Slaid Cleaves’ music is marked by both the quirky blend of isolated eccentricity and steely resilience of his Yankee upbringing and the weathered soul of Texas, the state he has called home for over a decade now. First registering on the national folk scene by winning the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk competition in 1992, Cleaves released his national debut No Angel Knows (Philo/Rounder) in 1997, following a string of self-released albums and many nights logged in folk clubs as both a performer and a soundman. Met with effusive critical praise, No Angel Knows was followed by Broke Down (Philo/Rounder) in 2000, which expanded his audience exponentially by virtue of its exceedingly well-crafted songs and rugged Gurf Morlix production. In addition to the title track, a Rod Picott collaboration that won Song of the Year at the Austin Music Awards in 2001, Broke Down featured a couple of interpretations of other writers’ songs prefiguring Slaid’s later work, including a poignant reading of fellow Austinite Karen Poston’s “Lydia.”
Following Broke Down came 2004’s Wishbones (Philo/Rounder), a richly detailed exploration of life’s darker corners where still a ray of hope somehow shines. Wishbones climbed to the top of the Americana Radio chart coming in at #1 for 2004 while Slaid toured relentlessly promoting the album. It was after the recording of Wishbones that Cleaves began to consider the endeavor that became Unsung. “Over the years,” Cleaves explains, “as I grew as a songwriter, my songs began to make up the bulk of my sets. But I continued to throw in the odd song by a hero or friend, both in my shows and on the records I made. I did that partly out of tribute to my influences, but also to give my set, or album, some context and some variety.” These are songs from the songwriter trenches – compositions Cleaves first heard at late-night song-swaps, open-mic nights, during downtime at recording sessions, and on modest self-released CDs. Thanks to the work of producers David Henry and Rod Picott (a long-time Cleaves cohort and fellow Mainer), the performances and backdrops on Unsung are as evocative and captivating as the songs themselves. Cleaves’ gifts as an interpreter are such that the line between singer and song vanish completely.
"Cleaves tells gorgeously compact stories in a voice packed with Texas trail dust." -- Entertainment Weekly
"...one of the finest singer-songwriters in Texas." -- Neil Strauss, The New York Times
Fairest Of Them All
Slaid Cleaves Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She was wanted in fifteen states
Dress was torn around at the shoulder
Resulting from her escape
She wanted love, She wanted fame,
She got it all, even her name
In a concrete star on the corner of the street
Where real life and the movies meet
Oh let me be in the city of angels
Yes, this is what I want
To put on my dress
And some red, red lipstick
And let all the people watch me as I walk
Up in Vegas where the neon screams
As loud as the traffic in her (?) scenes
She ran away to the circus (circus)
She wears high heels like in her dreams
Down the catwalk with her long cigarette
Hanging from her pretty pouted lips
She's gonna be famous,
She's gonna be rich
Rockabye baby, rockabye bitch
Rockabye baby, rockabye
Oh let me be in the city of angels
Yes, this is what I want
To put on my dress
And some red, red lipstick
And let all the people watch me as I walk
In the lamp light of her motel room,
She writes home to the moon
Say goodnight to my old bedroom
I'll be home to visit someday soon,
I'll be home to visit someday
Now she knows she's got it all
She does her cocaine in the hall
No more hiding in the bathroom stall.
She is the fairest of them all.
She is the fairest of them all.
The lyrics of Slaid Cleaves's song Fairest Of Them All explore the life of a woman named Frances Baker. She is a wanted criminal, with a torn dress from her escape bid. The lyrics of the song state that she desired love and fame, which she managed to achieve after changing her name and receiving a concrete star on the street corner where "real life and the movies meet." Her life takes her to the city of angels, Los Angeles, where she puts on her dress and red lipstick and walks among the people, who watch her every move.
The song then moves to Las Vegas, where she runs away to a circus and dons heels that she previously only wore in her dreams. She walks down the catwalk with her cigarette hanging from her lips and dreams of becoming famous and rich. The lamp light in her motel room is where she writes to her old bedroom back home to say goodnight, promising to visit again soon. The final verse of the song suggests that Frances Baker has achieved her desires in life and no longer has to hide in bathroom stalls for her cocaine use. The lyricist suggests that she is now the fairest of them all.
Line by Line Meaning
Frances Baker was a red-eyed woman
Frances Baker was a woman with red eyes
She was wanted in fifteen states
She was being pursued by the authorities in fifteen states
Dress was torn around at the shoulder
Her dress was ripped on the shoulder
Resulting from her escape
This was a consequence of her running away
She wanted love, She wanted fame,
She desired both love and fame
She got it all, even her name
Her wishes were granted, including a new name
In a concrete star on the corner of the street
A star in her name was embedded on the street
Where real life and the movies meet
In the intersection of real life and Hollywood
Oh let me be in the city of angels
The artist expresses a desire to live in Los Angeles
Yes, this is what I want
The artist is very certain of their desire
To put on my dress
They want to dress up
And some red, red lipstick
To put on red lipstick
And let all the people watch me as I walk
To be seen by everyone as they stroll
Up in Vegas where the neon screams
In Las Vegas where the neon lights are blaring
As loud as the traffic in her (?) scenes
As noisy as the action in her own personal movies
She ran away to the circus (circus)
She escaped to the circus
She wears high heels like in her dreams
She wears high heels that she envisioned herself wearing
Down the catwalk with her long cigarette
She struts down the catwalk smoking a long cigarette
Hanging from her pretty pouted lips
The cigarette hangs from her attractive pursed lips
She's gonna be famous,
She will become famous
She's gonna be rich
She will become wealthy
Rockabye baby, rockabye bitch
A veiled comment about her precarious lifestyle
In the lamp light of her motel room,
In the dim light of her motel room
She writes home to the moon
She writes to someone who's not there
Say goodnight to my old bedroom
She bids farewell to her old bedroom
I'll be home to visit someday soon,
She promises to visit home soon
Now she knows she's got it all
She has everything she wanted
She does her cocaine in the hall
She uses cocaine in the hallway
No more hiding in the bathroom stall.
She no longer needs to hide in the bathroom
She is the fairest of them all.
She is the most beautiful and successful of them all
She is the fairest of them all.
She is the most beautiful and successful of them all
Contributed by Katherine N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.