Nova is the granddaughter of an epiphone-playing traveling evangelist; her father was a National Accordion Champion and her mother a classical organist. Having a family of wanderers who migrated across the U.S. every few years, the landscape and the musical influences were constantly changing: Spanish tangos, Sunday morning gospel, classical and jazz were the accompaniment to her home life. Her first song was recorded when she was three years old, and by the age of eight she was studying piano and performing in community musical productions.
As a teenager in Michigan, Shara honed her musical prowess singing along to Whitney Houston music videos and Mariah Carey albums. When pop music wasn't enough, she enrolled in the music program at the University of North Texas, immersing herself in the songs of Henry Purcell and Claude Debussy. After college, she moved to New York City and fell in love with its cold winters and busy streets. She continued to study opera on the Upper West Side during the day, but at night she frequented downtown clubs such as Tonic, Knitting Factory, and The Living Room, catching performances by Antony and the Johnsons, Nina Nastasia, and Rebecca Moore. She began to spend less time sight-reading Mozart and more time de-tuning her Gibson electric guitar to play her own newly-written songs. Coaxed out of recital halls and onto the small stages of bars and clubs, Shara assembled a coterie of musicians to accompany her with bass and drums, music boxes, wine glasses, and wind chimes. She released two full albums in 2001 (AwRY and Quiet B Sides) as well as a remix album with her band entitled AwRY.
In performance she showed unusual versatility, channeling the vocal theatrics of Kate Bush, the soulful seductiveness of Nina Simone and the gothic pop of Portishead. Her infatuation with theater and costumes inspired her to wear superhero capes, ball gowns, or Tudor corsets on stage, depending on her mood. Her deeply personal songs transcended the histrionics of opera; Shara was at last singing about what was closest to her heart. She began to see her own music as the most precious gift she could give to the world - as reflected in her namesake, "My Brightest Diamond".
Of course, opera never really left her, and Shara's performance blurred the lines between rock show and recital, setting baroque love songs alongside French carols and Prince covers. Her vocal lines reached for Puccini, but her guitar was pure PJ Harvey. The center of gravity here was the workmanship of a woman whose imagination had no limits. To sharpen her skills, Shara studied composition with Australian composer Padma Newsome (of Clogs) and began to incorporate a string quartet in her live show. The influences of Nat King Cole and Henry Mancini rounded out the edges. A few years later, she met Sufjan Stevens at The Medicine Show, a variety show hosted by New York City's incendiary poet, Sage, at Arlene's Grocery. This, in turn, led to a yearlong sabbatical from her work, doing splits and round-offs (not to mention the human pyramid) as one of the notorious Illinoisemakers. Shara was quickly promoted as cheerleading captain.
All of this led to an impressive resume, but My Brightest Diamond still had no album to show for it. So in 2004, she began work on two records: one featuring songs accompanied by a string quartet titled "A Thousand Shark's Teeth", and a more standard rock album featuring a full band (featuring Earl Harvin on drums, Chris Bruce on bass, and, on one song, her father Keith on accordion) titled "Bring Me The Workhorse", released to critical acclaim in August 2006 on Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Her songs distil stories to their most distressing points of contact: a phone call, an injured horse, a dragonfly caught in a spider's web. She doesn't share all the information - just the stuff that matters. The effect is a sensational compression of time, in which an entire event is summarized in a single note. This, of course, is the essence of opera. But My Brightest Diamond is much more than that. There is also the humor one might find in an old TV episode of Wonder Woman or Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Shara's songs reconcile all the complex emotions found in each of us: she can grieve as comfortably as she can laugh, sometimes in the same breath.
Sites: BandCamp
Apples
My Brightest Diamond Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I like to see the apple blossoms with you
Sometimes in the winter
I like to see snow falling with you
Once we took apples from my grandfather's tree
But I had nowhere to plant the seed
So we baked them with sugar
Sometimes on Saturdays
When it's raining we do laundry
Especially when I like to watch you
Fold so carefully the clothes
Especially when I like to watch you
Move your fingers slow
The lyrics of "Apples" by My Brightest Diamond showcase the most intimate moments between a couple, describing their preference for each other's presence even in the simplest activities. The singer reminisces about spending time with her partner during the different seasons: enjoying the sight of apple blossoms during spring and snowflakes during winter, which emphasizes their fondness for each other regardless of the weather condition. The lyrics also highlight a memory shared between them, where they took apples from the singer's grandfather's tree and baked them, showing how they made the best out of what they had.
The chorus represents the singer's love and admiration for her partner's efforts, expressing how she enjoys watching them do laundry on a rainy day, most especially when they carefully fold the clothes, which further elaborates the affection towards the small, insignificant details about their partner. The lyrics evoke a heartwarming and sentimental feeling, portraying the beauty of the ordinary and the importance of being with someone who makes even the most mundane activities feel significant.
Line by Line Meaning
Sometimes in the spring time
Occasionally during the spring season
I like to see the apple blossoms with you
I enjoy observing the flowers on the apple trees with you
Sometimes in the winter
At times during the winter
I like to see snow falling with you
I take pleasure in watching snow come down with you
Once we took apples from my grandfather's tree
Previously, we gathered apples off my grandfather's apple tree
But I had nowhere to plant the seed
However, I lacked the space to sow the apple seed
So we baked them with sugar
As a solution, we baked the apples along with sugar
And we ate them
Afterwards, we consumed the baked apples
Sometimes on Saturdays
Every so often on Saturdays
When it's raining we do laundry
When it's raining outside, we engage in laundry
Especially when I like to watch you
Primarily, I adore beholding you
Fold so carefully the clothes
Folding the attire with immense caution
Especially when I like to watch you
Again, I relish gazing upon your actions
Move your fingers slow
As you gradually manipulate your fingers
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Joshua Coules-Gerber
Beautiful!
guellrich
Great music, great video - thanks!