Laura, i once served you avocado toast in nyc and awkwardly free cookies (I didn’t know how to say thank you without disturbing your time) this was the day or maybe only a few days after semper femina came out. I listened to it on the train that morning. For a year at that awful job I jotted down lyrics and dreamt of having more time to actually pursue this thing. I took you sitting in my section as a sign. Soon after, I quit the job - found something flexible, and got on with booking my first gigs. I’m sure you hear women say all the time that your music has accompanied their life. It is true for me too. I enjoy reading your work so much —- as it also allows me to feel less alone in my creative process. I go from a hyper creative storm to what my therapist calls dissociation (watching Adam Curtis often or silly reality shows,) but she said it was necessary. Thank you for all your work… I listen to patterns and it reminds me of a friend, I call her to get out of my little maze.
What an honour, to unknowingly be a sign in someones life. I relate to your swing from hyper creativity to dissociation completely - it’s part of it all.
Appreciate that :) when I really picked up guitar I started by learning your tunings -with the greats… Townes and Joni too. this was years back (once I was an eagle) era. 💙 thank u for everything
Beautiful evocative writing and I’m enjoying the books references. Just wanted to share that I’ve recently started guitar lessons (completely beginner) at the age of 55 and feel that I have a very strong inspiration in you. So, thanks again!
that image of following your mother around the garden to get the kinks out of the hose, the smell of the soil -- brought back so vividly images of me doing the same with my mother. such lovely writing. (also turned to my partner with much glee to exclaim: laura marling plays zelda, too!)
Really enjoyable read and it’s awesome to hear you’re a love of The Sopranos and Zelda (I’m playing it currently on my Switch). I watched it for the first time while I was I college about 10 years ago and it blew me away. If you liked Sopranos, I highly recommend Mad Men. It is created by one of the writers of Sopranos and is a character study in a similar vein. I always enjoy seeing your inspirations and look forward to seeing more of what you are reading/watching. As for covers, I would love to hear a cover of Sierra Ferrell’s The Garden. I think you would do a great job with it.
Laura, your work has been a touchstone in my life ever since the I Speak era. I can’t express how wonderful it is to hear you discuss your work so intimately and plainly in these posts. I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharing more about the experience of being ‘compelled’ to write OIWAE. That album, especially the first 4 songs, are so powerful and feel entwined with my own life. I can’t separate them from the person I was when that album came out in 2013 when I was listening to it on repeat. That album touched upon something deep that I can’t really name. Just curious to hear more about that process for you. I know you’ve described it feeling like a turning point in your writing as well. Would love to hear more about it if you care to get into it. So excited for the new album!
P.S. Agree about the Sopranos being the best show ever (and Six Feet Under!)
You are right, The Sopranos is the greatest thing ever written. Both the beginning and end of prestige television. Nothing has come close, not really.
On the topic of acoustic versions and/or covers: Short Movie, Master Hunter (I would also love to know the background of this song and how you feel about it now, ten years later, with a long-term partner and daughter) and Jackrabbits by Joanna Newsom!
So beautiful. My parents had a big garden when we were young. Plants so tall you could hide in them. Can’t wait to listen to the new album. Thanks for the inspiring words here, which will take a bit to digest. There is so much content to take in these days, it’s a bit overwhelming. You shine brightly out from the rest, as a listener I feel blessed. We can thank your Mom and Dad for sharing you.
Lovely as always Laura. I remember loving The Sopranos when I saw it but later feeling appalled at the thought that it celebrated horribly violent people. Now in the days of Trump I can’t even contemplate watching Tony, who seems like the man Trump would like to be, a totally uninhibited monster with absolute power over his kingdom. Perhaps his therapy sessions appealed to you?
Covers: please please please do Dylan’s “Up To Me”—hearing you sing it in at the Triple Door in Seattle (home of Frasier Crane) was the most beautiful performance I’ve ever seen (Dylan was into the tarot in the mid-'70s when he wrote "Up to Me"--the Empress card is pictured on the back of Desire and you can really hear the influence on Street Legal). You did “Both Sides Now” that night as well, and I had a lovely chat at the merch table with Tam, who sold me one of your sigils. Really one of the best concert nights of my life. I'm sad I won't be able to see one of your residencies, but here in the Pacific Northwest we are so far away from New York and London.
Thank you, Laura, for another insightful post. I look forward to these, they add something distinctively meaningful to my week. I never got into the Sopranos, but I was a huge fan of Peaky Blinders. Where they used your song “What He Wrote” intensified the emotional impact of the scene… gut wrenching it was. Another example of the brilliant music choices for the scoring of the series.
I have a request for a song that was moving for me… “I Speak Because I Can.” The lyric, “I speak because I can, to anyone I trust enough to listen.,” was a poignant strengthening and continuing inspiration for an ongoing photo series I started in 2018. Titled, “My Picture Tells A Story,” it deals with human emotions, and trust in a unique way. I am currently working on a series (based on this) with Tucson Musicians.
Your work always seems so mature and ethereal, so as someone 8 years your senior, it's a relief to know you also have a silly, human side. I can recommend Cheers (if you want to lose several weeks of your life, and haven't seen it already).
I tried to think of some aesthetically pleasing way of writing out the dur nur nur nurrrrrr!!!! sound you get when you open a chest in Zelda but utterly failed. From now on that’s what I’ll hear every time you post x
Love this Laura: from a person who spends an insurmountable time alone in the wilds, musing and contemplating - and then playing 'Tile Family' on my phone for hours.
Laura, you're truly such an inspiration. I cannot comprehend how we exist on the same planet at the same time because you feel so... wise. There's something otherworldly about how you think and you're just too cool for the Internet.
Laura, i once served you avocado toast in nyc and awkwardly free cookies (I didn’t know how to say thank you without disturbing your time) this was the day or maybe only a few days after semper femina came out. I listened to it on the train that morning. For a year at that awful job I jotted down lyrics and dreamt of having more time to actually pursue this thing. I took you sitting in my section as a sign. Soon after, I quit the job - found something flexible, and got on with booking my first gigs. I’m sure you hear women say all the time that your music has accompanied their life. It is true for me too. I enjoy reading your work so much —- as it also allows me to feel less alone in my creative process. I go from a hyper creative storm to what my therapist calls dissociation (watching Adam Curtis often or silly reality shows,) but she said it was necessary. Thank you for all your work… I listen to patterns and it reminds me of a friend, I call her to get out of my little maze.
Katy Rea
What an honour, to unknowingly be a sign in someones life. I relate to your swing from hyper creativity to dissociation completely - it’s part of it all.
Appreciate that :) when I really picked up guitar I started by learning your tunings -with the greats… Townes and Joni too. this was years back (once I was an eagle) era. 💙 thank u for everything
Thank you :)
Beautiful evocative writing and I’m enjoying the books references. Just wanted to share that I’ve recently started guitar lessons (completely beginner) at the age of 55 and feel that I have a very strong inspiration in you. So, thanks again!
that image of following your mother around the garden to get the kinks out of the hose, the smell of the soil -- brought back so vividly images of me doing the same with my mother. such lovely writing. (also turned to my partner with much glee to exclaim: laura marling plays zelda, too!)
Really enjoyable read and it’s awesome to hear you’re a love of The Sopranos and Zelda (I’m playing it currently on my Switch). I watched it for the first time while I was I college about 10 years ago and it blew me away. If you liked Sopranos, I highly recommend Mad Men. It is created by one of the writers of Sopranos and is a character study in a similar vein. I always enjoy seeing your inspirations and look forward to seeing more of what you are reading/watching. As for covers, I would love to hear a cover of Sierra Ferrell’s The Garden. I think you would do a great job with it.
Laura, your work has been a touchstone in my life ever since the I Speak era. I can’t express how wonderful it is to hear you discuss your work so intimately and plainly in these posts. I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharing more about the experience of being ‘compelled’ to write OIWAE. That album, especially the first 4 songs, are so powerful and feel entwined with my own life. I can’t separate them from the person I was when that album came out in 2013 when I was listening to it on repeat. That album touched upon something deep that I can’t really name. Just curious to hear more about that process for you. I know you’ve described it feeling like a turning point in your writing as well. Would love to hear more about it if you care to get into it. So excited for the new album!
P.S. Agree about the Sopranos being the best show ever (and Six Feet Under!)
You are right, The Sopranos is the greatest thing ever written. Both the beginning and end of prestige television. Nothing has come close, not really.
On the topic of acoustic versions and/or covers: Short Movie, Master Hunter (I would also love to know the background of this song and how you feel about it now, ten years later, with a long-term partner and daughter) and Jackrabbits by Joanna Newsom!
So beautiful. My parents had a big garden when we were young. Plants so tall you could hide in them. Can’t wait to listen to the new album. Thanks for the inspiring words here, which will take a bit to digest. There is so much content to take in these days, it’s a bit overwhelming. You shine brightly out from the rest, as a listener I feel blessed. We can thank your Mom and Dad for sharing you.
Lovely as always Laura. I remember loving The Sopranos when I saw it but later feeling appalled at the thought that it celebrated horribly violent people. Now in the days of Trump I can’t even contemplate watching Tony, who seems like the man Trump would like to be, a totally uninhibited monster with absolute power over his kingdom. Perhaps his therapy sessions appealed to you?
Covers: please please please do Dylan’s “Up To Me”—hearing you sing it in at the Triple Door in Seattle (home of Frasier Crane) was the most beautiful performance I’ve ever seen (Dylan was into the tarot in the mid-'70s when he wrote "Up to Me"--the Empress card is pictured on the back of Desire and you can really hear the influence on Street Legal). You did “Both Sides Now” that night as well, and I had a lovely chat at the merch table with Tam, who sold me one of your sigils. Really one of the best concert nights of my life. I'm sad I won't be able to see one of your residencies, but here in the Pacific Northwest we are so far away from New York and London.
Thank you, Laura, for another insightful post. I look forward to these, they add something distinctively meaningful to my week. I never got into the Sopranos, but I was a huge fan of Peaky Blinders. Where they used your song “What He Wrote” intensified the emotional impact of the scene… gut wrenching it was. Another example of the brilliant music choices for the scoring of the series.
I have a request for a song that was moving for me… “I Speak Because I Can.” The lyric, “I speak because I can, to anyone I trust enough to listen.,” was a poignant strengthening and continuing inspiration for an ongoing photo series I started in 2018. Titled, “My Picture Tells A Story,” it deals with human emotions, and trust in a unique way. I am currently working on a series (based on this) with Tucson Musicians.
Contractually obligated to read Terry Tempest Williams now since I also grew up in the Mormon faith. And went to the same alma mater.
Funny that I’d be introduced to her from someone half way across the world. Thanks for another post!
Also - acoustic cover request: Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs
Your work always seems so mature and ethereal, so as someone 8 years your senior, it's a relief to know you also have a silly, human side. I can recommend Cheers (if you want to lose several weeks of your life, and haven't seen it already).
I tried to think of some aesthetically pleasing way of writing out the dur nur nur nurrrrrr!!!! sound you get when you open a chest in Zelda but utterly failed. From now on that’s what I’ll hear every time you post x
Love this Laura: from a person who spends an insurmountable time alone in the wilds, musing and contemplating - and then playing 'Tile Family' on my phone for hours.
Laura, you're truly such an inspiration. I cannot comprehend how we exist on the same planet at the same time because you feel so... wise. There's something otherworldly about how you think and you're just too cool for the Internet.
Currently battling my way through Sopranos, close to finishing. It's a conflicting watch!