Whether it be by handing out cake or percussive pots of rice to shake, Dadd puts her audience at ease - she's had plenty of practice, having toured England and Japan numerous times, and played festival slots since 2001 including an appearance on Glastonbury’s Acoustic Stage with one of her collaborative projects, Whalebone Polly (with Kate Stables of This is the Kit). She enjoys performing in intimate settings the most, but can adapt well, having proved this when she performed a series of shows in Japan, each to an audience of 3000.
Dadd makes most of her music by telling everyone that she's going to bed, and then sneaking off to her trusty 8-track and plugging herself in. Her songs sparkle with a wide-eyed wonder and exhibit a fascination for the everyday magic of life. Soon after stepping foot in Bristol in 2003, Dadd gained the reputation by Venue Magazine as, “the author of a deft, charismatic brand of folk music". Since then she has turned the heads of Rob Da Bank, Bob Harris and Huw Stevens, as well as those in other fields such as artist Yoshitomo Nara. Her last album The World Outside is in a Cupboard was described as “absolutely staggering” by Julian Peck of Sunday Best Recordings. She has been adopted as part of the Fence Collective’s extended family, and has been invited to be part of several compilation releases, the most recent being Little Things on Indy label Flau, from which The Wire Magazine picked out her contribution as one that “appeals most of all”.
Her album After the Ant Fight, recorded with Ali Chant (who has worked with John Parish, Howe Gelb and PJ Harvey), is her third album to be released on Japanese label Angel’s Egg and is her most varied and exciting work to date. On it she invites her Bristol friends to play, leading her impromptu penguin café orchestra down a lyrical and melodic path. On the album, not only does Dadd turn her own hands to piano, banjo, guitar, clarinet and harmonium, but too turns them to the album’s sleeve, appropriately dressing it in exquisite ant-depicting needlework. In this way she maintains a certain D.I.Y ethos that has been apparent since her very first 4-track recordings complete with hand-drawn covers.
“Rachael’s song writing is atypical – the obvious moves are avoided in favor of the element of surprise. ‘Table’ in particular is stunning…a Philip Glass-y piece of minimalism that rises to a peak on the back of a just-so mix of piano, harmonium, clarinet and one-take drums, then falls away again…the kind of freshness that draws you back for another listen, and another.” Jumped Up Pantry Boy, http://pantry.wordpress.com/
"The true star of a stage positively brimming with quality. Authentic, unpretentious and lightened by Ms Dadd's loveable persona, the bands ethereal folk seduced an audience already spoilt with highlights. Sumptuous harmonies, pastoral melodies and banana grins abound." Venue Magazine
"This LP will be filled with the same kind of magical, bewitching tunes as Føroyar, with vocal hooks that send thrilling shivers sprinting across your nerve endings and sink you into those hot joyful flushes that only come with the experience of something quite unique." Stool Pigeon
Wake It
Rachael Dadd Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Blood bled, blood bleeds, blooded waits for a beautiful storm
To take it, shake it, reded the dead skin
Shake it, wake it, whatever the fool mean comes in
And make me unready to stop being a child
Well, times, long times being wrong, and time is being kind
Uhhh, na na na na na na, uhhh, na na na na na na
Brown boots, many boots, walking to the crumbling castle walls
Where millions of other boots, they have trotten this class before us
After the storm, the river, it's swells and comes flowing in past
Back from the time when we were dead, a fool been forced to grow up fast
And make me unready to stop being a child
Well, times, long times being wrong, and time is being kind
Give up, raps us, some belittles that we do now
Uhhh, na na na na na na, uhhh, na na na na na na
Uhhh, na na na na na na, uhhh, na na na na na na
We can open these
Wing, we can get one
We can open these
Wing, we can get one
The lyrics to Rachael Dadd's song "Wake It" speak to the transformative power of change and the cyclical nature of life. The opening lines introduce the image of brown boots waiting on a platform, and blood that both bled and bleeds, suggesting a sense of anticipation and continuity. The "beautiful storm" that is awaited represents an opportunity for growth and renewal, as dead skin is shed and new possibilities arise.
The chorus reveals a longing to remain childlike and free, despite the inevitable passage of time. The line "times, long times being wrong, and time is being kind" captures the bittersweet melancholy that comes with growing up, and the acceptance that must accompany it. The second verse references a crumbling castle and the millions of boots that have walked there before, highlighting the idea that we are all part of a larger story, and that our individual lives are just one small piece of the puzzle.
Throughout the song, Dadd's use of evocative imagery and repetition conjures a dreamlike quality, underscoring the importance of imagination and possibility. The final lines, "We can open these/Wing, we can get one," suggest that even in the face of uncertainty, there are always opportunities for growth and change.
Line by Line Meaning
Brown boots, two boots waiting on the platform
Two boots, colored brown, are waiting on the platform.
Blood bled, blood bleeds, blooded waits for a beautiful storm
The blood that was spilt continues to flow and wait for a storm to mix with.
To take it, shake it, reded the dead skin
The storm will take and shake off the dead skin.
Shake it, wake it, whatever the fool mean comes in
The storm will shake everything and anything, waking up whatever the fool means to happen.
And make me unready to stop being a child
The storm will make me unprepared to stop being a child.
Well, times, long times being wrong, and time is being kind
Time has been wrong in the past, but now it is being kind.
Brown boots, many boots, walking to the crumbling castle walls
Many boots, including the brown ones, are walking towards the crumbling castle walls.
Where millions of other boots, they have trotten this class before us
Countless other boots have walked this path before us.
After the storm, the river, it's swells and comes flowing in past
After the storm, the river swells and flows past us.
Back from the time when we were dead, a fool been forced to grow up fast
We are brought back to the time when we were dead, and it seemed like we were forced to grow up fast like a fool.
Give up, raps us, some belittles that we do now
Some people belittle us and our actions, causing us to give up.
We can open these
We have the ability to open these things.
Wing, we can get one
We can get a wing.
We can open these
We have the ability to open these things.
Wing, we can get one
We can get a wing.
Contributed by Henry F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@littlestbunny7382
:D This is so pretty!