‘Illume’ – Talk amongst yourselves!

[greendaze5]

Great track, - very ‘Stevie’. My fave off SYW, and one of my favs in regards to her songs with FM in general.

Musically and lyrically, it effectively conveys an air of mystery and menace (like ‘Sisters of the Moon’). Good bass line, and opening guitar strumming and then the incoming bongos. Nice dramatic splash of guitar right between ‘Like it dances’ and ‘I am a cliff dweller…’ . I love how Stevie enunciates ‘Duuummmme’.

Besides the terrible tragedy it was written about, personally, ‘Illume’ to me is about being in a bad situation, and having to be introspective and drawing strength from yourself to get out of it and to keep surviving.

Incidentally, I was at Stevie’s Sept. 10, 2001 show in Toronto. Had she opted to stay the night and rest instead of flying to New York City that very night (for her Sept. 12 show I believe), she would have been stuck in Canada for God knows how long because of the closing of the borders the next day as we all know.

Back to the song itself - I just love the imagery of it - having a candle by the window and looking out into the night towards the ocean. I just love the open water. Five years ago, when I was on the beach in Santa Barbara at night (and then later at Virginia Beach) looking back at the city, I played ‘Illume’ in my head thinking about the lines: ‘I like the coastal cities, I like the lights, I like the way the city blends into the ocean at night. It’s like living on a working river, the coast line is glittering, like a diamond snake in the black sky.’ Gawd, it was so beautiful. Definitely, ‘a moment’.

I also made it point to stop by Point Dume, even for just few minutes, when I was driving from Santa Barbara to Santa Monica. Oh Stevie, the things I do in loving your music.

Also, when I was in California, I went to look for ‘Illume’ brand candles, can’t seem to find them out east. Did find some, but kinda expensive so I passed. Now I need to look for some ‘Nag Champa’. I think it’s pretty commonly available in shops selling stuff from India, or even in ‘head-shops’.

By the way, having the ‘I like the coastal cities…’ stanza in ‘Destiny Rules’ just doesn’t work for me. It’s so out of context to the rest of the song.

Roland