Saturday Morning Soundtrack: "Wreck" -- Mieka Pauley

Well, it's technically not morning anymore, but it's time for this week's Saturday Morning Soundtrack . . . .


Right now, in our rock and roll writing class my students are finding rock music that inspires them and creating flash nonfiction pieces we are calling "Liner Notes" where they try to capture their elusive, sometimes visceral reactions to the music, using lyrical language, a critical eye, and vivid imagery. I'll be joining them in this project over the next few months, posting video links to a few of my favorites and my responses to them. Some of these songs will be recent, some I'll be revisiting from a far way off. I don't claim to be a music critic, just a diehard fan. Hope you enjoy!

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"Wreck" -- Mieka Pauley (2012)

As some of you will recall from my Mountain Stage review, I've recently been introduced to the music of Boston singer-songwriter Mary Dominica Pauley, better known as Mieka. 

Though not billed as top act, Mieka was one of a few performers who really stole the show at the Mountain Stage show, and she was gracious enough to stick around to meet with the fans afterwards and sign CDs. Though the offbeat humor of her performance isn't evident in the video above, we do see signs of black comedy in her opening lyrics: "I wanna wreck your home/I want to get your husband alone/He hasn't met/the happiest place on earth yet."

Like any great opening line, these lyrics grab us by the throat and demand our attention, invite us to enter into a song that's delightful in its darkness. The intense strumming of her guitar, the ominous chord progression, and the soulful timbre of Pauley's voice all compliment these lyrics perfectly. She's playing an illicit role here--the kind of role we eat up in spite of ourselves--that of the "other woman," and though we don't get this narrator's exact reasons for wanting to be a home-wrecker, there's a perverse pleasure behind the threats and, perhaps, also a wounded quality. Above all, we get the distinct sense that this is not so much about the man in question. He's kind of tertiary, actually. This is between the narrator and the object of her story: the woman she's singing to. It's layered, nuanced, and that's what makes it such a great song. How does she know this woman? What's the story between them? Is it that she's heard enough post-coital horror stories about how she mistreats her husband, and it's become the fuel that justifies this affair? Or is this a more of personal act of revenge? The answers to these questions aren't given, but that doesn't matter. Unanswered questions are the key to what makes this song fun.

My autographed Mieka album

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Love the song? Hate it? Think I've got it all wrong? Please, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. And, if you would like to write a Guest Entry for the "Saturday Morning Soundtrack" series where you creatively respond to one of your favorite rock songs, don't hesitate to contact me with queries.