Friday, September 23, 2011

Music To Write By: 16 Horsepower's "The Partisan"

Why Listen? For sheer poignancy; apocalyptic eeriness; grist for that war-ravaged setting rattling around in your mind.



Many contemporary cover songs pale when compared to their source material. But 16 Horsepower's version of "The Partisan" -- the 1943 French resistance anthem penned during World War 2 and popularized by singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen -- transmutes the tune into something altogether different. Lead singer David Eugene Edwards does apocalyptic intensity like no one else, and in his hands the song seems to slide from a lament about Nazi oppression to a dirge over the evil of a fractured world. Slip on the headphones and see if your brain doesn't begin to bubble over with martial images when Edwards intones, "Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing, / Through the graves the wind is blowing, / Freedom soon will come. / Then we'll come from the shadows."

10 comments:

Chestertonian Rambler said...

Okay, I'm sold.

Got a road trip coming up, could use a CD. Any recommendations on the best 16 HP / Wovenhand album for my bucks?

Loren Eaton said...

Alas, I'm not terribly familiar with Woven Hand. Regarding 16 Horsepower, though, their most rock-influenced album was Low Estate, while Folklore stayed closer to more traditional old-time music. "Brimstone Rock" will give you a feel for the former and "Hutterite Mile" the latter.

Chestertonian Rambler said...

I got Secret South, since Folklore was only available in this ancient form known as "physical media" or "compact discs." :-D

Good stuff, although I feel they may join Kate Rusby in the category of artists whose original stuff is very good, but whose adaptations of traditional material are daring and inspired.

Loren Eaton said...

Yes, their version of "Wayfaring Stranger" on Secret South is ... very unique. I remember hearing it and thinking, "What in the world is this?!"

Chestertonian Rambler said...

LOL. De gustibus non disputandum, I suppose; I heard it and thought "Wow! This is exactly what folk music should be."

Btw, in the precise opposite key, you might want to check out Kate Rusby's Elfin Knight. It's a fantastic song, an upbeat, joyous celebration of love and marriage that would have lead off my wedding reception had I had only known the song back then.

Why is this weird, you ask? It's an adaptation of the same medieval ballad that Simon and Garfunkle morphed into "Scarborough Faire," and that Bob Dylan transmuted into "Girl from the North Country."

What a difference editing and presentation makes, eh?

Loren Eaton said...

That's so true. By the way, I like most of 16 Horsepower's covers, but that one just didn't land right. Maybe I'll got back and listen to it again.

I think I'll have to check out Kate Rusby.

Chestertonian Rambler said...

I've apparently gone on an orgy of CD purchasing--two in as many weeks. Strangely enough, they both had "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" on them.

I still like 16 HP's version, but I think Eliza Carthy & Norma Waterson may have nailed it--despite being English folk singers. She chews into the lyrics with a straightforward passion, while the background instruments craft a fittingly eerie atmosphere. Probably the definitive recording of the song, imo, for our age. Well worth checking out.

Loren Eaton said...

I'll do so! Is it on YouTube?

Chestertonian Rambler said...

This one has a (skippable) ad before it:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/5943456/eliza_carthy_norma_waterson_poor_wayfaring_stranger/

It's the version from the album I bought.

Loren Eaton said...

That's a really nice cover. I think it's their voices that make it. Alto and slightly earthly. Thanks for sharing.