"HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS" CAT POWER (2013)

So much of the Christmas season, for me, is all about the music. I have no problems with you if you want to start your Christmas celebrations a little early. After Halloween seems excessive. After Thanksgiving is fair game. Then let’s bring on the real Christmas songs and the fake ones, too. I don’t discriminate. From Dec 16-31, it’s all Christmas music playing on Mental Jukebox.

A slowed down version of this Christmas music standard seems right up Chan Marshall’s alley. Somber, reflective, understated vocals float like thick snowflakes across a wintry landscape of stark, echoey piano chords. Sounds just like another Cat Power song, right? Sinatra, Buble and Judy Garland may all have more popular versions of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”, but Marshall made the song more personal and intimate, like a heartfelt letter written to a loved one.

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light From now on. Our troubles will be out of sight.”

"SEA OF LOVE" CAT POWER (2000)

Exceptional soundtracks can make good movies great. They can also take on a life of their own, becoming a greater highlight than their respective films. In this series, I’m selecting some of my favorite soundtrack songs. While quite a few are well-known recordings, I’m also including a few that have flown under the radar over the years.

In 2007, Juno made its mark with an endearing, coming-of-age film that put the story of an unplanned pregnancy at the forefront of cinematic culture. For its soundtrack, it leaned on the quirky, yet somewhat languid music of Belle & Sebastian, Kimya Dawson and others. And the banner song was Cat Power’s cover of Phil Phillips’ “Sea of Love”.

In 2000, Cat Power released an album of cover songs that proved she could create a new mood and aesthetic to just about any type of song. “Sea of Love” is probably the most well-known of the batch. The original lived in a barbershop quartet universe. It was full. It was grand. It had pacing. But when I listen back to Cat Power’s version, I’m struck by the starkness. It’s a simple, beautiful recording consisting only of Marshall’s vocals, lazy guitar strums and an aura of Saturday morning in bed with your favorite cup of coffee.

“Come with me my love to the sea. The sea of love.”

"THE GREATEST" CAT POWER (2006)

For Women’s History Month, I’m selecting some of my favorite songs from some of the most talented and influential women in music. From frontwomen to singer-songwriters to iconic performers, I’m picking one song a day on Mental Jukebox until the end of March.

This was the title track (along with the album at large) where Cat Power’s sound evolved into a more soulful expression. It’s why a song like “The Greatest” immediately grips you and won’t let go. Even at its impossibly slow pace, “The Greatest” is somehow invigorating and hopeful, a space that band lead Chan Marshall excels in. It’s a shining example of how music can lift your spirits without relying on faster tempos or louder instruments.

“Once I wanted to be the greatest. No wind or waterfall could stall me. And then came the rush of the flood. The stars at night turned deep to dust.”

"MANHATTAN" CAT POWER (2012)

Double treble octaves and the unglamorous peek into New York City life. Two reasons why “Manhattan” is one of my favorite Cat Power songs. It came from an album that seemed to be deliberately minimalist in production. It’s a paired down sound for one of the most real songs ever written about New York—and it came from a non-New Yorker. The transience. The furtiveness. The New York we know well, but rarely sing about.

“The hotel above and the street below. People come and people go. All the friends that we used to know.”