Behind the song: "Jane Avril" by Natalia Zukerman
Songwriting games (like these ones) can be a great way to stir ideas. Here's the Brooklyn-based musician and painter Natalia Zukerman shares the story of how a prompt from fellow songwriter Willy Porter led her to the song "Jane Avril," from the album Come Thief, Come Fire.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yww4OXndFQY
The story
I received a songwriting challenge from my friend Willy Porter: to write a song containing the words "feather boa" in one week's time. I immediately thought of Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings and drawings of the Moulin Rouge in turn-of-the-century Paris.
Always intrigued by these paintings, by his refusal to depict what was accepted by the Academy and his enchantment with the "fringes" of society, I dug a bit deeper into these paintings. The woman he painted most often was named Jane Avril. Born Jeanne Beaudon in 1868, her stage name, Jane Avril, was only one of the many names she was known by—she was also known as La Mélinite, after a kind of dynamite, as L’Etrange (the Strange One), and Jane la Folle (Crazy Jane).In and out of asylums her whole life, Jane struggled with mental health. She was characterized by fast and frenetic movements, and some believe she had a neurological disorder that is a precursor to what we know as restless leg syndrome. Unable to control these movements, Jane invented the dance known as the can-can. I was so taken with this notion of invention born of necessity. I was so taken by this tiny woman who took power in what was looked at as making her other or different. She also took power in her sexuality—as a sort of early form of exotic dancer, she had an incredible power over her audience and used this power to help her feel free in her own life to express her homosexuality and multiplicity of desire.I had a lot of details written about Jane's life, and I thought I would write a first person account from a visual artist's point of view. Then I went for a run. The words "Yes you can can" kept repeating through my head and I thought, "That's dumb. I can't write that. It's too obvious and silly." But there you have it. It became the opening line and repeated motif.
The best work I think I make is when I start with my mind and then let my body take over. I have to FEEL what I'm writing or no one else will.
I also have to get out of my own way and trust my instincts. I do wish that I had come up with a more "French sounding" musical accompaniment, but there was a reason for this too—the kind of bossa nova feel of the groove is actually my fingers doing the can can. I found a way to let my left hand feel like the movements of that dance. If you watch closely, you may even see the silk stockings.—Natalia Zukerman
The lyrics
Yes you can can, Jane AvrilShow them all how it’s doneOne glimpse of stocking is still a thrillWhen you don’t see how many times they’re mendedYes you can can, Jane AvrilA feather boa and some fraying silkYou lift your skirt and their hearts stood stillYou made them think this is what they’re missingOh, what we put onYou took it off so you don’t have to take it homeSo you moved down to The StripOnly way you could think to keep on dancingAll swaying body and bright red lipsYou still find those lights enchantingSometimes you like it more than you know you shouldMostly it’s a game of grin and bear itSweaty, fat hands with dollar billsA gold band should sit where those tan lines fadedOh, what you take offAnd put back on before you get backWhat happens here stays hereThe one who says that is never the one waitingJe m’appelle La MaleniteJe ne suis q’un tout petite femme mais dans un feu immenseOh, what we put onAnd take back off before we get backOh, what you put onYou took it off so you don’t have to take it homeYes you can can, Jane AvrilYes you can can, Jane AvrilYes you can canShow them all how it’s done