Venable performed in numerous theatrical and musical productions as a youth with the San Francisco-based Young People's Teen Musical Theater Company. She was also in the cast of the Lewis Carroll-themed musicals "Right Mind" and "Right Mind is Nowhere" directed by George Coates.
Her original one-act play "Annie Beckstead Does Her Homework" won at the Rocky Mountain Student Theater Project in Telluride, CO. She attended Bennington College as a Dramatic Writing and then a Music major before deciding to pursue music as a career.
In 2004 Venable moved to Brooklyn where she continues to compose and perform with longtime-collaborators Todd Sickafoose and Alan Lin. Her songs are noteworthy for their striking melodies and complex subject matter, and she invites comparison with musicians Elliott Smith and Mazzy Star.
Her albums include You Talking to Me? (1996), No Curses Here (1998), Down Easy (2000), Boots (2002), The World Is Bound by Secret Knots (2003), and The Summer Storm Journals (2007).
Noe is rumoured to have a second new album in the works, "a concept album-rock-opera-story thing" (the first being the recently released SSJ, a collection of songs), as stated on one of her rant room entries on her website.
Black Madonna
Noe Venable Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With open arms and a veil to hide her face
And Black Madonna will come down for you
And there is no sickness and there is no suffering
And there is no anguish and no anger that she cannot erase
You might see Black Madonna walking between the sheets of an angry day
Or you might see her smile a strange-sad smile as she steps out of your way
But she might be coming down for you
With her arms spread wide and her head on fire
'cause she sees you been down so long
There isn't a sin that you could make that she will not forgive
But oh, Black Madonna, I did not believe her beauty
I thought I did not need her mercy
I thought I did not need
Traded my belongings and my body
My memory and my mind
My center of gravity and my sense of direction
'til I woke up half an hour from the city
And realized I had lost all sense of the passage of time
So I don't know if it's been a day or a week or a year
All I know is I'm still here
And I always thought you'd lift me up
And you never did
What the fuck?
>>there isn't a sin that you could make
That she will not forgive
No there isn't a sin that you could make
In the ways that a stray must live
So what I wanna know is this
If you believe in everything fitting into a kind of place
If you believe that everything and everybody has a certain space they fit intoâ??babies entering into a welcoming world in jubilant curls of star gazing wonder
And the sick yes even the sick just a shuffling into sleep's dark brother
And the sleepers in the sleet
The heaps in the street
Nestled under trestles for to get a little heat
And if the trestles watch over the sleepers
And if life ushers her lucky winners
Through fleshy gates to four star dinners
And if sleep ushers his population
To plug into the dream life radio station
And if thin souls whose bodies haven't wrecked them
Walk smoky streets that know and expect them
Then what I want to know is thisâ??
What of strays who have turned their backs on the god of strays?
>>what of strays who've turned their backs
On the god of strays, yeah, what of them?
Oh Black Madonna I was thinking about the days that I spent with you
'cause now I doze and daze and drown
And cling to the wreckage of a sinking town
And I walk your dire streets in search of anything that's still pure
'cause I once thought you watched over me
But now I'm not so sure
The song "Black Madonna" by Noe Venable is a powerful lyrical journey that explores the themes of redemption, forgiveness, and the divine power of love. In the song, the Black Madonna is a symbol of a divine feminine presence that is both nurturing and encompassing, with the ability to forgive all sins and heal all suffering. Venable sings, "Black Madonna will come down for you / With open arms and a veil to hide her face / And there is no sickness and there is no suffering / And there is no anguish and no anger that she cannot erase."
The song's protagonist struggles with the idea of accepting the Black Madonna's love and mercy throughout the course of the song, having sold themselves out to a life of self-destructive behavior in exchange for the temporary highs of drugs, sex, and material possessions. They sing, "Traded my belongings and my body / My memory and my mind / My center of gravity and my sense of direction / 'til I woke up half an hour from the city / And realized I had lost all sense of the passage of time." Despite their disregard for themselves, the Black Madonna's love remains steadfast, and the singer realizes this in the song's closing lines, singing, "And I once thought you watched over me / But now I'm not so sure."
Line by Line Meaning
Black Madonna will come down for you
The Black Madonna, a symbol of divine feminine energy, will come to help you in your time of need.
With open arms and a veil to hide her face
The Black Madonna welcomes you with open arms and provides solace, but also keeps some things hidden from view.
And there is no sickness and there is no suffering
When the Black Madonna helps you, all sickness, suffering, anguish, and anger disappears.
You might see Black Madonna walking between the sheets of an angry day
The Black Madonna can appear even in difficult times and situations.
Or you might not see her at all But she might be coming down for you
Sometimes the Black Madonna's actions are not immediately visible, but help may still be coming.
With her arms spread wide and her head on fire 'cause she sees you been down so long
The Black Madonna is passionate about helping those who have been struggling and suffering for a long time.
There isn't a sin that you could make that she will not forgive
The Black Madonna is forgiving and will accept you, no matter what mistakes you have made.
But oh, Black Madonna, I did not believe her beauty I thought I did not need her mercy
In the past, the artist did not appreciate the Black Madonna's beauty or mercy.
So I don't know if it's been a day or a week or a year All I know is I'm still here
After experiencing a difficult period in life, the artist lost all sense of time and just knew that they had survived it.
No there isn't a sin that you could make In the ways that a stray must live
No matter how far you may have strayed or how difficult your life may be, the Black Madonna will still forgive you.
What of strays who've turned their backs On the god of strays, yeah, what of them?
The singer questions what will happen to those who have completely turned their back on the divine, especially those who have lived difficult lives.
And I walk your dire streets in search of anything that's still pure 'cause I once thought you watched over me But now I'm not so sure
The artist searches for purity and the divine in the midst of difficult circumstances, but has lost faith in the Black Madonna.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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