(no subject)
There are 40000 reasons why I love Jann Arden. I will give you... fifteen, I think. Seems like a good number to start off with. This is mainly for harlowbabe, but really, everyone needs to get on the funbus that is Jann Arden. So I bring you yet another ultimate Sterling spam. And we will call this spam Jann. And it will be a JannSpam. And we will love it very much. (I need to seriously cut down on the caffeine intake).
15. She isn't nipped, tucked, injected, botoxed and siliconed into a Songwriter Barbie. This should probably rank a lot higher on the list. She is gorgeous in an actual-human-being-whose-body-could-actually-occur-in-nature way. :)
14. Her painting. Because y'know, you might as well be brilliant at EVERYTHING. I can't link to it because apparently the internet hates me. I dunno. It must sense excessive fangirling. ;)
13. She has Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. It's also known as "broken heart syndrome". There is something so tragically beautiful about that.
12. BEST BAD WHITE GIRL DANCING EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Agreed? Agreed.
11. She is so bloody awesome to her fans. From calling people up on stage to maybe dating their brothers, she is tied with Melissa and 9 to 5 for best live performances I've ever seen.
10. She's Canadian, and still lives not far from Springbank, Alberta, a small town outside of Calgary, where she grew up.
9. She can cover anything from Leonard Cohen's "If It Be Your Will" to The Carpenters, Ray Charles and freakin' Petula Clark and make it sound brilliant and completely her own. This ties into her voice, but it gets a seperate category, because seriously, some people SUCK OUT LOUD at cover tunes.
8. Her brother is serving a life sentence for murder. This in itself, of course, not really a reason to love her, although he has always claimed his innocence. I'm not here to judge that one way or the other. But she hasn't shied away from it, from the potential damage it could do to her career. She still visits him regularly, and says not getting to know him better in childhood is one of the biggest and only regrets in her life. Her song "Hangin' by a Thread" is dedicated to him. It's on Youtube.
7. She doesn't really give a fuck. I mean, I'm sure she does, but she isn't just going to go about doing what she's "supposed" to do. As such, her interviews are basically the best things ever. In response to Pamela Anderson going off onstage about how terrible seal clubbing was at the Junos or some such, she told reporters her bra was "made entirely of seal eyelids". Yes, I think I may have found my soulmate, ladies and gentleman. XD
6. She is a big goof who doesn't take herself too seriously. And we love big goofs. Plus, hello, she has a star on the CANADIAN walk of fame. Which is kind of way more awesome than the American walk of fame because it has the most fucked up assortment of people EVER. Seriously. Look it up. Ballet dancers, journalists, the cast of SCTV, and Walt Ostanek. THE FREAKING POLKA KING. I am not being facetious, he is totally a hero here. We are so bizarre it's amazing. XD I love it. And yes, she is fake strangling a former pro wrestler. Because she is just that awesome.
5. Her charity work. From AIDS benefits and Live 8, to her trips to Africa with World Vision, and lending her name and time to every cause from breast cancer to animal rescue to Kid's Help Phone... she is amazing. Ah-maze-ing.
4. Her books/journal. I'm including this seperate from the songwriting, because it is, but it isn't, but it is. I have both her books, "if I knew, don't you think i'd tell you" and "i'll tell you one damn thing, and that's all i know". They make me laugh and cry and dream and think big, thinky thoughts and just generally do everything books should do. Her online journal posts do much the same. They are here or also over here. But seriously, everybody. Go buy her books. She commands you.
3. Her stories about her parents. Because basically, we have the same parents. And her impressions are PERFECT. I just love that she's that close with her parents in general.
2. Her amazing songwriting. She is fearless. She can tear your heart out with lyrics like I am not lonely/swear to God I'm just alone or hide your heart under the bed/and lock your secret drawer/wash the angels from your head/won't need them anymore, and how do you teach your heart it's a crime/to fall in love again? Then she'll turn around and write something like the hardest part of goodbye/is moving all your stuff/hey what's the name of that one guy?/I sure could use his pickup truck.
*lyrics are from Sound Of, Could I Be Your Girl, Insensitive and I Only Wanted Sex respectively.
1. Her voice. I don't even know what to say about it, so here, listen to Wishing That and Good Mother. If you can listen to Good Mother without feeling SOMETHING, I don't even know what to say to you.
15. She isn't nipped, tucked, injected, botoxed and siliconed into a Songwriter Barbie. This should probably rank a lot higher on the list. She is gorgeous in an actual-human-being-whose-body-could-actually-occur-in-nature way. :)
14. Her painting. Because y'know, you might as well be brilliant at EVERYTHING. I can't link to it because apparently the internet hates me. I dunno. It must sense excessive fangirling. ;)
13. She has Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. It's also known as "broken heart syndrome". There is something so tragically beautiful about that.
12. BEST BAD WHITE GIRL DANCING EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Agreed? Agreed.
11. She is so bloody awesome to her fans. From calling people up on stage to maybe dating their brothers, she is tied with Melissa and 9 to 5 for best live performances I've ever seen.
10. She's Canadian, and still lives not far from Springbank, Alberta, a small town outside of Calgary, where she grew up.
9. She can cover anything from Leonard Cohen's "If It Be Your Will" to The Carpenters, Ray Charles and freakin' Petula Clark and make it sound brilliant and completely her own. This ties into her voice, but it gets a seperate category, because seriously, some people SUCK OUT LOUD at cover tunes.
8. Her brother is serving a life sentence for murder. This in itself, of course, not really a reason to love her, although he has always claimed his innocence. I'm not here to judge that one way or the other. But she hasn't shied away from it, from the potential damage it could do to her career. She still visits him regularly, and says not getting to know him better in childhood is one of the biggest and only regrets in her life. Her song "Hangin' by a Thread" is dedicated to him. It's on Youtube.
7. She doesn't really give a fuck. I mean, I'm sure she does, but she isn't just going to go about doing what she's "supposed" to do. As such, her interviews are basically the best things ever. In response to Pamela Anderson going off onstage about how terrible seal clubbing was at the Junos or some such, she told reporters her bra was "made entirely of seal eyelids". Yes, I think I may have found my soulmate, ladies and gentleman. XD
6. She is a big goof who doesn't take herself too seriously. And we love big goofs. Plus, hello, she has a star on the CANADIAN walk of fame. Which is kind of way more awesome than the American walk of fame because it has the most fucked up assortment of people EVER. Seriously. Look it up. Ballet dancers, journalists, the cast of SCTV, and Walt Ostanek. THE FREAKING POLKA KING. I am not being facetious, he is totally a hero here. We are so bizarre it's amazing. XD I love it. And yes, she is fake strangling a former pro wrestler. Because she is just that awesome.
5. Her charity work. From AIDS benefits and Live 8, to her trips to Africa with World Vision, and lending her name and time to every cause from breast cancer to animal rescue to Kid's Help Phone... she is amazing. Ah-maze-ing.
4. Her books/journal. I'm including this seperate from the songwriting, because it is, but it isn't, but it is. I have both her books, "if I knew, don't you think i'd tell you" and "i'll tell you one damn thing, and that's all i know". They make me laugh and cry and dream and think big, thinky thoughts and just generally do everything books should do. Her online journal posts do much the same. They are here or also over here. But seriously, everybody. Go buy her books. She commands you.
3. Her stories about her parents. Because basically, we have the same parents. And her impressions are PERFECT. I just love that she's that close with her parents in general.
2. Her amazing songwriting. She is fearless. She can tear your heart out with lyrics like I am not lonely/swear to God I'm just alone or hide your heart under the bed/and lock your secret drawer/wash the angels from your head/won't need them anymore, and how do you teach your heart it's a crime/to fall in love again? Then she'll turn around and write something like the hardest part of goodbye/is moving all your stuff/hey what's the name of that one guy?/I sure could use his pickup truck.
*lyrics are from Sound Of, Could I Be Your Girl, Insensitive and I Only Wanted Sex respectively.
1. Her voice. I don't even know what to say about it, so here, listen to Wishing That and Good Mother. If you can listen to Good Mother without feeling SOMETHING, I don't even know what to say to you.