The Roches were active as performers and recording artists from the mid-1970s through 2007, at various times performing as a trio and in pairs.
In the late 1960s, eldest sister Maggie (October 26, 1951 – January 21, 2017) and middle sister Terre (pronounced "Terry", born April 10, 1953) quit school to tour as a duo. Maggie wrote most of the songs, with Terre contributing to a few. The sisters got a break when Paul Simon brought them in as backup singers on his 1973 #2 album There Goes Rhymin' Simon. They got his assistance (along with an appearance by The Oak Ridge Boys) on their only album as a duo, Seductive Reasoning (1975). Shortly after that, youngest sister Suzzy (rhymes with "fuzzy", born September 29, 1956) joined the group to form The Roches trio.
Around this time, they parlayed bartending jobs at famous Greenwich Village folk venue Gerde's Folk City into stage appearances, an experience they commemorated in their song, "Face Down at Folk City" (from Another World, 1985). It was here that they met many of their future singing and songwriting collaborators. Terre was now writing songs as well, and by the time of their first album as a trio, The Roches (1979), Suzzy had also begun writing. Robert Fripp produced the album. Maggie's "The Married Men" from this album was eventually to become the biggest hit of the songwriting trio — not for them, but for Phoebe Snow. After Snow and Linda Ronstadt performed the song in a duet on Saturday Night Live, the Roches were invited themselves to perform on the show a few months later in 1979 at the behest of Paul Simon. They did two songs, both unreleased at the time, "Bobby's Song" and "The Hallelujah Chorus".
Throughout the 1980s, The Roches continued to release their music to small audiences, little or no air play, and only modest record sales. Their widest exposure in the '80s was an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in November 1985, where they performed their song "Mr. Sellack". In 1990, they returned to their Christmas-caroling roots with the release of the 24-track We Three Kings, which included the a cappella "Star of Wonder", written by Terre. After another pop album (A Dove, 1992), they recorded an entire album of children's songs entitled Will You Be My Friend?, featuring a song by brother David and various young backup singers, including Suzzy's daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche.
After a tour interrupted by the death of their father, The Roches released Can We Go Home Now (1995), the last original recording they released as a trio until 2007.
In 1997, the sisters formally put their group on long-term hold. They continued to work on solo projects and often collaborated on albums and performances. Terre teaches guitar workshops and has released a solo album. Suzzy, who has acted on the stage and in several movies, released two of her own albums and two with Maggie, with whom she has toured. All three sisters periodically participated in New York-area events. At the end of 2005, the three Roches (with brother Dave) reunited for a short but highly successful holiday tour. Several more appearances in the U.S. and Canada took place in 2006–07, and in March 2007, after a 12-year hiatus, The Roches released a new studio album, Moonswept. Following the tour for Moonswept, the Roches announced that they would no longer be touring, although they have made isolated appearances individually and as a group, mostly in and around New York City.
On January 21, 2017, Maggie Roche died of cancer at age 65.
Maggie had an "unusual" contralto voice – "almost a baritone." Terre provides a soprano that brackets the upper range of the sisters, while Suzzy fills in the middle range. While touring, the sisters accompany themselves with guitars and keyboards, occasionally with additional musicians.
Brother David is also a singer-songwriter with his own solo album, and has often backed up the trio on their recordings. Maggie's son, Felix McTeigue, has recorded three albums (one with his group Filo). Suzzy's daughter, Lucy, has also contributed vocals on the Roches' and McTeigue's albums, and in 2007 she produced an EP of her own, 8 Songs, followed by 8 More in 2008 and tours opening for acts such as Amos Lee and the Indigo Girls. Lucy has released two full-length albums, "Lucy" in 2010, and "There's a Last Time for Everything" in 2013. Her father is Loudon Wainwright III, and she is the half-sister of singers Martha and Rufus Wainwright.
The majority of Roches songs are written by the three sisters, whether individually, in every combination, or collaborating with other songwriters. They have also recorded their own arrangements of songs by a variety of New York folk artists, as well as a few covers of famous songs. Their three-part arrangement of the four-part "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's Messiah, featured on Keep On Doing (1982), is well regarded in a cappella circles.
Discography
- Maggie and Terre Roche
Seductive Reasoning (Columbia, 1975)
I Gave My Love a Kerry (Earth Rock Wreckerds, 2004)
- The Roches
The Roches (Warner, 1979)
Nurds (Warner, 1980)
Keep On Doing (Warner, 1982)
Another World (Warner, 1985)
No Trespassing (Real Live Records, 1986)
Speak (MCA, 1989)
We Three Kings (MCA, 1990)
A Dove (MCA, 1992)
Will You Be My Friend? (Baby Boom, 1994)
Can We Go Home Now (Rykodisc, 1995).
The Collected Works of the Roches (Rhino/Warner, 2003)
Moonswept (429 Records, 2007)
Rhino HiFive: The Roches (Rhino/Warner, 2007)
- Suzzy Roche
Holy Smokes (Red House, 1997)
Songs from an Unmarried Housewife and Mother, Greenwich Village, USA (Red House, 2000)
- Terre Roche
The Sound of a Tree Falling (Earth Rock Wreckerds, 1998)
- Suzzy & Maggie Roche
Zero Church (Red House, 2002)
Why The Long Face (Red House, 2004)
Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche[edit]
Fairytale and Myth (2013)
Mud and Apples (2016)
- Terre Roche, Sidiki Conde and Marlon Cherry (as Afro-Jersey)
Afro-Jersey (2013)
So
The Roches Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you had been older or had known a thing or two before you set sail for the New World
Sail for the New World, mate
All this ships ahoy
Trouble is all of the things I hate
But I'm still a young boy
Makes a man take a stance and dash his boat up on the rocks
In the dead of night
So what if you had been lucky then
What would it make you?
So there'd be a statue so people won't forget you set sail for the New World
Sail for the New World, mate
Let's not and say we did
Trouble comes and it seals your fate
As you turn into the skid
Sail for the New World, mate
All ships ahoy
Trouble comes when you graduate
But I'm still a young boy
The Roches's song "So" speaks about the struggles of going on a journey, specifically the journey to the New World. The song shows how things may not always go as planned, and sometimes one's age and experience can affect their ability to navigate the journey. The opening lines of the song suggest that perhaps the journey could have gone better if the person doing it had been better prepared, with more knowledge and experience. However, the rest of the song suggests that even with these added elements, things may still not have gone perfectly. As the lyrics speak of trouble and fate sealing one's future.
The lyrics also suggest a sense of frustration and resignation, as the singer seems to be saying that even though they are still young, they feel as though trouble has already found them. This speaks to a larger theme of the difficulty of growing up and navigating the world around us. The idea that even if we do everything "right," things may still go wrong, and we may still end up in challenging circumstances. However, the song also suggests a sort of resilience, as it directly addresses the challenges and difficulties of the journey, without shying away or sugar-coating the truth.
Line by Line Meaning
So maybe another way would have been better
Perhaps there was a better course of action
If you had been older or had known a thing or two before you set sail for the New World
If only you had been more experienced or knowledgeable when embarking on your voyage to the New World
Sail for the New World, mate
Set sail for the New World, my friend
All this ships ahoy
Attention all ships in the area
Trouble is all of the things I hate
I despise everything that brings difficulty or harm
But I'm still a young boy
Despite this, I am still inexperienced and naive
In the meantime a chance in the form of a light
In the meantime, a glimmer of hope appears
Makes a man take a stance and dash his boat up on the rocks
A man takes action, risking his vessel by crashing into the rocks
In the dead of night
Under the cover of darkness
So what if you had been lucky then
What would success have meant if you had simply been lucky?
What would it make you?
What would success have done to shape you as a person?
So there'd be a statue so people won't forget you set sail for the New World
A statue might be erected in your honor, so your journey to the New World is not forgotten
Let's not and say we did
Perhaps we should avoid what may be a regrettable decision
Trouble comes and it seals your fate
Difficulty often leads to an unfavorable outcome
As you turn into the skid
As the situation becomes worse, it's best to give in and ride it out
Trouble comes when you graduate
Challenges continue to arise, even after academic accomplishments
But I'm still a young boy
Despite this, I am still inexperienced and naive
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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