One of three four-track EPs released by the Glasgow pop seven-piece Belle and Sebastian during 1997. Lazy Line Painter Jane itself was released on July 28, 1997 on the UK Jeepster label. Along with Dog on Wheels and 3.. 6.. 9.. Seconds of Light, which were released in May and October, respectively, Lazy Line Painter Jane was re-released on CD in North America in 2000 by Matador Records. The three EPs were collected under the familliar title Lazy Line Painter Jane. The set can be purchased at most any self-respecting independent music store, and even at a few mainstream outlets.
The collection is not quite a box set, as such. It merely collects all three EPs on CD form in a large cardboard sleeve. It is somewhat of a mystery why the EPs were not combined into one full-length album, but when considered as such, Lazy Line Painter Jane easily ranks alongside Belle and Sebastian's best work.
Tracks
Lazy Line Painter Jane — (5.50)
You Made Me Forget My Dreams — (3.52)
Photo Jenny — (3.15)
A Century of Elvis — (4.29)
Lazy Line Painter Jane is the EP's first track—in this writer's opinion, probably one of the best tracks Belle and Sebastian has ever recorded. With sizzling, reverb-soaked guitar, wavering organ, and a nonstop, upbeat energy, the song has a retro, 60's rock feel. (Our own call reminds me not to forget "the BIG ROCK BASSLINE of the title track". Indeed, this track truly rocks.) Belle and Sebastian's vocalist Stuart Murdoch sings in his customary Nick Drake-esque lisp as he is joined by guest vocalist Monica Queen, formerly of the Glasgow country group Thrum, whose powerful, soaring, and husky voice is in utter contrast to his. The dichotomy of their duet and the thick, intricate character of the song's instrumentation gives Lazy Line Painter Jane a sound that is distinctly unique within the Belle and Sebastian canon. Murdoch's lyrics (printed below) are also at their subversive best. My favorite aspect of Belle and Sebastian has always been the constrast between their "precious," twee melodies and Murdoch's witty, literate, and even explicit lyrics. The Jane of the song's title seems to be a slut, to put it bluntly, and on the verge of prostitution—or rather, as Monica opines: "Boo to the business world! / You know a girl who's tax free on her back and making / Plenty cash / While you are working for the joy of giving." Our heroine is simply "giving it away for free" as All Music's Bill Janovitz puts it. The song is also related to Murdoch's liner note short story about Lazy Line Painter Jane, though the story does not allude to anything sexual.
You Made Me Forget My Dreams has (appropriately enough) a dreamy, delicate piano and guitar backing and sometimes surrealistic lyrics about rocketships, shitty wages, and "blood on the sheets." As far as I can gather, the lyrics recount either the aftermath of a one night stand or the last night of a dying relationship. The song's air of melancholy is almost comforting after the kinetic opening track. The track culminates with an odd synthesized drum beat and loudly swelling electronic squeal.
The punnishly-titled Photo Jenny resumes an upbeat tempo, a meandering narrative that returns to the character of Photo Jenny, the narrator's obsession. "All that I want is a photograph of Photo Jenny / How will I get one? I don't know / How will I get one? I don't know / How will I get her to strike a pose?" Otherwise the lyrics are rather cryptic. The music is classic Belle and Sebastian nostalgic folk-rock.
A Century of Elvis has a nice lilting melodic background and consists of a charming spoken-word short story about Elvis... an Elvis who "likes squirrels quite a lot." It becomes more or less apparent that Elvis is a cat, but the story has a surreal quality and is very well written. This story is written and read by Belle and Sebastian's own Stuart David. It can be found in its entirety in its own node.
Belle and Sebastian were: ***
Chris Geddes (keyboards)
Sarah Martin (violin)
Isobel Campbell (cello)
Stevie Jackson (guitar)
Stuart Murdoch (guitar, lyrics, vocals)
Stuart David (bass)
Richard Colburn (drums)
*** All the members of the band play multiple instruments, this info is just general.
And featuring:
The vocal stylings of the beautiful Monica Queen.
Sources:
http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/
http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/faq/
http://www.belleandsebastian.co.uk/home/
http://www.allmusic.com
Lazy Line Painter Jane Lyrics
Working the village shop
Putting a
poster up
Dreaming of anything
Dreaming of the time when you are free from all the trouble you're in
In the mud, on your knees
Trying hard not to please
Anyone, all the time
Being a rebel's fine
But you go all the way to being
brutal
You will have a boy tonight
You will have a boy tonight
On the first bus out of town
On the first bus out of town
Let's see your kit for games
All the girls look the same
You are challenging style for running miles
You're running miles in some boy's jumper
Boo to the business world!
You know a girl who's tax free on her back and making
Plenty cash
While you are working for the joy of giving
You will have a boy tonight
You will have a boy tonight
On the last bus out of town
On the last bus out of town
You will have a boy tonight
You will have a girl tonight
And you hope that they will see
And you hope that they will see
You are
in two minds
Tossing a coin to decide whether you should tell your mum
About a dose of
thrush you got while you were licking railings ***
But you read in a book
That you got free in
Boots
There are lotions, there are potions
You can take to hide your
shame from all those prying eyes
Lazy Jane, all the time
Painting lines
You are sleeping at bus stops
Wondering how you got your name
And what you're going to do about it
You will have a boy tonight
You will have a boy tonight
On the last bus out of town
On the last bus out of town
You will have a boy tonight
Maybe you will have a girl tonight
And you hope that they will see
And you hope that they will see
*** The Jeepster Belle and Sebastian FAQ (http://www.jeepster.co.uk/belleandsebastian/faq): "You can get oral thrush by licking railings that have got candida albicans, the fungus, growing on them. Although I'm not entirely sure if it can grow on railings as it normally only grows in the nice, warm, moist bits of people." Thus "railings" might be a pun, or it might not be.