Cold: Ice

Shelleyan Orphan: Ice

[purchase]

Since I live in South Florida, I have been joking off-list with my fellow Star Makers about this week's theme, faux-innocently asking "what is this cold you speak of?" - I was promptly reminded of the arctic wave that blasted us the first two weeks of last month, in which the orange trees froze, I turned on our heat (for the first time in years)... and I didn't leave the house for four days...

But I digress...

I rarely step foot into a music store these days, now purchasing my CDs directly from the artist at shows or ordering online, either through the artist's website or via Amazon - however, I used to be a cut-out bin junkie (albums, cassettes or CDs, depending upon the era), loving nothing better than to spend hours flipping through the stacks, unearthing an old favorite or a new discovery (at those prices, you could afford to take chances!)...

Camelot Music... Perimeter Mall... Atlanta, Georgia... February 1992 - I found Acoustic Christmas for $1.00. I couldn't believe my luck (would you just look at that tracklist?!?) and immediately scooped it up. It more than lived up to my expectations... and the following December found me making the first mix CD of what is now an annual holiday tradition - we had just moved to South Florida from Atlanta and I had the blues, living so far away from my mom, brother and sister...

I envisioned a song cycle of emotion, segueing from melancholy and sadness to redemption and acceptance... and decided to title it Have Yourself a *Mellow* Little Christmas, using Shawn's cover as the cornerstone final song - the Shelleyan Orphan tune stopped me cold (pun intended) on first listen, and I knew it was destined for inclusion in this musical journey...

I knew nothing about what-I-thought-was-a-her-but-only-recently-discovered-was-a-group... only that the haunting voice, the bittersweet lyrics and the eclectic musicianship made it the perfect track 2 (following In the Bleak Mid-Winter) - I love the way my mix rollercoasters from head-in-the-oven futility to everything's-going-to-be-okay affirmation (Juliana Hatfield's Make It Home and Kate Bush's December Will Be Magic Again)... and I still carve out special time each holiday season to plug in the tree, light a few candles, pour myself a glass of wine and listen to my homemade compilation start-to-finish uninterrupted... to remind myself that without the sorrow we wouldn't appreciate the joy...

All this because of a song on a CD found in the cut-out bin - the power of music indeed...