By George Boyland
Rufus Wainwright's 'Martha' takes the form of a telephone message to his eponymous sister. It's around the time their mother died, and Rufus wants a reconciliation. He evokes their parents, an obvious tug at her heartstrings, and begs her to call him back.
The only line I could discern in Ursula Rucker's 'Letter To A Sister Friend' (feat: Vicki Miles), was 'So soft in a bittersweet melange'. If not a mondegreen it's a concise summation of sisterhood if ever there was one. It also describes the music, a dreamy recipe consisting of twilight beats folded in with rich, treacly vocals.
"I hear Rosetta singing in the night", Robert Plant and Alison Krauss sing in 'Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us', a Waitsian-cum-European lament of lost love written by the great Sam Phillips. The protagonist has been left alone, but the music of Sister Rosetta, "Echoes of light that shine like stars," carry her through to the dawn.
Marianne Faithfull's 'Witches' Song' asks us to "Remember death is far away and life is sweet." That may be true whilst dancing under the night sky on a hilltop in a circle of spiritual sisters. But the time will come when their bodies can't climb that hill. So she's right, enjoy it while you can.
A former member of Bob Marley's I Three, Judy Mowatt's solo career proved her longevity. In 'Sisters' Chant' she soulfully expresses her awareness of the difficulties traditionally faced by women the world over.
Ah yes, the good, loving brother, clenching his fist but not biting his tongue. Attempting to raise his sister's spirits and assuage her broken heart, Lenny Kravitz, in 'Sister', feels for his sibling after she was dumped by a no good ain't never been. "If they knock on your door you already gave," he tells her. Sounds like I've been there?
Jake Thackray's 'The Lodger' takes sibling rivalry to its ultimate extreme. It's fortunate that he was young and fit or he wouldn't have had the energy to pick up his guitar, never mind write the song. In the end a good time was had by all - and I mean all.
Playing down by the river I was accosted by two massive young Teddy Boys in full regalia. "Know any Elvis?" Fortunately, I had Elvis Presley's 'Little Sister' up my sleeve. My how they rocked. Sorry, jived. Got away with that one all right. In Doc Pomus's much-covered tune Elvis laments his girlfriend dumping him in the cinema whilst casting a weather eye over her now full-grown little sister. I suppose that's not a unique event. There are many versions, but Elvis was first, and given the presence of Scotty Moore on guitar and Ray Walker's incredible bass vocals, El wins.
The Motor City Five have a sister Anne, just like me. She rings a lot of bells, being beautiful, clever and organised. She's even going to save Hell from him. Talk about being placed on a pedestal. The MC5's 'Sister Anne' certainly rocks hard whilst extolling sibling solidarity, but there's a soft centre, as our protagonist stands in awe of his sister.
According to Jerry Wexler, Sam Moore's voice was sweet and Dave Prater's was ominous. Those adjectives adequately describe their conflicting personalities. Certainly as Sam and Dave their records reflected the extremities of the Southern preachers of their collective childhood. But recordings such as 'Soul Sister, Brown Sugar' dragged Gospel call and response into the late Sixties, and weren't afraid to celebrate the sexuality of their African American 'sisters'. Oh, and it filled dance floors across the world.
Bonnie Raitt's 'Papa Come Quick (Jody And Chico)' tells the tale of a family's reaction to a young runaway taking off with a bad sort. The narrator, a sibling, obviously has a better understanding of her sister's mindset than their parents. She knows that Chico's wild eyes, silver tongue and Harley have turned her unthinking sister's head more than all the lights of Vegas.
There's a metaphor buried somewhere in Maddy Prior's 'Sheath And Knife', in which a prince impregnates his sister. While the palace parties he takes her outside and kills her and the baby. There's not much more to add to the horror of this story of incest, except that the female always comes off worst. A doctor once told me that in terms of inbreeding humanity's greatest invention was the bicycle.
Let's close with something happy and jaunty. Standard Fare's 'Half Sister' describes discovering the sister the singer hasn't seen for twenty years. All the oblique questions that only experience would know arise bubbling from the expectancy of long-forgotten emotions. Lovely stuff.
Sing Out Sister A-LIst Playlist:
Rufus Wainwright - Martha
Ursula Rucker - Letter To A Sister Friend
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
Marianne Faithfull - Witches' Song
Judy Mowatt - Sisters' Chant
Lenny Kravitz - Sister
Jake Thackray - The Lodger
Elvis Presley - Little Sister
MC5 - Sister Anne
Sam and Dave - Soul Sister, Brown Sugar
Bonnie Raitt - Papa Come Quick (Jody And Chico)
Maddy Prior - Sheath And Knife
Standard Fare - Half Sister
Bosom Pals B-List Playlist:
The Sonics - Look At Little Sister
Kaizers Orchestra - Kontroll Pa Kontinentet
Slobberbone - Sister Beams
The Juliana Hatfield Three - My Sister
Camera Obscura - A Sister's Social Agony
Terence Trent D'Arby - Dance Little Sister
Nico - Little Sister
Tracey Thorne (ft. Corinne Bailey Rae) - Sister
Sufjan Stevens - Sister Winter
Roberta Flack - Sunday And Sister Jones
Little Richard - Lucille
Nicodemus - Sister June
Lori Mckenna - Marie
Guru’s Wildcards:
Tom Waits - Two Sisters
The Edgar Broughton Band - Sister Angela
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: It's all relative: songs about sisters. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
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