McKay is hard to categorize. She’s done Brecht on Broadway, opened for Lou Reed at Carnegie Hall, sung Woody Allen movie songs at the Hollywood Bowl, performed on A Prairie Home Companion, duetted with Eartha Kitt and Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, played Hilary Swank’s sister on the big screen, paid tribute to Doris Day, and released four wildly acclaimed albums of original music.
Her music is as tuneful and clever as the best of the Great American Songbook-part cabaret, part sparkly pop. But beneath the charming melodic surface is a wit that cuts, and a sharply tuned social conscience.
Home Sweet Mobile Home is McKay’s first album of all-original material since 2007′s Obligatory Villagers, and features the musical wanderlust, lyrical playfulness and unique point of view that has characterized her music since her breakthrough debut Get Away From Me. Songs from the new project were recently debuted at her NYC engagement at Feinstein’s, and The New York Post noted that “songs like ‘Bodega’ and ‘Caribbean Time’… feature a blend of whimsical humor and social commentary that blended in beautifully alongside the Doris Day standards from the Blueberry Pie album.”
The album, produced by McKay and Robin Pappas, was recorded in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, New York, Jamaica, the Pocono Mountains, and even more than her previous albums, combines diverse musical moods and cultures. Reviewing a recent McKay show, Stephen Holden from The New York Times described her as a “vocal chameleon,” and that varied musical palette is used to great effect on the 13 songs of Home Sweet Mobile Home.
Nellie began playing her own songs (and lovingly chosen covers) in clubs in downtown New York City in 2003, soon catching the attention of music writers and a number of record labels – this gal was a gifted entertainer, an impressive musician, with songs unlike anything people were hearing around town.
Her first album was produced by Geoff Emerick, the man who had engineered The Beatles’ albums from Revolver through Abbey Road. McKay signed on as co-producer.
She and Emerick recorded eighteen songs (including such live McKay favorites as “David,” “The Dog Song” and “I Wanna Get Married,” and that double-CD Get Away From Me was let loose upon the world. The project was greeted with critical raves and placement on many Top 10 lists.
The Washington Post wrote, “McKay’s music evokes the lost elegance of pre-Elvis pop music because she recognizes that such stylishness and wit are worth pursuing. But those goals inevitably collide with the realities of money, sex and politics, and she documents those collisions in her tongue-in-cheek lyrics, emphatic beats and bubbly melodies.”
Following the splash of Get Away From Me, Nellie recorded Pretty Little Head, of which the Los Angeles Times said, “McKay comes on as a Harlem Holly Golightly, a social activist with a disarming mastery of pop vernacular.” Spin noted, “that she succeeds on a record as sophisticated as the self-produced Pretty Little Head is not only a testament to McKay’s talent, it’s also a tribute to her artistic sense.”
In 2007, she recorded Obligatory Villagers, described by Spin as “a brisk nine-song set that plays like the breathless first act of a stage musical decrying American fascism.” Recently, the Chase Brock Experience premiered a ballet, Whoa, Nellie!, based on the entire album.
Meanwhile, Broadway and Hollywood beckoned. McKay appeared on Broadway (winning a Theatre World Award for her Polly in a revival of The Threepenny Opera) and on film (acting and singing in P.S. I Love You). She also wrote and performed the song score for the Rob Reiner film Rumor Has It. In addition, her writing has appeared in The Onion, Interview magazine, and The New York Times Book Review, where she delivered an incisive and knowledgeable review of a Doris Day biography.
“What she possessed,” McKay wrote, “beyond her beauty, physical grace, and natural acting ability, was a resplendent voice that conveyed enormous warmth and feeling.”
It seemed inevitable that Nellie should record an album of songs associated with Ms. Day, and she was given the opportunity to do so when approached by Verve Records. The result features 12 songs handpicked from over 600 recordings by Ms. Day, with an original by McKay. Hailed as “among the killer overhauls of American standards” (The New York Times), Normal As Blueberry Pie covers the scope of Day’s music from the big bands through the McCarthy era. The album wound up on a variety of Top 10 lists of 2009′s best albums, including The New York Times and The Village Voice.
McKay completed filming her first starring role, opposite violin prodigy Philippe Quint, in the independent film Downtown Express; recorded (along with Vince Giordano & The Nighthawks) for the soundtrack of the upcoming Martin Scorsese HBO series Boardwalk Empire; and contributed two songs to the award-winning documentary Gasland. She is currently participating in Dear New Orleans, a benefit album to aid the ravaged city, along with such artists as Jill Sobule, My Morning Jacket, and OK GO.
Home Sweet Mobile Home arrives three years after her last self-composed album, and as ever her songs are a study in contrasts: some of the moods are dark (“we’re marching through the madness / with not a soul about to see / we’re moving through the fortress / chasin’ the ghost of anarchy” and “there’s no equality here / there’s no equality anywhere / & every fear you can face / is quickly replaced by one you can’t lose”), but there is also joy and gentleness. Sometimes all at once. Her gift is in mingling the pure pleasure of all kinds and all eras of pop music, twisting the dials, writing upbeat melodies with subversive undercurrents.
As critic Robert Christgau wrote, Nellie McKay is “ebullient, funny and political. Her future looks brave and free to me.”
Official artist website www.nelliemckay.com
Zombie
Nellie McKay Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Woman to woman, I gotta tell you 'bout
A curse that rose out of the deep, green swamp
It hollers murder and it makes you jump
And then it says
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, woah, yeah
Do the zombie, woah, yeah
When I was younger, just a little girl
Lennon glasses and a ponytail
My mama told me, "Honey, pack your trunk
We're goin' to Mississippi, do the bayou bump"
Where they say
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, woah, yeah
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
One day, I set out for a walk
The path soon grew quite dark
I saw my shadow runnin' faster
Hurry, slow-mo comin' after me
After me and it said
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, woah, yeah
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, woah, woah, yeah
And zombie don't have to dance
And zombie don't dance at your command
But zombie don't have to wait
So come on do the voodoo shake
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, woah, yeah
One day, I set out for a walk
The path soon grew quite dark
I saw my shadow runnin' faster
Hurry, slow-mo comin' after me
After me and it said
Do the zombie
And do the zombie, woah, yeah
Do the zombie
And do the zombie, woah, woah, yeah
Sun is shinin' and you're feelin' fine
As you pass the Mason-Dixie line
The forest echoes and the tree leaves snap
Hey, what's that sound, spin around who that?
Then they say
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, woah, yeah
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Do the zombie, zombie, woah, yeah
Do the zombie
Do the zombie, woah, woah, yeah
Do the zombie
Do the zombie
Zombie, zombie, the zombie
Do the zombie
Zombie, zombie
Nellie McKay's song Zombie tells the story of a curse that rose from a swamp in the South. The curse makes people feel like they want to murder and jump, and it commands them to do the zombie dance. The song describes the singer's experience with the curse as a young girl, when her mother took her to Mississippi to do the bayou bump. As an adult, she goes for a walk and feels like something is chasing her, commanding her to do the zombie. The song ends with a description of a sunny day in the South, where the forest echoes and people hear the sound of the zombie.
This song is a commentary on the history of slavery and oppression in the Southern United States. The zombie dance represents the way that white slave owners dehumanized black slaves, turning them into mindless creatures that could be controlled and commanded. The curse represents the deep-seated hatred and racism that still exists in the South. By singing about the zombie, Nellie McKay is shedding light on the ways that the past continues to haunt us in the present.
Line by Line Meaning
Should you plan to travel way down South
If you ever want to go way down South
Woman to woman, I gotta tell you 'bout
As a woman, I feel the need to tell you about
A curse that rose out of the deep, green swamp
A curse emerged from the eerie green swamp
It hollers murder and it makes you jump
It screams murder and makes you jump in terror
And then it says
And then the curse commands
Do the zombie
Become a zombie
When I was younger, just a little girl
When I was just a young girl
Lennon glasses and a ponytail
Wearing Lennon glasses and a ponytail
My mama told me, "Honey, pack your trunk
My mother said, "Darling, pack your belongings
We're goin' to Mississippi, do the bayou bump"
We're heading to Mississippi to experience the bayou bump dance"
Where they say
Where people say
One day, I set out for a walk
One day, I went for a walk
The path soon grew quite dark
The path got increasingly darker
I saw my shadow runnin' faster
I noticed my shadow running fast
Hurry, slow-mo comin' after me
Move quickly, slow-motion is chasing me
After me and it said
Chasing me and saying
And zombie don't have to dance
A zombie doesn't have to dance
And zombie don't dance at your command
A zombie won't dance when ordered to
But zombie don't have to wait
A zombie doesn't have to wait
So come on do the voodoo shake
So go ahead and do the voodoo shake
Sun is shinin' and you're feelin' fine
The sun is shining and you're feeling great
As you pass the Mason-Dixie line
As you reach the Mason-Dixie line
The forest echoes and the tree leaves snap
The forest echoes and the leaves rustling are loud
Hey, what's that sound, spin around who that?
Stop and wonder what that sound was, who is there?
Then they say
Then people say
Do the zombie
Become a zombie
Do the zombie, zombie, woah, yeah
Become a zombie, a zombie, woah, yeah
Do the zombie, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Become a zombie, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
birdy
Should you plan to travel way down South (woah)
Woman to woman, I gotta tell you 'bout (a curse)
A curse that rose out of the deep, green swamp (uh huh)
It hollers "murder", and it makes you jump
And then it says
Do the Zombie
Do the Zombie, woah, yeah
Do the Zombie
Do the Zombie, woah, yeah
When I was younger, just a little girl (woah)
Lennon glasses and a ponytail (uh huh)
My mama told me, "Honey, pack your trunk" (woah)
"We're goin' to Mississippi, do the Bayou Bump"
Where they say
Do the Zombie
Do the Zombie, woah, yeah
Do the Zombie
Do the Zombie, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
One day, I set out for a walk
The path soon grew quite dark
I saw my shadow runnin' faster
Hurry, slow-mo, comin' after me
After me
And it said
Do the Zombie
Do the Zombie, woah, yeah
Do the…
CDREUT
This should be the video of Nellie & Co. actually doing The Zombie.