Artist: Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Song: The Bike Song
Album: Matapedia (1996)
about “Matapèdia”
Hard to believe it's been 20 years since the first McGarrigle album. Maybe it's because they've always floated so much on the fringe of things--not quite folk, not quite country, not quite fitting into any pigeonhole beyond lovely songwriting, harmonies, and singing. And now they're at it again with Matapedia, which includes the gorgeous "Goin' Back to Harlan" (recently covered by Emmylou), and tales of lives going by. This is the kind of music that should be made by (some) mature adults--thoughtful, often introspective, but with a joy in the passage of time. All the musical crap that seems to dog so much that's tagged as "adult"--which you could also call easy listening--has been filtered out by quality control, leaving arrangements that are lean, often sparse, and muscular, hitting middle age without any flab showing, but synapses still clicking furiously. Oh yes, and it's the perfect choice for those rainy fall days. --Chris Nickson
Matapedia is arguably the girls' finest album, it's more masterful than their classic debut although it lacks that album's iconoclastic & legendary status. It's a well-performed and conceived album and it's pervasive mood is one of autumnal reflection. Aside from the smooth production and that shimmering twilight mood, the best thing about Matapedia is that both Anna & Kate are in top form as songwriters. Anna's closing 'Bike Song' is the most pointed example of the autumnal & twilight mood that pervades the album (…)
(…) "The Bike Song" also looks at relationships from an almost weary perspective, asking an age old question: "What is it that I had to be / To make you fall in love with me." The mellow chime-like melody is a sharp contrast to the lyrics, and the song seems to tie the CD together.
All those lovely nights
I flirted with the stars
Was it all for nought
For nothing was gained
Brightest heavenly body
After Father Sun
That great big Moon
Is my ball and chain
So what if the sky's on fire
If another damned day's gone by
What is it that I had to be
To make you fall in love with me
To make you fall in love with me
In matters of the heart
I radio the truth
Depending on the stars
To shine and comply
But where are you my mother
Why won't you turn full-face
Shine down upon your daughter
Now that she's crying
So what if the sky's on fire
If another damned day's gone by
What is it that I had to be
To make you fall in love with me
To make you fall in love with me
So what if the sky's on fire
If another damned day's gone by
What is it that I had to be
To make you fall in love with me
To make you fall in love with me
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