Shaber took this one step further on February 18th, 2006 when she recorded her new live album, in my bones (live in chicago). Fans from all over the country were encouraged to email requests and the result is a collection of previously unreleased songs that have long been crowd favorites, such as the passionately yearning title track "In My Bones;" If I was alone on a desert island/ I wouldn't be alone/I'm never alone/'cause you're in my bones; the upbeat summer anthem "Jersey to O.C.;" Grab the great unknown/Lean in to every breeze/Unturn every stone/From Jersey to O.C.; and the most requested song, "Cryin' Shame," about a lovesick teenage Scottish boy (complete with accent!); It's a cryin' shame/That you don't even know my name/An' ah swear sometimes it smarts/To feel you breathing down my heart.
There are also some tracks of pure Shaber banter, covering everything from high school crushes to Grey's Anatomy to a dinner party filled with sexually charged guests. Always impromptu, these moments are another large reason people love to see Sam live in concert. She is known for sending the audience from roaring laughter to deep saddness and back again in a matter of minutes. After a recent show, an audience member put it best when she sighed, "That was a work-out." Gene Shay at WXPN-fm in Philadelphia says Shaber is "Stark, raving, great!" Folkweb.com calls her "a riveting performer," and Femmusic.com voted her Top Female Performer.
Touring nationally year 'round, Shaber has won awards in the John Lennon, Billboard, and USA Songwriting Competitions for her driving melodies, smart lyrics, and soaring voice. She also won the ear of Columbia recording artist/producer Shawn Mullins ("Lullabye"), who produced her last album, eighty numbered streets, released in 2003 to great critical acclaim. Said Paste Magazine, "eighty numbered streets is confessional and emotional, but Shaber's salty falsetto and the stark beauty of this CD won't leave you drowning in your own tears." Daughter of late-screenwriter David Shaber (The Warriors, Nighthawks) and artist Alice Shaber, Sam uses her observer's eye and sharp wit. Her strong guitar style and broad voice have won comparisons as diverse as Alanis Morissette, Joni Mitchell, and Stevie Wonder. And her passion for showing an audience a good time is never more clear than in this intimate, raw, live release. Because in my bones is put together without pauses, the listener lives an entire show from beginning to end, a true document of one night, one Shaber, in Chicago.
Frère Jacques
Sam Shaber Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Dormez-vous?
Sonnent les matina
Ding Dong Ding
Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques
Dormez-vous?
Sonnent les matina
Brother John, are you sleeping?
Come please open your eyes.
Brother John, I am pleading
Sun is on the rise.
Got such an array of possibilities today.
Wake up before you waste away.
Wake up before you waste away.
Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques
Dormez-vous?
Sonnent les matina
Ding Dong Ding
Brother John, are you sleeping?
Come please open your eyes.
Brother John that sun is creeping
Through the noonday skies.
Will you come alive at least by four or five?
Wake up before you waste away.
Wake up before you waste away.
Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques
Dormez-vous?
Sonnent les matina
Ding Dong Ding
Brother John, are you sleeping?
Come please open your eyes.
Brother John, I am pleading
Now the moon is on the rise.
I've finished what I had to do, now I want to hang with you.
Wake up before you waste away.
Wake up before you waste away.
Wake up,
Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques
Dormez-vous?
Sonnent les matina
Ding Dong Ding
Ding Dong Ding
Ding Dong Ding
The lyrics to Sam Shaber's song Frere Jacques describe the singer trying to wake up Brother John, who appears to be sleeping through the start of the day. The opening lines, "Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques, Dormez-vous?" are a French nursery rhyme translated to mean "Brother John, Brother John, are you sleeping?" The repeated mention of the bell sound "Ding Dong Ding" reinforces the idea of the day starting and time passing. The repeated plea for Brother John to wake up before he wastes away suggests that there are opportunities that await him if he were to get up and face the day. The line "Got such an array of possibilities today" suggests the singer's excitement for the day's potential events, and the desire to share those experiences with Brother John.
The second stanza echoes the same call to Brother John, highlighting the passing of time with the lyric "sun is on the rise" and "through the noonday skies." Notably, the singer suggests that Brother John "come alive by at least four or five," conveying the idea that there is still time for Brother John to make the most of the day. The final stanza suggests that the singer has finished their tasks for the day and wants to spend time with Brother John. This reinforces the idea that the singer sees the potential for the day, and wants Brother John to be a part of it.
Overall, Sam Shaber's song Frere Jacques is a call to wake up and take on the day's opportunities, with the added poignancy of the potential camaraderie and shared experiences of life with others.
Line by Line Meaning
Frere Jacques, Frere Jacques
Brother John, Brother John
Dormez-vous?
Are you sleeping?
Sonnent les matina
The morning bells are ringing
Ding Dong Ding
Ding Dong Ding
Brother John, are you sleeping?
Brother John, are you sleeping?
Come please open your eyes.
Please wake up and open your eyes.
Brother John, I am pleading
Brother John, I am begging
Sun is on the rise.
The sun is rising.
Got such an array of possibilities today.
There are so many things to do today.
Wake up before you waste away.
Wake up before you miss out on life.
Will you come alive at least by four or five?
Can you please wake up by 4 or 5 o'clock?
Through the noonday skies.
Through the midday skies.
I've finished what I had to do, now I want to hang with you.
I've completed my tasks, now I want to spend time with you.
Now the moon is on the rise.
The moon is rising.
Wake up,
Wake up,
Ding Dong Ding
Ding Dong Ding
Contributed by Sebastian I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.