yes, you have found jane siberry's web-porch.

1. Prepare a feast for your special Valentine.

2. Put on some music.

3. Light some candles.

4. Suggest breaking up.

5. (silence)

6. Tell each other how much you have enjoyed THEM:
their generosity, their wisdom, sense of humour, eccentricities, tenderness.

7. Tell each other how much you have enjoyed BEING A COUPLE WITH THEM:
sharing meals, trips, end-of-day reflections, the occasionally mind-blowing love-making.

8. Tell each other how much you have enjoyed LEARNING WITH THEM:
how someone else approaches life’s pleasures, pains and day-to-days; your current ‘triggers’; how to remain a ‘professional’ loving human being rather than the insecure self that is always rested and ready to work.

9. Tell each other how GLAD you are:
that you are breaking up with dignity and consciousness rather than by ‘cheating’; that you share the same order of priorities: god, growth, relationships.

10. Sort out details:
Choose date for closure (two months?).
Choose date for break-up celebration with all your friends.

11. Really LOOK into each other’s eyes.

12. Finish dinner, clean up and make plans!

OPTION #1

OPTION #2

OPTION #3 is being posted VALENTINES day. not for the faint-hearted.

architecture of the human mind.

dear creative and resourceful people!

i am TENTATIVELY considering doing the siberrry ‘traditional’ HOLIDAY show in NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012.

it will be merged with the new CD i will be releasing in the autumn (hopefully).
if you saw either of the shushan or child tours, the concert will be similar:
voluptuous, fun, heart-warming and with an ensemble of fine musicians.

as this will be an expensive endeavour, i am looking at concert halls that would support and promote this show as part of a ‘holiday’ series .this would mean we would be part of a greater promotion/subscription programme, making it more feasible.

if you have a suggestion please send:
city
concert hall
(person to contact or link)
(any description: re ‘holiday’ or ‘subcription’ series.)
your admirer,
jane siberry

hello everyone:

My new CD MESHACH DREAMS BACK is getting an interesting response and if you are thinking of enjoying it, please don’t forget. i want my music to work hard and be busy.

MESHACH is the third part of the ‘THREE QUEENS TRILOGY’ and declares with enthusiasm that people are not the ‘dumbed down’ objects of marketing sketched by court artists. sure, single songs are great but it is NO problem following a wider, far-fetched and complex story. as long as it is a GOOD story. i hope it is. it is a story honed by 72 living rooms on my 2010 salon tour. i made it a policy to not let anyone look at their watch. this meant i had to incorporate a certain amount of surprise and terror into my show. time seemed more precious to us all, somehow. ‘get in and get out’ (of the song) became my motto.

after the ‘story’ was further honed and exxagerated in the studio, i realized MESHACH was more like a radio play. it divided into THIRTEEN ACTS like it was meant to be.

so when you listen to MESHACH (and i hope you do) imagine benches arranged chevron-style in a living room in Finland. imagine all the relatives and neighbours sitting curious and polite, hands folded, few understanding english, giving the impression that they were all wearing kerchiefs, though they weren’t. imagine me looking like an exotic flower plucked from the stage of carnegie hall as the 10-year old son leads me from the kitchen. THEN listen to MESHACH.

here are some responses:

“A contemporary version of T S Elliot but more outside the box, AND funnier. The visionary aspects of Orwell and the poetry of Michael Ondaatje combined. Throw in the psychological depth of Dostoyevski, the complexity of Joseph Campbell’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ and you have Jane Siberry’s music…” NS

“It’s as if the wildest wizardesses and warlocks of remix, the maddest, bad-ass mash-up merchants have been given access to the master-tapes of Jayne’s Brain, heart & soul.” M

hungry?
“Eloquently enunciated word-salads.”

dirty?
“The first few listens, it’s like you’re on spin-cycle in a washing machine on LSD. Synthesia. Soliloquy. Dialogue. Chorus (Greek). Verse. Chorus. Middle-Eight. Love. Hate. Tragedy. Comedy. Super-heroes. Canine consciousness.”

tired?
“Jayne has told us that her ‘songs’ are ‘energy containers’. There is so much energy in this album: fission, fusion, Higgs boson, black holes, supernova …” AM

and
“the album is so ambitious and a-vant-garde and primitive.” M in japan.

wishing you all well,
jane siberry.

here you go!

MESHACH DREAMS BACK was released december 2011 and is slowing moving out into the world.  it is part III of the THREE QUEENS TRILOGY and more like a radio play in 13 acts than a gathering of songs.

daily a mysterious traveller arrives at my door with letters from you.  and what strange people you are. some of the things you say. no wonder i love making recordings.  i’ll try to find a few quotes.

“Assassins!” – Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957) to his orchestra

Are your family gatherings like Norman Rockwell paintings or Picasso portraits?
If they’re the latter, you may find these tips helpful.

1. Put yourself in order the night before. Lay out your clothes, shoes, jewellery, hat, belt. Clean, press and shine them if possible. This organizes your energy like sweeping or raking can. Approach the gathering with the same care as a tea ceremony rather than with casualness just because it is family.

Before you walk through the door…

2. Take a deep breath.

3. Remember how you want to be. (“Love be in my eyes, my ears, my lips, my heart,” or whatever works for you.)

4. Turn your phone off.  Check messages when you’re in washroom.

Now walk through the door…

5. Be a professional human being. How would we be at a gathering with the Dalai Lama or Rocket Richard? How are we when we rise to the occasion? Be that. Gracious, courteous, mannerly, dignified. Posture open, Audrey Hepburn neck, space between vertebrae, arms uncrossed. This not only helps others rise to the occasion, but it affords us a protective cloak against reactivity and reversion to our adolescent software. We also look better.

6. Learn about each person. See them anew. Interview them.

7. Learn from each person Take advantage of free advice about building shelves, organizing, budgeting, letter-writing, washing cars. Watch their faces become more relaxed and thoughtful.

8. Appreciate each person. You don’t have to use words. People can feel it.

9. Reset often.  Reset whenever you start feeling irritable, guilty, pushy or victim-ish. (e.g. “Love be in my eyes, my ears, my lips, my heart.”)

10. Keep blood sugar stable.  If you’re especially nervous about losing it, avoid sugar. The dark forces rub their hands with glee at family gatherings. Not only are you going to be around people with whom you have the most intense relationships (i.e. family) BUT you’ll be ingesting plenty of stimulants and depressants, which making for exciting mood swings. If you don’t get out the door in time to reset, you may snap at someone. Just be prepared to say: “Naughty sugar! Why did you make her say that!” Then give the other person a big grin. If this doesn’t make them relax, it will at least make them nervous. Which means they’re not on automatic.

11. Ye olde quick switch. Before your eyes narrow and your tumblers dial up old baggage, switch your “There you go again, always criticizing my clothes!” to “What? I paid a lot of money for these wrinkles!”

12. Thwarting strategies. ’Famous Family Stories’ are safe, heart-warming and time-consuming. Lists are quite safe, too. (e.g. all teachers starting from kindergarten). ‘Charades’ is risky.

13. Why do I feel so squished? You have most likely pulled in your energy field tighter than normal. Although this is a wise defence in our defenceless years, to operate more consciously seems to be one of the keys to joy. Expand your aura to your big, happy self again. (Imagine light beams radiating from you to the corners of the room and one beam down to the centre of the Earth.)

14. Keep vibration as high as possible. TV-off. Crack windows. Play DJ. Say a grace that speaks to the soul.

15. Magic wand. Be relentless about changing coal to diamonds, negativity into positivity. Return alchemy to the people. Ignore suspicious comments like “You seem different somehow.”

16. Magic words.

i. I know you are saying that because you care about me, but if you say it like this (insert here) I could hear you better.

ii. Do you have any advice about …?

iii. Please let me know when my actions make you uncomfortable. I don’t mean to and I’d appreciate the feedback.

17. Work out. The gym of life has a free membership. Build powerful life-muscles through family gatherings from hell. Do you really want to be a happy, peaceful blob?

18. It is not forever. Think of the family ‘wrap’ parties in heaven where you say to each other “Man, that was INTENSE being in a family with you! Well, I guess they can’t call us slackers. Great performance!”

19. We do not know what is right for another person.

20. As my mother would say, “Put peace into each other’s hands.”

Now walk out the door.