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
Jealousy
Lori McKenna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I know judgment's a hard friend
I have seen the look of anger
Again and again and again
I want to be warm and happy
Don't want to find myself cold
I want to feel so young and pretty
But I feel so old
Preacher says to love thy neighbor
Listen to the sound of the prophecy
Should others reap the fruit of your favor
You won't find yourself tormented by jealousy
Well I love my sister
I love my brothers too
Don't want to feel myself
Holding resentment towards you
Preacher says to love thy neighbor
Listen to the sound of the prophecy
Should others reap the fruit of your labor
You won't find yourself tormented by jealousy
Sweet jealousy
Loneliness is a horrible lover
And hatred can't fill your soul
But it creates for you this illusion
That you are whole
And greed is a good ambition
But passion will treat you right
I want to live my life by love and appetite
Preacher says to love thy neighbor
Listen to the sound of the prophecy
Should others reap the fruit of your favor
You won't find yourself... tormented by jealousy
Jealousy is a terrible roommate
Judgment is a hard hard hard hard hard friend
It's a hard friend
It's a hard friend
In "Jealousy", Lori McKenna delves into the human emotions of jealousy, judgment, and anger. She starts by acknowledging that jealousy and judgment are not healthy mindsets to have and can consume a person's thoughts and actions. She desires warmth and happiness, but constantly finds herself feeling old and ugly. The song includes religious elements, as she references a preacher's advice to love thy neighbor, and reaping the fruit of labor. When we allow others to benefit from our hard work, we won't find ourselves tormented by jealousy.
Her love for family members is at the core of her being, and she doesn't want to hold resentment towards them. She repeats the preacher's wisdom and concludes that jealousy is a terrible roommate, and judgment is a hard friend. Lori then illustrates the negative consequences of other emotions that people might mistake for love. Loneliness is a horrible lover, and hatred can't fill your soul. Despite initially recognizing greed as an ambition, Lori concludes that passion is what will treat you right. She then reiterates the preacher's advice to love thy neighbor, which ultimately helps us avoid being tormented by jealousy.
Overall, "Jealousy" is a song that encourages people to be compassionate to one another, avoid negative emotions that only lead to destruction, and to love passionately.
Line by Line Meaning
I know jealousy is a terrible roommate
The feeling of jealousy is like having a bad roommate; it makes things uncomfortable and difficult.
I know judgment's a hard friend
Judging others can be a harsh and unforgiving habit to maintain in friendships.
I have seen the look of anger / Again and again and again
The look of anger in someone's eyes can be seen repeatedly and become a familiar sight, reminding of their inability to control their emotions.
I want to be warm and happy / Don't want to find myself cold
I wish to lead a content and fulfilling life and be free of the emptiness that loneliness brings.
I want to feel so young and pretty / But I feel so old
I desire to feel youthful and attractive, but instead, I feel aged and unappealing.
Preacher says to love thy neighbor / Listen to the sound of the prophecy / Should others reap the fruit of your favor / You won't find yourself tormented by jealousy
The preacher advises us to love our neighbors and be generous to them. Thus, we'll be free of envy and be at peace.
Well I love my sister / I love my brothers too / Don't want to feel myself / Holding resentment towards you
I have genuine love for my siblings, and I don't want to harbor any bitterness or ill will towards anyone else.
Loneliness is a horrible lover / And hatred can't fill your soul / But it creates for you this illusion / That you are whole
Being alone is like having an unfaithful and terrible partner; hate cannot bring happiness but can deceive you into believing that it does.
And greed is a good ambition / But passion will treat you right / I want to live my life by love and appetite
Some people view greed as a motivating force to succeed, but real happiness comes from pursuing your passions driven by love and desire.
Jealousy is a terrible roommate / Judgment is a hard hard hard hard hard friend / It's a hard friend / It's a hard friend
Jealousy sneaks into your life and refuses to leave, like an unwelcome roommate. Meanwhile, judgment can be a stubborn companion who doesn't go away easily.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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