Singer-songwriter Dory Previn is perhaps not remembered as well as she should be today. She recorded a string of beautiful solo albums in the early 1970s, writing many witty, disconcerting, and emotionally intense compositions. “The Lady With the Braid” from 1971’s Mythical Kings and Iguanas is a case in point.
On the surface of it, the lady with the braid presents herself as casual and cool as she can, asking a house-guest politely whether he (we assume it’s a “he”) will stay over for the night, no strings attached. This is the image she has no doubt learned to present to the world – and to men, especially – in order to get what she wants. But underneath it the reality of her real feelings shimmer.
In a few delicate and beautiful moments, we see through the facade and look directly into the loneliness of her heart. Listen as her voice subtly changes, and the music follows suit, on the final word of “when you sleep, do you have dreams?”
Or again, as the final verse begins on a distanced conversational tone, repeating the first lines of the song: “Would you care to stay till sunrise, it’s completely your decision,” but then abruptly changes its tone: “It’s just the night cuts through me like a knife. Would you care to stay awhile and save my life?”
After this disconcerting question, she immediately steps back to regain her composure: “I don’t know what made me say that, I’ve got this funny sense of humor.”
There is a great kind of pathos in her failed strategic attempts to keep her desperate feelings hidden in order to make her guest stay the night, by showing him only the socially acceptable side of herself. It’s a strategy many will recognize, but few can portray so clearly and beautifully, and with so much underlying despair.
Indeed, the lady with the braid is portrayed so convincingly we cannot help but imagine that it must be painted to life. And indeed, Dory Previn seems to have led a troubled life at times, suffering a number of psychiatric breakdowns – one of which, apparently, was occasioned by the betrayal of her then-husband Andy Previn, who famously left her for a young Mia Farrow.
But that is another story, which Dory Previn deals with explicitly in many of her other songs – at turns angrily, ironically, and desperately. Like “The Lady With the Braid,” these have stood the test of time wonderfully: Their subtlety remains alive with each new hearing.
With her unique blend of biting sarcasm and fearless emotional honesty, she earns herself a place among the many great female songwriters to emerge from the late ’60s and ’70s: Judee Sill, Sandy Denny, Kate Wolf, Joni Mitchell … Dory Previn.
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