Managing Editor: Chuthan Ponnampalam Contact: me@themanitoban.com / 474.6520
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Features
the Manitoban Mixtape At first glance the eclectic selection of songs featured in the following pages might seem incoherent together, however, they do in fact have something in common – an interesting story. We all know of a song that tells a good story, but in this feature the Manitoban wanted to take a look at the stories behind the music, or inspired by it.
Some of the stories recount personal anecdotes or tell of landmark moments in our history, others are reminders of icons passed or provide revelations about human nature. So give the QR code above a scan and the Manitoban Mixtape a play. We hope you enjoy the tunes and the stories.
Free Man in Paris Joni Mitchell’s song about David Geffen and the music industry Stephanie George, volunteer staff
T
he year was 1974. Joni Mitchell had just written her Geffen had told her. The chorus sums up his feelings: smash hit “Free Man in Paris,” about a trip she took “I was a free man in Paris / I felt unfettered and alive / with the president of her record label, David Geffen. There was nobody calling me up for favors / And no one’s Geffen, as it turns out, was not too pleased. future to decide / You know I’d go back there tomorrow It’s not that Joni and David weren’t friendly. In fact, / But for the work I’ve taken on / Stoking the star maker they shared a house at one point (apparently no romantic machinery / Behind the popular song.” involvement here, but there were certainly rumours). While recording the album, Mitchell was excited Geffen gave Mitchell her big break when he signed her about how the song was turning out. The excitement to his label, Asylum Records, producing other big stars only grew when guitarist José Feliciano joined the team. such as Bob Dylan and the Eagles. Yes, they were pals, but that doesn’t mean Geffen had to be happy about Joni using his life as song-writing material. Mitchell comments, “He didn’t like it at the time [ . . . ] He begged me to take it off the record. I think he felt uncomfortable being shown in that light.” This light she speaks of would be one of vulnerability and unhappiness. The song discusses Geffen’s feelings regarding his work in the music industry. Mitchell says she was inspired to write the song by a lot of things that
I could have done more Spencer Fernando, staff
Note: This review may not make much sense if you haven’t seen Schindler’s List, but if you haven’t go watch it as soon as you can.
“I
Could Have Done More” from the Schindler’s List soundtrack is one of the most heart-wrenching pieces of music I have ever listened to. Music often rekindles memories in our minds, bringing sentiments and feelings flooding back. For movie soundtracks, the songs have a very direct link to a moment, since it coincides with what you are seeing on screen. For a movie like Schindler’s List, this brings forth powerful emotions. The song “I Could Have Done More” plays near the end of Schindler's List, when Oskar Schindler is fleeing
from the advancing allied forces. Schindler—a member of the Nazi Party in Germany—owned a factory and employed Jewish workers, sparing them from the extermination camps. Over the course of the war, as he began to realize the true aims of the Nazi Party he once supported, he began to hire more and more workers, not for the purpose of making money, but to spare them from the death camps. His workers purposely make substandard shells and ammunition to disrupt the Nazi war machine. By the end of the war, he had spent nearly every last dollar of his once large fortune, and in doing so he saved more than 1,100 people.
Feliciano was working with John Lennon at the time in a studio along the same corridor where Mitchell was recording. Things weren’t working, Lennon got drunk, and Feliciano wandered down the hallway, only to hear “Free Man in Paris” escaping from Mitchell’s studio door. Already an acquaintance of Mitchell’s from some work they did together in Canada, Feliciano simply walked into the room and told Joni that he thought he could add some good electric guitar to the song. Feliciano explains, “The great guitarist Larry Carlton of the L.A. Express was already on the track, but I knew I could hold my own with him. Joni didn’t try to direct me at all, just let me do what I do, and it turned out really good.” Court and Spark, the album in which “Free Man in Paris” appears, was released to wonderful reviews and overwhelming popularity. The album influenced many other musicians; Madonna is quoted as saying, “In high school, I worshipped Joni Mitchell and sang everything from Court and Spark, my coming-of-age record.” After the success of her first single, “Help Me,” Mitchell thought the next single off the album should be the love song, “Car on a Hill.” However, the record label released “Free Man in Paris” instead, a song which Joni never saw as holding single potential. But it was a good thing that the label didn’t listen to Mitchell because the song became her biggest international hit and is ranked #470 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It’s also one of her most covered songs, with everyone from Elton John to Neil Diamond to Sufjan Stevens taking a whack at it!
“I Could Have Done More” plays as he is fleeing Germany as the Allies approach and says goodbye to his workers. He is presented with a final gift, from those who he saved – a ring with the words “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire” written in Hebrew. This causes Schindler to consider the fact that he was literally trading money for human lives, and he thinks back to all the money he has wasted throughout his life. He looks at his car, realizing the money he could have made from selling the car could have allowed him to hire—and therefore save—10 more people. He takes the pin off of his coat and realizes that since it is gold, he could have saved one or two more people had he sold it. The combination of Schindler’s realization and the amazing violin solo makes this one of the most powerful moments in film in my opinion, and even without the visual context, “I Could Have Done More” is an incredible piece of music.
Illustrations by Allan lorde and justin ladia