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Review: Morphine's 'The Night'
by Jordan Hoffman

published 2/21/00

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Jordan Hoffman is LeisureSuit.net's Queens-based Senior Editor.



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Subj: ........
wow.....

how many 15 year old girls in North Jersey like Morphine?

respect....

johnny

-- joi
Feb 13, 2008 at 2:11AM

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The death of Mark Sandman wasn't a generational quaking moment like that of the death of Kurt Cobain, but there are many of us who feel that the artistic loss was just as great. A week or so before he flew off to Europe for what would be his last performances, he handed in the final mixes of his band Morphine's newest work. The eleven song collection, released posthumously by Dreamworks as The Night show that Sandman was expanding his group's sound in unprecedented ways.

It is impossible for me to divorce all the what ifs from my mind when listening to this record--indeed, I had the same trouble two years ago with the release of Jeff Buckley's "Sketches For My Sweetheart, The Drunk." It may be years until I can listen to the album without having these feelings. But what is music, if not a feeling? And what is the music of Morphine but an excuse to look within yourself and come out with grossly syrupy over-emotional lines like the one I just used? In my eulogy for Sandman I expressed how his lyrics and unique melancholia effected me like so few other artists. It's as if Sandman knew from the outset he'd release a posthumous album.

The opening title track may be the best on the album, and may be the most complex song Sandman has written. It has a follows minor piano chords down, down, down further than you'll think they'll go. Melodically, it resembles the Leonard Cohen of "Hallelujah." Behind the vocals is the welcomed tiptoe of Dana Colley's baritone sax, and the surprise of Jane Scarpentoni's evocative cello.

This song, "The Night," is an ambiguous love poem. Dependence on the undependable, without a hint of resentment. It begins:

You're the night, Lilah
A little girl, lost in the woods
You're a folk tale
The unexplainable
You're a bedtime story
The one that keeps the curtains closed
And I hope you're waiting for me
Cause I can't make it on my own

It gets more beautiful from there.

It took me a good long while to ever hear the second song; I kept hitting "back" to hear the first one, over and over again. The album continues with "So Many Ways," featuring shimmering organ feedback and a spicy beat. Sandman again shows his brilliant use of vague phrasing:

What do you want, and how do you like it?
How many times? Is this the right socket?
What do I wear? And what do I say?
Please tell me again, how we get there?

"Top Floor, Bottom Buzzer," tells the tale of a hipster house party. God, I know these people. It's a little eerie. It's a funky little number, in the vein of "French Fries and Pepper" from the "Like Swimming" album.

Very different from older Morphine work is "Like A Mirror," which opens with an almost Tom Waits-ian percussion breakdown. The deep bass and low horn notes support a whispered melody. Like the well known Velvet Underground song Nico sang, "Like A Mirror" lays it all out bare. "Like a mirror, I'm nothing til you look at me."

"Rope On Fire" is a distinctly Greek/Turkish song. Never before have you heard a Middle Eastern phrase played out so cool on a baritone sax. Responded to by an oud. It's unique, mystical stuff.

Also refreshing is the humor of "The Way We Met." A list of all the ways couples meet cute, none of which are applicable here. "There's nothing too romantic about the way we met." Finally we learn how the couple did met. And it involves this bit of rock and roll honesty: "Later we had toast." It's one of the few Morphine tunes of just bass and multi-tracked vocals.

The album ends with a very full sounding song (by Morphine standards) with acoustic guitars, backing vocals and orchestration. It is called "Take Me With You," about a lover's willingness to do anything for their beloved, even help them self-destruct.

You want to burn your bridges
I'll help you start the fire
You want to disappear
I got the manual right here
You say you want my help
But I can't help myself

I wonder what reading Sandman's lyrics without knowing his deep, evocative voice and Morphine's distinct style of addictive, dreamlike music is like. I'm happy to be lucky enough not to know.

I could go through song by song, pointing out the brilliant moments. Sandman's songs are always evolving, in my experience. Different meanings and textures reveal themselves at different times. I'm sure a month from now I will be focusing on entirely different points on "The Night." And I'm doubly sure that I'll still be listening to it then.


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THE YAK SHACK


Name: joi
Subject: ........
-- Feb 13, 2008 at 2:11AM
wow.....

how many 15 year old girls in North Jersey like Morphine?

respect....

johnny

Name: sam
Subject: morphine
-- Apr 19, 2005 at 9:43PM
I'm a 15 year old girl, I love morphine. and have not once seen them on tv-hopefully never mtv, unless that's the only way they'll get the respect they deserve.
the night's my favorite, by the way.

Name: The Editors Respond
Subject: Re: The Sopranos
-- Sep 5, 2001 at 11:35AM
Coach --
Meadow & her friend are, indeed, watching the video for "Honey White" from the "yes" album.

This is a case of the producers digging Morphine and wanting to give a shout out. how many 15 year old girls in North Jersey like Morphine? Let alone have an opportunity to see them on MTV???

Name: Coach
Subject: The Sopranos
-- Sep 5, 2001 at 9:06AM
In one episode of the first year of The Sopranos ( The episode in which the Soccer Coach had an affair with Meadows best friend)there was a song being played( while Meadow and her friend watched M-TV ) that sounded like Morhine. Can someone help me with this.

Thanks

Name: Yunor
Subject: the Night
-- Jun 14, 2000 at 12:44AM
Mark Sandman's passing last year came during a dark period of my life (around the same time, three more losses occured) and I was personally in a bad state.
The Night captures the ups and downs of these seemingly bleak events with a dash of oblivious hope. The range and textures of The Night cetainly bookmarks it as
a distinct shift in their sound, but not in their heart and soul. Mark Sandman was an overlooked poet/musician and to me he ranks high up there along the likes of Tom Waits
and other noir luminaries.

Name: Fil
Subject: the night
-- Apr 16, 2000 at 7:31PM
good album..
a bit too sad even for morhine's standards.
I learned about MS death the day after, as i was driving out of town, going to their concert...
it pained me so.

Name: Petuninha
Subject: The Night
-- Mar 2, 2000 at 10:55PM
Nothing more enthralling than this awfully mellifluous piece of work. I thought there would NEVER be a song like "Free Love" (YES), but I was obviously wrong about that. "Like a Mirror" kept me going for about ten miles (thank God my stereo has got that "repeat" button)this evening. The funny thing is that I've always been addicted to both Cohen and Tom Waits, so this album (with its influences) couldn't please me more. Absolutely fabulous.

Name: Petuninha
Subject: The Night
-- Mar 2, 2000 at 10:54PM
Nothing more enthralling than this awfully mellifluous piece of work. I thought there would NEVER be a song like "Free Love" (YES), but I was obviously wrong about that. "Like a Mirror" kept me going for about ten miles (thank God my stereo has got that "repeat" button)this evening. The funny thing is that I've always been addicted to both Cohen and Tom Waits, so this album (with its influences) couldn't please me more. Absolutely fabulous.

Name: Martox
Subject: The Night
-- Mar 1, 2000 at 6:45AM
For me,"The Night" is a good album, but it needs something like a shot of groove power.


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