Stevie - Female Mythicist of our time?

[DownOnRodeo]

I don't know if anyone knows much about Joseph Campbell. But it seems to me that Stevie, through her songs and demeanour, is unique in that she is something of a mythicist. Her songs can appeal to something a bit intangible, her lyrics make sense when by all rights they shouldn't; her diary entries and general perspectives on things just demonstrate that she is, unlike any others I can really think of, someone who is providing some sort of mythos for women and girls.

[Mattress]

I would agree, but I have Rock-A-Little playing, and that's on the heels of having listened to "Stand Back" on a loop for 30 minutes...

Her writing style was much more as you describe it in the first 7-10 years of her career, but the only current recordings to capture that same vibe have been rehashed demos written within that very time frame.

[Bella Figura]

Hi Joe, what an interesting connection!!! I am also an avid reader of Joseph Campbell and agree that Stevie definetely uses myth and mythical archetypes to divine her messages. In Joseph Campbells' Power of Myth, a conversation w/Bill Moyers, he does tend to concentrate on predominately male myths except for the Indian girl who marries a snake-god (but even she is not the hero, she still needs a male figure to show her the way to enlightenment). But you can definetely look to Stevie and her songs/poetry and see how she uses those myths/stories/fairy tales common to a girl/woman's experience to express her ideas, her journey and her myth.

Some mythical references have been:

of course...Rhiannon
The Highwayman
Beauty and the Beast
Alice in Wonderland
Red Riding Hood (Cry Wolf)
Juliet
Julia, Rock a Little (jane fonda/vanessa redgraves 1977 film...it's a chick flick!!)

and those are just some of her released songs, she references tons of fairy tales, stories and poems in her demo stuff...I especially love "Have No Heart"

And though I've found Joseph Campbells books to be very thoughtful and insightful, breaking down the human experience to try to find those common denominators that make a life worth living...I did find him a little depressing. And I find this with all great philosophers who talk about how to live a life, making it thu, understand the reason for life and getting to the higher plane, they all tend to depress me a bit after thinking/trying to understand what they are saying...but Stevie has never done that. She talks about the same philosophical ideas/ideals, the same thoughts and feelings but as she so often said herself "she always tries to have something positive in her music" and I really appreciate that.

and now we find that Stevie herself, not just her music and poetry, has become a mythical archetype...by the way she has lived her life and made her mistakes and embraced her survival. And because of fame, she has taken us on her life journey giving us a strong female hero and a new female-driven myth which can communicate/identify directly to women and their own experience of life, very rare indeed...

[DownOnRodeo]

Originally posted by Bella Figura
and now we find that Stevie herself, not just her music and poetry, has become a mythical archetype...by the way she has lived her life and made her mistakes and embraced her survival. And because of fame, she has taken us on her life journey giving us a strong female hero and a new female-driven myth which can communicate/identify directly to women and their own experience of life, very rare indeed...

Thanks BellaFigura, that's really what I was trying to say. Especially in the light of myth for males being so prevalent: books, video games, movies etc. Stevie's identity and her catalogue are things with a bit of depth that girls/women can really sink their teeth into! Power to Stevie! lol