Pegasus

Produced by David Woodhead
2003

All-new recordings made in 1999–2002; substantial CD-extra content, incl. two more songs that just didn’t seem to fit on Pegasus: Computer Cowboy is listed as C_Cowboy, and When Leonard Cohen Sings is WLCS. Plus 5 Hammond Stringband songs—Monday Morning, Mr. M of the Magic Movies, Ways of the Heart, Blue Around the Border & Botanical Gardens—a bunch of my radio stories, plays, and other stuff!

1. Tropical Valentine
Some years back I sold my house and went to live in Barbados for several months. In the winter. Lucky me.

2. Chestnut Mare
Inspired by a “naughty little horse” that a friend of mine and I saved from auction, who then canters off into more philosophical territory.

3. Great Black Crow
A deceptively simple song about a mother and her passing…“and now I am a motherless child/ a long long long way from home…”

4. Bits of String
About a woman who barricades herself against the world and the neighbour who thinks she’s different till she realizes that “lifelines and shackles are easy to confuse.”

5. Pegasus
A retelling of the Pegasus myth—I changed his origins—and a lament for a missing soul mate.

6. The Canadian (P’tit cheval de fer)
A lively bilingual song about a rare breed of horse, the Canadian or le cheval canadien, descended from the horses that the Sun King sent to New France in the 1600s. I was lucky enough to own one for 4 years.

The lyrics of “The Canadian” pretty much give a capsule history of this rare breed, which was declared Canada’s National Horse by an act of Parliament in 2002. I owned a Canadian Horse for 4 years. Not only did I write a song about the Canadian Horse, a rare and special breed, I bought one in 2002. Sadly, after my accident, I had to sell him. Beau is now living happily in Nova Scotia on a farm with his full sister and other Canadian horses. Note to horse enthusiasts: “Beau” is his nickname. His registered name is Mainguy Bismark Joé. For newcomers to the breed, what that means is he was bred at Ferme Mainguy; his sire’s name is Bismark – yeah, the horse world is a patriarchy, what can I say?! – and he was born in 1999, the “J” year. Every year is assigned a consecutive letter of the alphabet (some letters are skipped), which allows people to know instantly how old the horse is.

7. Keyboard Kitty

What happens when cat meets machine. Clever kitty wins and types SOS O G I PP, among other things, to an infectious Cajun rhythm.

8. Snow Song
Written for a children’s play and now widely requested by adults: the world of snow and all its variants through the eyes of a child of the Far North.

9. When I Was Twelve
About a child and her father and innocence; and innocence lost; and lost innocence finally healed through a final loss.

10. Isabeau s’y promène
A haunting traditional French Canadian ballad about a woman and her sailor love who drowns.

11. Omaha
About losing a sister: “I’d trade all the music in the world, all the paintings by Monet / oh, I would gladly give my voice to have you back just one more day…”

12. Douce (pour Denise)
About two sisters who are very different, but whose bond is unshakeable. For my lost sister.

CD-EXTRA Content

New songs

Computer Cowboy
“We go to the drive-in but it just ain’t fair/ I can’t sit on his lap ’cuz his laptop’s there.“ What happens when woman meets a cyber obsessive. Asleep at the Wheel and Bob Wills as filtered through Wired.
When Leonard Cohen Sings
A tongue-in-cheek homage to the Great One (“I sit here in the dark regretting all my hopeless flings/When Leonard Cohen sings”) done with suitably moody minor chords and references to Biblical imagery.  This song is included on my Music Player page.

Stringband songs (written by Marie-Lynn)

• Monday Morning
• Mr. M of the Magic Movies
• Ways of the Heart
• Blue Around the Border
• Botanical Gardens

Stories and Plays by Marie-Lynn

Marie-Lynn reads one CBC Radio story and three excerpts from her play, Beautiful Deeds/De beaux gestes

The CD-ROM portion includes 17 stories by Marie-Lynn about growing up as an “Air Force brat.”

We have included all four of Marie-Lynn’s plays on the CD-ROM for your reading enjoyment:

• Beautiful Deeds/De beaux gestes
• White Weddings
• Backwards
• Mouse