{"id":31689,"date":"2017-10-09T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T11:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs2.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=31689"},"modified":"2017-10-02T12:27:12","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T17:27:12","slug":"keshas-kaleidoscopic-albumrainbow-is-a-work-of-catharsis-and-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/keshas-kaleidoscopic-albumrainbow-is-a-work-of-catharsis-and-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Kesha’s Kaleidoscopic Album”Rainbow” is a Work of Catharsis and Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>At first, “<\/strong><\/em>Old Flames<\/a><\/strong> (Can’t Hold A Candle To You)”<\/strong> <\/em>was my favorite song on the album. In a\u00a0waltz\u00a0with the one and only Dolly Parton, Kesha’s resonant vocals are set against a meandering pedal steel guitar which is decidedly “country”; yet the underlying\u00a0 near heavy-metal downpicking\u00a0and tambourine on the chorus\u00a0elevates the tune to “not your grandmother’s” \u00a0country shuffle. Kesha and Parton’s vocals complement each other beautifully as a faint doo-wop piano adds to the nostalgia of unparalleled love. Lyrically, love is likened to a flame, of course; but embers, fires, and candles are also invoked to describe the type of love about which\u00a0singer-songwriter Patricia Rose Sebert and Hugh Moffatt wrote in 1978. “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You”) is the only cover song on the album: Kesha does her own writing, which is another reason to love this deeply-personal album.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, “Spaceship”<\/strong>, <\/a>track number 14, is my\u00a0absolute favorite song on the album.\u00a0\u00a0Kesha’s voice is paired with a banjo (and also a mandolin?) on the verses as she sings:\u00a0 “I always said when I’m gone, when I\u2019m dead \/ Don’t lay me down with the dirt on my head \/\u00a0You won’t need a shovel, you don\u2019t need a cold headstone \/ You don’t need to cry, I’m gon’ be going home.” Due to the minimalism of the song, I am able to hear the beautiful timbre in her voice which is not buried (but instead enhanced) by the stripped-down instrumentation. “Spaceship” is essentially a dirge about how the narrator wants to be treated at the time the she departs the earth. I can think of no creative act on par with the self-penned\u00a0elegy that is perhaps the penultimate act of staking one’s little claim on this spinning earth. The\u00a0elegy\u00a0song is basically\u00a0akin to a\u00a0living will for artists and one of the greatest works they can write. \u00a0The narrator of the song laments her life on Earth and states that she’s from another galaxy and will one day return home. Note the ethereal backing vocals on the chorus and how they creates a ghostly ambience that is not quite of this world. In my lil humble opinion, “Spaceship” is the best song on the album, because in a really beautiful, inventive way the artist confronts her mortality, contemplates her place in the world, and explores her interest in what lies beyond.\u00a0The existential\u00a0lyrics contemplating one’s mortality on\u00a0“Spaceship” \u00a0immediately liken the mundane verse in “Tik Tok” to mere fodder for some\u00a0otherworldy sacred cow.<\/p>\n

“Woman”<\/a><\/strong> is a\u00a0righteous, feisty song and gives voice to female empowerment and\u00a0staking your ground,\u00a0\u00a0dominant\u00a0themes of\u00a0Rainbow<\/a>. <\/em><\/strong>\u00a0A saxophone full of attitude paves the way for the famed Dap-Kings horn section\u00a0(who backed the inimitable, late Sharon Jones). Kesha sings: “I buy my own things\/ I pay my own bills \/ These diamond rings \/ My automobiles \/\u00a0 Everything I got I bought it \/ Boys can’t buy my love\/ Buy my love, yeah \/ I do what I want \/ Say what you say \/ I work real hard everyday \/ I’m a motherfucking woman, baby alright.” The song is part cabaret, part pop, and all sass, and Kesha sprinkles in some expletives for good measure (and I’m not mad at her for it). In fact, I love her for it because artistic integrity is not sanitized and flawless. Kesha is the antithesis to the Insta-world where all things appear <\/em>perfect but are far from it: she is the raw and the real. In other words, beauty lies in imperfection. Sometimes, what is most real is disheveled and rough-around-the-edges. Check out “Boots”, <\/a><\/strong>which is a little bit like the “answer” to “Woman” and “Hunt You Down”<\/strong>, <\/a>a\u00a0pantomimic ballad about murdering a lover who has done you horribly wrong. Either way, this kaleidoscopic genre-bending\u00a0album showcases Kesha’s dynamic vocal ability and range.<\/p>\n

Forgiveness, prayer, and redemption from suffering (at the hands of loved ones) are also major themes of Rainbow. <\/em>You’ve likely heard “Praying” at this point, which was released with a stunning,\u00a0\u00a0video<\/strong> <\/a>depicting a narrator who is letting go of the pain of all of those who have wronged her. If you haven’t seen her late night television performance of “Praying”, <\/a><\/strong>it\u00a0is an awe-inspiring performance.\u00a0The use of repetition\u00a0andguttural\u00a0belting\u00a0of the lyrics “praying” and “changing” make it the centerpiece of the album, no doubt. But “Rainbow”<\/strong>—<\/a>the song\u00a0after\u00a0which the album has been named–has quickly become another of my absolute favorites. Kesha wrote “Rainbow” when she was in rehab\u00a0 for an eating disorder<\/a><\/strong>, so this song both embodies and symbolizes healing, growth, and survival.\u00a0 “Rainbow”–with its swelling string arrangements–evoke the magic of a Disney scene in which the lead character performs her triumphant soliloquy in a sunlit forest. Kesha sings: “I used to live in the darkness \/ dress in black \/ act so heartless \/ but now I see that colors are everything.” Thematically, colors<\/em>\u00a0 are a key vehicle for communicating personal transformation, and if you’ve seen the album artwork<\/a><\/strong>, you know what I mean. “Rainbow” signifies a new beginning or a re-birth while “Spaceship”–a song contemplating mortality–is the perfect final cut.<\/p>\n

And that leaves “Bastards”<\/a> which was described in the Rolling Stone review <\/a>as a “ballad ripe for a campfire singalong”. And I couldn’t agree more. In fact, “Bastards” echos the sentiment my father still eschews to his kids today. This pep-talk of a title track is Kesha’s inner dialogue turned outward: ” Don’t let the bastards get you down, oh no \/ Don’t let the assholes wear you out \/Don’t let the mean girls take the crown \/ Don’t let the scumbags screw you ’round \/ Don’t let the bastards take you down.” And that’s pretty solid advice.<\/p>\n

I haven’t heard much of Kesha’s work aside from her 2010 album,\u00a0Animal; but a<\/em>fter listening to\u00a0Rainbow,<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>I’d count myself\u00a0among the ranks of her adoring\u00a0fans. After just a few spins of the album, there are some standout tracks\u00a0that I would say are “great”, due either to the result of her collaborations with other (great) artists, her\u00a0emotive shapeshifting vocals, or how content\/lyrics, vocals, instrumentation, and overall\u00a0production quality culminate in beautifully-crafted songs. As it turns out, the punchy, poppy dance tunes are my least \u00a0<\/em> favorite songs but are catchy in their own right.\u00a0\u00a0The songs I am drawn to\u00a0and that have the most substance, in terms of lyrical content, also happen to be the most minimally arranged.<\/p>\n

In general, Kesha really shines when her emotive\u00a0voice gets to take center stage without competing with a spastic instrumental backdrop\u00a0(“Boogie Feet” comes to mind). It’s easy to pass\u00a0judgement on an artist like Kesha who has achieved the all-too-evasive super-stardom; but check out some of her live performances from “Rainbow” and if you’re like me, you’ll be moved by how she has completely lived the experiences about which she sings. “Spaceship”, “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle To You)”, “Rainbow”, “Bastards”, and “Praying” are beautiful and honest songs that I will return to again and again. If you’re the least bit privy to the legal battles and alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of her former producer, “Dr. Luke”, it’s not difficult to see that Rainbow \u00a0<\/em><\/a>is a work of catharsis and metamorphosis. It’s fantastic to witness her return to her country roots because, yes, she isn’t merely a manufactured pop-star: not only does she write her own songs, but she can really sing. Check her out!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At first, “Old Flames (Can’t Hold A Candle To You)” was my favorite song on the album. In a\u00a0waltz\u00a0with the one and only Dolly Parton, Kesha’s resonant vocals are set against a meandering pedal steel guitar which is decidedly “country”; yet the underlying\u00a0 near heavy-metal downpicking\u00a0and tambourine on the chorus\u00a0elevates[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[4358,3253,2844,4360],"class_list":["post-31689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-kesha","tag-music","tag-music-cds","tag-rainbow"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXx-8f7","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31689"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31762,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31689\/revisions\/31762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}