterpoint and traditional singer-songwriting belies some sort of defiance of the classical environment in which he was raised, Kahane would no doubt argue that such theories are half-baked. “They were listening to Joni Mitchell too!” he retorts. And yet, Kahane’s work defies classification through his sonically challenging, emotionally resonant, yet deeply accessible music.
After an uneventful childhood marked by the quotidien, in which Kahane found himself singing in operas in Germany, competing in international chess tournaments, and obsessively compiling baseball statistics, the young man discovered a pair of rickety Martin guitars in the attic of his parents’ Tudor home on Cobbs Hill Drive. Experiments ensued, though they would give way to a fascination with the piano toward the end of Kahane’s high school years.
Fast forward to 2008. It’s a historic moment in American politics, with a septuagenarian running against an African-American for the most hallowed office in the United States. In a more modest sense, it’s also a historic moment because it is the year in which Kahane’s debut record was released (September 16, to be exact).
Recorded primarily in March and April of 2008 in Seattle, Hoboken, and two Boroughs of New York City, the album is a testament to Kahane’s catholic musical pursuits. With twenty musicians supporting him, Mr. Kahane’s debut offers snippets of string quartets juxtaposed with strummy strum folk song, brass chorales right beside jangly piano pop, and yet, he would argue, it’s very much of a piece, an album meant to be heard as a whole.
Kahane’s best known work, Craigslistlieder (2006)-- an eight movement song cycle which comprises settings of anonymous classified ads from craigslist.org—has been heard in venues ranging from the dankest bars of the Lower East Side to Carnegie Hall, in a recital by critically-acclaimed baritone Thomas Meglioranza. The summer of 2008 witnesses the premiere of Kahane’s For The Union Dead, a new song cycle on poems by Robert Lowell for chamber ensemble, at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.
Among his varied credits as a performer, Kahane has appeared in recital with Grammy winning bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff throughout Europe, toured the Schumann Piano Quintet with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and accompanied violinist Hilary Hahn in the slow movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in yet another dirty bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He has shared the stage with indie-rock luminaries My Brightest Diamond and Luke Temple, and has recorded with Sufjan Stevens and former Nickel Creek front-man Chris Thile.
Much in demand as a composer of chamber music, Gabriel is currently completing solo piano commissions for pianists Natasha Paremski as well as for his father, Jeffrey Kahane. An evening-length work exploring his family's genealogy and journey from Germany to the United States will premiere in the fall of 2009 in Los Angeles and New York.
The play within a play?
An avid theatre artist, Kahane has collaborated extensively with the Obie-winning New York City-based downtown theatre company Les Freres Corbusier, serving as musical director for a number of their productions including Hell House, A Very Merry Unauthorized Scientology Pageant, and the Los Angeles production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. In addition, the composer was recently commissioned by the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia to write an evening length work for their American Musical Voices Project, and is also the recipient this year of a new fellowship through the Shen Family Foundation and the Public Theater with the aim to create and develop new work.
Villanelles
Gabriel Kahane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Looking at couples and sidewalk cafes
And lonely men wandering home in the haze
I carried you up the way
I pictured you sitting on your stoop
Spilling your coffee on villanelles
And cursing yourself you began to yell
You said
I miss your dumb warm body
I don′t know what that means
But I think that it's lovely
We bought each other hardback books
Inscribed them with ice cream that dripped
While we ate But petrified by your writerly looks
I simply wrote
You said
I miss your dumb warm body
I don′t know what that means
But I think that it's lovely
That night you drew me oh so close
And gave me some grade school innocence
Kisses on the kneecap and nose and shoulder
You whispered in my ear no words
Traced them instead upon my back
I have to go away for a while
A trip to that side of the track.
And so I'll miss your dumb warm body.
I carried you up second avenue.
The lyrics of Gabriel Kahane's song "Villanelles" depict the bittersweet memories of two lovers who wander around the busy streets of New York City, sharing moments of tenderness and vulnerability. Kahane's use of imagery and metaphor paint a vivid picture of their intimacy and the inevitable heartbreak that follows.
The first verse sets the scene, as the singer carries their loved one up Second Avenue, observing other couples and lonely wanderers. The second verse is a flashback to a quieter moment between the two of them, sitting on a stoop while drinking coffee and reading villanelles, a type of poetry known for its repetition and musical quality. The singer describes their partner's frustration with their own clumsiness, which they find endearing. The repetition of the line "I miss your dumb warm body" throughout the song conveys the deep longing and affection between them, despite the imperfections and uncertainties of their relationship.
The final verse is a poignant moment of goodbye, as the singer recounts the last time they were together before their partner had to leave for a trip. The physical intimacy of kisses on the kneecap, nose, and shoulder contrast with the absence of words as their partner traces letters on their back. The final line echoes the first, as they once again carry their loved one up Second Avenue, now alone and longing for their return.
Overall, "Villanelles" is a melancholic but beautiful tribute to love and loss in the bustling city of New York.
Line by Line Meaning
I carried you up second avenue
I brought you up Second Avenue, observing various scenes like couples, sidewalk cafes, and lonely men wandering home.
Looking at couples and sidewalk cafes
While carrying you, I saw couples and sidewalk cafes that created a nice ambiance.
And lonely men wandering home in the haze
I also saw lonely men walking home amidst the mist.
I carried you up the way
I continued carrying you to our destination.
I pictured you sitting on your stoop
I imagined you sitting on your stoop while spilling coffee on poetry known as villanelles.
Spilling your coffee on villanelles
I pictured you accidentally spilling your coffee on some villanelles.
And cursing yourself you began to yell
Due to your clumsiness, you would have cursed yourself and let out a yell.
How clumsy the things that I do
You would have acknowledged how clumsy things can get while doing regular household chores.
You said
You stated
I miss your dumb warm body
You expressed how much you miss my affectionate body.
I don′t know what that means
You admitted that you don't know what it truly means, but it still feels sincere to you.
But I think that it's lovely
You consider it to be a lovely feeling to miss someone's embrace.
We bought each other hardback books
We bought each other books with hard covers.
Inscribed them with ice cream that dripped
We wrote messages in them while we were having ice cream, and the melting caused drops to fall on the pages.
While we ate But petrified by your writerly looks I simply wrote
While we ate, I became frightened by your professional writer appearance, so I simply wrote a message in your book.
That night you drew me oh so close
That night, you pulled me closer to you.
And gave me some grade school innocence
You gave me a sense of childish purity and innocence.
Kisses on the kneecap and nose and shoulder
You gave me sweet and innocent kisses on my knee, nose, and shoulder.
You whispered in my ear no words
You didn't actually speak any words into my ear.
Traced them instead upon my back
You traced imaginary words onto my back with your fingers.
I have to go away for a while
You had to leave for a while.
A trip to that side of the track.
You had to go to a different location opposite to our side of the town.
And so I'll miss your dumb warm body.
Consequently, you'll miss my loving body while you're away.
Writer(s): Gabriel John Kahane
Contributed by Kayla I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Aimee Garcia
I love Gabriel Kahane so much. <3 I saw him in Kirkland Washington live with Elizabeth and The Catapults and it was such a great concert!
sturbos
This is excellent!!
Erin Polakovsky
Oh my gosh!
This sounds so fetus, awww, Gabe!
He actually does sign off a lot of messages with XO, Gabe
Awww