Lori McKenna’s first name is actually Lorraine. She is named after the mother she lost when she was only seven, but whose impact on Lori’s life reverberates to this day. In her sixth album, Lorraine, she considers the influence of her mother, who died at roughly the same age Lori is now, as well as her own place in relationship to her husband, family and community. It is her most personal album to date.
On the title track, Lori thinks back to scenes she remembers from her childhood (or thinks she does: “Well I don’t know if this part is true/How memories lie the way they do”) and how they reflect on her mother’s character: hard working, uncomplaining, sacrificing and loving, despite the health challenges that would eventually take her from her family. Lori allows the small details to carry the story. She remembers her mother smiling and dancing to a Judy Garland Carnegie Hall concert recording: “She said her cousin had a balcony seat.” If you lean in closely, you see the portrait of Lorraine taking shape. Her mother found joy in the music and joy that someone close to her had been lucky enough to be there, but no hint of feeling deprived for not experiencing it herself. Lorraine’s place was with her family, and she found contentment there. In the last verse, Lori looks at herself with the hope that she’s worthy of the name she was given, and the recognition that she might just be falling short (“I swear I’ve tried to be worthy of/The name they gave me when I was young/But I ain’t that pretty and I ain’t that brave/My kids have seen me cry/They should have given her name to my sister Marie/That don’t mean a thing to you but it does to me”).
Lori’s unusual combination of professional and personal life, at least in the context of the modern music industry, is well-documented. She grew up in Massachusetts in a musical household. Her father was an excellent singer, and her mother played the piano. Two of her older brothers were songwriters, one of whom (Richard) she considers largely responsible for her career. He accompanied a reluctant Lori to open mic nights and gave her confidence that she was good enough. She began performing her songs in public at age 27, after she and her husband Gene already had three children. She and Gene continue to maintain a happy home in Stoughton, Massachusetts, adding two more children to their full lives. In addition to family, place has an important role in Lori’s songs.
“Buy This Town” almost didn’t make the album. It was written the day after the album was completed, but Lori felt so strongly about the song, she and album producer Barry Dean went back to the studio to record it. It’s a love letter to Stoughton, replete with images of the working class environment and the good, hard-working people that are her neighbors. In the last verse of the song, she writes of a firefighter at the high school football game because his kid is playing. “That’s my neighbor John,” she says, “and his son Lucas is on the football team.” She also speaks about how place plays a role in some of her strongest and most enduring memories. It’s moments like a tearful one at the kitchen sink in the home she shares with Gene that Lori holds most dear (”If I could buy one night, I wouldn’t buy the one you’d think/I’d buy the one when my eyes teared up by the light above the kitchen sink/And you held me tight, and you begged me not to cry/If I could buy the sweetness of one kiss, that’s the one I’d buy/If I could buy one night”). The love of home and community is not some abstraction for Lori. It’s central to who she is.
She eventually became a staple of the Boston folk music scene, where she became friendly with Mary Gauthier. “We were the two old ladies in a sea of young faces,” she jokes. When Gauthier picked up and left for Nashville, she brought Lori’s music to the attention of her publisher. They got her music into the hands of Faith Hill, who fell hard for Lori’s songs. Hill recorded three of them for her album Fireflies. Lori’s way of articulating the love, pain and pathos of domestic life had a huge impact on Hill, and Hill’s very public championing of Lori’s music led other artists to Lori’s songs. Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Alison Krauss, Keith Urban and LeAnn Rimes are among the many that have recorded her songs in recent years.
That Lori is a master at chronicling the small, difficult moments between romantic partners as they navigate their relationships is a big reason her songs have been so popular with other artists. Though she and Gene have a strong and happy marriage, they, like all couples, have their moments when they are not connecting. Lori channels the vulnerability of those moments in songs that give voice to anyone who has felt insecure even in the most committed of relationships. In the lead track of the album, “The Luxury Of Knowing,” the protagonist’s constancy is juxtaposed against her partner’s mercurial nature (“But just when I think you’re a hurricane/You freeze right over and all that rain/Turns to ice and your whole world just starts snowing/And I don’t have the luxury of knowing”), leaving her unable to feel secure in the relationship (“Damn it must be easy/Being in love with someone so blind/Cuz I’ll tell you right now the only thing I really know/Is that you might change your mind”). There are also moments that celebrate the love that accompanies the daily grind. “You Get A Love Song” is a fun romp that reminds us that often there’s no gold star or plaque for just showing up every day for your loved one, but at least for Gene, he gets the starring role in one of his wife’s songs.
The increased acclaim for her song craft led to a record deal with Warner Brothers, who released her 2007 album Unglamorous. Working with Tim McGraw (who co-produced the album), an appearance on Oprah and an opening slot on McGraw and Faith Hill’s Soul2Soul tour were heady experiences, and Lori is grateful for them. “The whole experience was wonderful, and there were several at Warner Brothers that worked so hard for my album,” she says, but there was always a sense that her music and their goals were not going to result in a perfect professional marriage. “Recording in Nashville, as good as the experience has been in many ways, is not exactly the safest way to guard your creative instincts.” Sales levels that would seem astronomical by the standards of the folk community that nurtured her were not enough for a subsequent regime at Warner Brothers, and they parted amicably. “One thing that did come out of that experience was a much deeper confidence in myself as an artist,” says Lori, which was one reason she decided to take the reins back in her professional life. By choice, she has no label and no manager for the first time in her career.
The album closes with a prayer to Lorraine. Lori used to pray to her mother when she was a child: there was a strong sense that Lorraine was watching over her. “I think I made better choices in my life because I felt she was there,” Lori says. “Still Down Here” is a prayer that Lorraine and all the loved ones who leave their earthly burdens behind remember the ones still here on Earth, still in need of their love and guidance. With a daughter so empathetic to the human condition and so loyal and loving to her family and community, one guesses that Lorraine is looking down, very proud.
www.lorimckenna.com
Fireflies
Lori McKenna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I caught frogs and called them prince
And made myself a queen
And before you knew me I'd traveled 'round the world
And I slept in castles
And fell in love
Because I was taught to dream
To capture Tinkerbell
And they were just fireflies to the untrained eye
But I could always tell
Cause I believe in fairytales
And dreamer's dreams
Like bedsheet sails
And I believe in Peter Pan
And miracles, anything I can to get by
And fireflies
Now before I grew up I saw you on a cloud
And I could bless myself in your name
And pat you on your wings
And before I grew up I heard you whisper so loud
Well life is hard and so is love
Child, believe in all these things
I found mayonnaise bottles and poked holes on top
To capture Tinkerbell
And they were just fireflies to the untrained eye
But I could always tell
Cause I believe in fairytales
And dreamer's dreams
Like bedsheet sails
And I believe in Peter Pan
And miracles, anything I can to get by
And fireflies
And fireflies
Before you met me I was a fairy princess
I caught frogs and called them prince
And made myself a queen
And before you knew me I'd traveled 'round the world
And I slept in castles
And fell in love
Because I was taught to dream
Lori McKenna's song "Fireflies" is a compelling ode to childhood imagination and the power of belief. The first stanza sets the stage for the imaginative world this fairy princess has already inhabited. The princess has caught frogs, crowned herself as queen, and traveled around the world. It is a world that exists because the princess has been taught to dream. The second stanza finds the princess attempting to capture Tinkerbell with a mayonnaise bottle. She believes that Tinkerbell is in fact, a firefly. This scene draws attention to the power of imagination and the ability to see beauty in unexpected things. The chorus reinforces the notion that the princess believes in fairytales and dreamers' dreams, anything to get by. The final stanza of the song finds the princess up in the clouds, blessing herself in the name of the divine. She hears a whisper which tells her that life is difficult, and she should believe in things like love and magic.
Overall, the song is a celebration of the imagination and a call to believe in the impossible. The character found joy and wonder in her early life through her endless imagination, and this sense of wonder is something that the song seems to urge listeners to hold onto. It invites the listener to break away from the mundane and imagine a world full of fairy princesses, fireflies, and miracles.
Line by Line Meaning
Before you met me I was a fairy princess
I was a whimsical, imaginative person, living in a world of fantasy and make-believe, before you became a part of my life.
I caught frogs and called them prince
I had the ability to see beauty in the ordinary and transform it into something special.
And made myself a queen
I had the power to make myself feel special and confident, just like a queen ruling over her empire.
And before you knew me I'd traveled 'round the world
I had an adventurous spirit and thirst for exploration before you even knew me.
And I slept in castles
My imagination was grand enough to transport me anywhere, even to the lavish grandeur of castles and their splendorous surroundings.
And fell in love
I gave into the irresistible pull of love, despite the odds and the difficulties of the world.
Because I was taught to dream
My penchant for imagination and unbridled creativity was instilled in me from a young age.
I found mayonnaise bottles and poked holes on top
I was able to use simple things to create special moments, such as turning mayonnaise bottles into makeshift firefly cages for added whimsy.
To capture Tinkerbell
I wanted to hold onto the magic and wonder of fairy tales and believed I could do so by capturing fictional characters like Tinkerbell.
And they were just fireflies to the untrained eye
To some, they were just ordinary insects, but to me they were electrifying, magical creatures full of life and personality.
But I could always tell
I was able to see beyond the surface and appreciate the beauty and wonder of little things that others may overlook.
Cause I believe in fairytales
I held onto the belief that life could be like a fantasy world, just like the stories I was told as a child.
And dreamer's dreams
I found comfort in dreaming about seemingly impossible things and believing that they could become a reality.
Like bedsheet sails
I was able to see the magic in everyday objects and turn them into something beautiful - like turning bedsheets into sails that could take me anywhere.
And I believe in Peter Pan
I still cling to my childhood wonder and imagination, just like the character of Peter Pan.
And miracles, anything I can to get by
I believe in the power of hope and miracles for me to get through difficult times and make the best of what I have.
And fireflies
I believe in the magic and wonder of fireflies and their ability to transport me to a magical world full of imagination and beauty.
Now before I grew up I saw you on a cloud
Before the weight of the real world came crashing down on me, I saw you as someone who could lift me up and take me to new heights.
And I could bless myself in your name
I found comfort in the idea of a higher power looking over me and blessing me in your name.
And pat you on your wings
I was able to find imaginary comfort in you being an angel with wings that I could pat - just like a pet.
And before I grew up I heard you whisper so loud
Before my imagination became clouded by reality, I was able to hear the comforting whispers of higher powers, telling me to believe in myself and the power of imagination.
Well life is hard and so is love
The reality is that life can be difficult and love is not always easy - it takes work and effort to make it work.
Child, believe in all these things
But in spite of everything, it is important to have faith and hold onto the magic of fairy tales - to believe in something greater than ourselves.
And fireflies
And, of course, to hold onto the wonder and magic of fireflies, even in the face of real-world cynicism and doubt.
And fireflies
And once more, to drive the point home - to believe in the magic and wonder of fireflies and imagination, no matter what life throws our way.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: GATO BARBIERI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind