Carving Knife

from Carving Knife [SINGLE] by Leslie Hudson

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Original track notes from The Wanderlings Volume Two:

Villains are often simply opportunistic. They seize potential in a moment in time and change their fortunes just as their counterparts do, but we’re not meant to root for them. Their function is primarily foil or challenger or catalyst. We don’t delve into their stories or take their circumstances into account.

But that stepmother is a widow with two young girls to care for who’ve lost their father, their station and their future. That succubus will starve if she doesn’t feed on the energy of another. That woman’s love went unrequited though she gave her whole heart, her womb proved unfruitful but she wanted children, her looks never improved with age, she had no magic doll guiding her choices, no wealthy benefactor, she led no charmed life.

Bitterness and jealousy can seep into even the most unblemished hearts. We’re all vulnerable, fallible creatures who choose one path over another as they come. Our stories aren’t so different, heroine and villain. Look a little deeper. "I am other, I am other, I am otherwise a carving knife..."

Inspiration:
- The Goose Girl, The Grimm Brothers
- Variations on Cinderella, Snow White & Sleeping Beauty
- The Six Swans, The Grimm Brothers as told by Jim Henson in Storytellers
- The Wild Swans, Hans Christian Andersen
- The Children of Lir, Irish legend
- Selkie and other shapeshifter traditions

lyrics

We were written like a villain into story
Notoriety, little glory
We the victims of an evil allegory
Impropriety, never sorry

As the servant who would be a queen
The unrequited lover
The barren bride abandoned
Or the secondary mother

We are damned because it’s our fault
That you never stop to think
The way we do when we see weakness
And she stops to take a drink

I am bitter (I am bitter)
I am bitterness as cold as ice
I am jealous (I am jealous)
I am jealousy as old as night
I want better
I want better than your charming life
I am other (I am other)
I am otherwise a carving knife

We were written to be foils and to be foiling
Ever burning, ever boiling
We the reason for your necessary toiling
Needful learning and recoiling

As the succubus who drains and draws
The faery who entices
The witch who weaves in darkness
Or the demoness of crisis

We are terrifying spectres
There beneath the milky sheen
Of our flawless imperfection
You have never really seen

I am bitter (I am bitter)
I am bitterness as cold as ice
I am jealous (I am jealous)
I am jealousy as old as night
I want better
I want better than your charming life
I am other (I am other)
I am otherwise a carving knife

You use me to draw a line
Pay attention, little heroine
It matters more this time
You abuse me, break me down
In an endless sea of back story
I never make a sound

I am bitter (I am bitter)
I am bitterness as cold as ice
I am jealous (I am jealous)
I am jealousy as old as night
I want better
I want better than your charming life
I am other (I am other)
I am otherwise a carving knife

I am other (I am other)
I am otherwise a carving knife

credits

from Carving Knife [SINGLE], released August 16, 2021
Written, recorded & produced by Leslie Hudson
Mastered by Charlie Jacklin at Kerr Village Productions, Oakville ON

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about

Leslie Hudson Stratford, Ontario

Leslie Hudson is a Canadian singer songwriter and pianist. Their albums range from storytelling styles to bluesy bar rock to dialed-up, full-band homages to pop culture. With lyrical piano skills and a voice that cuts through the crowd, their songs dive deep into archetype and folklore, modernizing ancient voices & shining a spotlight on the shadowy paths we walk through life, myth and media. ... more

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Mischief was my introduction to the spellsongcraft of S.J. Tucker who builds sonic story sculptures with such precision and grace of motion that I am borne up on her bright beating wings of wonder. Leslie Hudson
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My favourite album by Karine Polwart, an understatedly brilliant songwriter, serene and incisive, who weaves resistance, hope, joy and heartbreak into hauntingly crafted arrangements rich in harmony. Leslie Hudson
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