Like Patty Griffin (to whom I’ve seen her compared), BettySoo knows how to love a musical note, how to hold it, shake it, and/or bend it for maximum emotional effect. Like Griffin, she specializes in a genre which both is and is not quite country, folk, pop, and/or rock. And like Griffin, the woman knows how to write a song.
All of which triggers a bit of cognitive dissonance when you find out that BettySoo is a five-foot-tall, apparently twenty-something Korean-American. Say what?!?
Let’s start this off with one of her own tunes, the driving “Never Knew No Love.” The video’s unofficial; while L.A.-noir-style film stills at first glance might seem a long distance away from the lyrics, the combination (“Never knew no man like the one you been missing / Never knew no love could break love’s vow”) actually works pretty well.
Lyrics:
Never Knew No Love
(BettySoo)When the sun’s still beating down September
Can’t touch your toes to the pavement in the afternoon
Swinging out front, wondering whether
Sins of the summer gonna come
Catch up with you soonNever knew no dirt didn’t come off in the kitchen
Never knew no stain like the one you’re hiding now
Never knew no man like the one you been missing
Never knew no love could break love’s vowFan my face but the moving just makes me hotter
Try to sit still as the creek down by the way
That dry bed ain’t seen no fresh water
Spent the last two months drying out without the rainNever knew no dirt didn’t come off in the kitchen
Never knew no stain like the one I’m hiding now
Never knew no man like the one I been missing
Never knew no love could break love’s vowCan’t go back to the water’s edge
ain’t no water…
Can’t go back to his arms
ain’t no water…
Can’t go dip beneath the glass surface
ain’t no water…
Can’t dry off in the summer sunNever knew no dirt didn’t come off in the kitchen
Never knew no stain like the one I’m hiding now
Never knew no man like the one I been missing
Never knew no love could break love’s vow
Now dial the energy way down. Here she is with dobro-/guitarist Doug Cox, in a twosome they call Across the Borderline, performing Butch Hancock‘s “Boxcars.” Again, this does not appear to be an official video: it’s barely a video at all, just a single still photo which gradually fades in from a black background (and eventually fades back out). I think this helps to focus the mind on the lyrics, the shambling-blues rhythm, and the undiluted talent running out of the speakers.
Lyrics (note: these are the original lyrics; BettySoo throws in numerous free-form twists and swirls of her own):
Boxcars
(by Butch Hancock; performance by Across the Borderline)Well, I gave all my money to the banker this month
Now I got no more money to spend
She smiled when she saw me comin’ through that door
When I left, she said “Come back again”Well I watched some lonesome boxcar wheels turnin’
down the tracks out of town
And it’s on that lonesome railroad track
I’m gonna lay my burden downI looked for my little lady in the lost and found
But she had already been claimed
I’m gonna find me a ticket to ride
Through a town that never had no nameNobody may care where I go tonight
But baby if the truth be told
I’m goin’ down to the railroad tracks
Watch them lonesome boxcars roll[instrumental break]
I was raised on a farm the first years of my life
And life was pretty good, they say
I’ll probably live to be some ripe old age
If that dirty dog death won’t stay outa my wayThis world can take my money and my time
But it sure can’t take my soul
An’ I’m goin’ down to the railroad tracks
Watch them lonesome boxcars rollThere’s some big ol’ Buicks by the Baptist Church
Cadillacs at the Church of Christ
I parked my camel by an ol’ haystack
I’ll be lookin’ for that needle all nightYou know there ain’t a gonna be no radial tires
turnin’ down the streets of gold
I’m goin’ down to the railroad tracks
Watch them lonesome boxcars roll[instrumental break]
Have you ever hear the whistle on a fast freight train
beatin’ out a beautiful tune
If you ever seen the cold blue railroad tracks shinin’
by the light of the moonIf you ever felt the locomotive shake the ground
I know you don’t need to be told
Why I’m goin’ down to the railroad tracks
Watch them lonesome boxcars roll
I know even less about playing or singing music than I do about why music works. But really, that is some stringwork there. And that is some voice.
___________________________
Addendum: Something about “Never Knew No Love” sounded familiar to me… not the lyrics but the actual sound, the music. I might be thinking of early-1990s Melissa Etheridge. “2001,” maybe. Or, no, even more, “Ain’t It Heavy”:
[Below, click Play button to begin Ain’t It Heavy. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left — a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 4:24 long.]
Nance says
Country music is the most amazing, assumption-busting genre. I loved that voice, pictured the face behind it, and headed over to BettySoo’s webpage to check it out. Last thing I ever expected was a blossom-like Oriental face with rosebud lips.
She’s much smoother and sexier than Etheridge, much lonesomer, too.
Intriguing blog. bettysoo’s ramblings
John says
Nance: I liked her blog, too — glad you picked up on it. Unfortunately, she hasn’t posted since last August. (I mean, it’s not like she’s got anything else to do…!) But that post, “The Weight of Our Grievances,” had an opening line which I immediately envied:
Farms of discontent: funny and incisive and well-said. That’s packing a lot into three words!
In reading about her, I noticed a number of references to her as a “well-kept secret,” or as a performer “poised on the brink of wider exposure/stardom,” and so on. The heck of it is, those references have been spread over several years. She seems way past due.
And yet…
Jules and I went back and forth elsewhere last week about the completely wacky, off-balance way that the culture attends to musical talent. The “singer-songwriter” genre, about which I myself knew ZERO until a few years ago (at least as a separate genre) — it seems particularly unfairly ignored. I know a lot of those artists aren’t even remotely interested in filling a stadium, showing up in the tabloids and on the cover of People, and all that. But jeez Louise, for every (say) Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga there must be a half-dozen BettySoos, Robert Spottiswoodes (featured last Friday over at Jayne’s place), and so on. Where’s the justice???
John says
P.S. And btw, that is NOT meant as a slam at Bieber or Gaga or their fans. I completely understand the appeal (just don’t share it).
Jayne says
I was interrupted by the little sprite after BettySoo’s first video, and to come back later to the second song completely threw me.
I cannot believe I didn’t run into this little lady at the SXSW conference(music and film interactive) in Austin a few months back. Not that I was there, but I followed it closely online.
BettySoo’s vocals are rich and melodic, and reminiscent of, say, Madeline Peyroux? Made me think, even, of Carla Bruni a bit. (Etheridge, hmm, not sure–didn’t remind me of her at all–but I haven’t listened to much of her music–I don’t know why… there’s just so much to listen too!)
So glad you introduced this young talent to us, John. Thanks for that.
I’ll be following you, Bettysoo… :)
(Sweet blog, too.)
John says
Jayne: Sorry your comment got hung up in the spam lint trap — all better now!
On my first, too-quick reading, I thought the little sprite referred to BettySoo herself. It might have, you know — and I thought, Oh, heck, I wish I’d thought of the word “sprite”… So thanks for doing my work for me. :)
There are so many great music festivals anymore, but SXSW would definitely be one I’d go to. (I have heard that Bonnaroo is becoming too-too something, in ways that make me think of the Sundance film festival. Which if true would be a shame! And there’s always All Tomorrow’s Parties… or, oh, heck, just browse Wikipedia. :))
My comment about Melissa Etheridge related to the overall “sound” of those two songs I mentioned, not so much vocal similarities — I agree with you and Nance about the differences in voice. I might’ve known you to be a Peyroux fan; she’s one of those artists I’ve had to fight myself NOT to include more often here. (She’s with k.d. lang as #12 in the annual Christmas playlist, and “Looking for the Heart of Saturday Night” appeared in a real early Friday post.) May be time to bring her back briefly into the foreground!
Jayne says
@John – John- I’m in agreement about Bonnaroo. The thought of attending that extravaganza is daunting. What I’d really like to do is get to FloydFest(and it’s on the Wiki page!) before it becomes the next Bonnaroo. I’m amazed by how it’s grown already. We discovered the tired little Virginia town–but it’s music is fully wakened–on our way back from Charleston several years ago. Unfortunately we’ll miss it the festival this summer, but it’s on my calendar for the next.
I featured Peyroux fairly early on in the Frolic–she’s just fabulous. And I’m not surprised that she’s on your website, as well! I’ll have to take a look at your eclectic Christmas list, and the other Saturday Night post.
And speaking of beautiful voices… (ladies are humming in my head now) have you heard Cesária Évora’s? If you haven’t, you may want to listen. (She’s another I’ve written–sort of–about.) Remarkable.