Chi Coltrane: Riding the "Wheel of Life"
by Donna Schwartz
|
Many singer/songwriters have achieved great personal success with their music. Most notable since the
mid sixties perhaps are John Lennon & Paul McCartney; Simon & Garfunkel; Bob Dylan; James Taylor; Jackson
Browne; The Gibbs; Carol King; Elton John; Janis Ian; Eric Clapton; Carly Simon; Michael McDonald; Bonnie
Raitt; and Paul Williams, just to name a few. Today artists like Jewel; Sarah McLachlin; Adam Duritz
and Jakob Dylan are achieving equal success with their writing and singing talents.
Not all
of these I have listed achieved equal success, some greater -- some less. Prior to the mid nineties
non-commercial sounding music was not considered to be successful for radio airplay. Artists like Bob
Dylan and Jackson Browne, the least commercial sounding than most I listed above, did not have any number
one hits. Janis Ian had one. Paul Williams himself was most successful as a writer, with such hits as
"Evergreen" and "Just An Old Fashioned Lovesong." Some very talented singers/songwriters went unnoticed
completely; Chi Coltrane is one of those.
Chi's music told her life story. She was a private
person, very little is
known of her life. She used the power of song to help and inspire others.
She weaved into song all the emotion and feeling that surrounded the events in her life.
You
can see by the following excerpts, the depth of her emotions and power of her words.
About love
and passion.
"Thunder and Lightning"
"It's more than I would dare
I wouldn't even try to
run from it
It reaches me everywhere"
About lying, and loss of trust.
"Goodbye John"
"Are you afraid of me Baby;
A little girl like me?
Why can't you talk straight, and tell the
truth?"
"You Were My Friend"
"How can you stand there and lie to me
And look me in the face
I wish I knew what strange disease
Could make you act that way"
About being "let down" or deceived.
"Feelin' Good"
"I've been stung so I let
Love go without waving
'Cause I never thought
I'd fall in love again,
And I didn't even try 'cause when
I think of when I was so in love
And
it didn't work out"
... About a devastating heartbreak in love ...and making a difficult personal
decision about the relationship ... and her choice was to end the
relationship, move on and "cure
herself"
"Time To Come In"
"A man can really bring you down
If you let him get to your
heart
I've got to get myself together
For the cure-- "
About holding on.
"Turn Me
Around"
"It would be so easy
To give up and walk away
But please don't let that happen"
About giving up.
"The Tree"
"This world can't give me any peace
It seems that love will
never really be
And my troubled mind must find release"
About dealing with depression and overwhelming
self doubt. she turned to God.
"The Tree"
I took my troubles to the tree
And God's own son
looked down on me
All I know I was blind now I see
"Go Like Elijah"
"I want no tombstone-
above my head
And I don't want no pinebox for my bed
And I don't want anyone to say I'm dead
I
don't want no one cryin'
Or feeling sad
Or standin' in the rain without their hat
I wanna go
happy -- Imagine that..."
And about healing and survival:
"Time To Come In"
"I'm looking
for a better way
To live the only life that I've got
And now I know I'll find it
You just see
I've gone through all those changes
That only bring you down
And nothing's gonna put a weight
on me
It's time to come in out of the rain
Ain't gonna let it pour
On my life anymore"
I believe Chi's style of writing music was perhaps a bit ahead of it's time,
today this sort of non-fluff
honesty, intensity of lyrics and raw emotion,
sung with heart and soul can be heard every hour on
the radio by the likes of Jewel and Sarah McLachlin. It's very possible that Chi's music could find
great success here in the late nineties, but would that change the person behind the music? I don't
think so, for some of us the price of success is not worth the loss of ourselves. Our greatness lies
in our conviction in being satisfied with who we are, not what success can make us.
|
|
