So Long, Marianne

Marianne Faithfull - Brain Drain

Shall I see you tonight, sister
bathed in magic greet?

Shall we meet on the hilltop
where the two roads meet?

We will form the circle,
hold our hands and chant

Let the great one know
what it is we want

Danger is great joy,
dark is bright as fire

Happy is our family,
lonely is our ward

Sister, we are waiting
on the rock and chain

Fly fast through the airwaves
meet with pride and truth

Danger is great joy,
dark is bright as fire

Happy is our family
lonely is our ward

Father, we are waiting
for you to appear

Do you feel the panic,
can you see the fear?

Mother, we are waiting
for you to give consent

If there's to be a marriage,
we need contempt

Danger is great joy,
dark is bright as fire

Happy is our family,
lonely is our ward

Da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da
(remember, death is far away and life is sweet)

Marianne Faithfull

The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics

Naropa University

Boulder, Colorado USA

1988-89

01 I Fear I Am Like Phoebe Cates (poem)

02 Working Class Hero

03 Brain Drain

04 Morning Come

05 Take It Easy

06 Strange Weather

07 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan (false start)

08 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan

09 She's Got a Problem

10 Times Square

11 Sign of Judgement

12 Falling from Grace

13 Guilt

14 introduction by Marianne Faithfull

15 Falling from Grace

16 Guilt

17 Strange Weather

18 Brain Drain

19 Farewell, Angelina

20 Blue Millionaire

21 Foreign Eyes

22 Working Class Hero

23 Why'd Ya Do It?

24 Boulevard of Broken Dreams

25 Times Square

26 Marianne Faithfull closing announcement 

27 I've Heard It Said (a cappella)

Total time: 1:29:44

disc break goes after Track 13

Tracks 01-11: 7.16.1988

Tracks 12-13: 7.28.1989

Tracks 14-26: 7.29.1989

Track 27: 7.20.1989

Marianne Faithfull - vocals

Steven Taylor - guitar (Tracks 01-11)

Barry Reynolds - guitar & vocals (Tracks 12-26)

with an unidentified harmonica player (Track 18)

256/48k audio streamed from the Naropa Archives 

converted to 16/44 CD Audio, edited, assembled and slightly remastered by EN, February 2025
436 MB FLAC/direct link

As everybody knows by now, Marianne Faithfull passed away a couple of days ago, after many decades of iconhood that will soon belong to the ages.

There's a bunch of ROIOs I could have just posted, the usual ones.

Instead, I thought a figure of this uncompromising stature deserved a less autonomically rote approach, so I spent the time since she passed whipping up this little 90-minute excursion into her world and a good example of what made her what she was to millions.

This dates from the late Eighties, when she taught workshops in songwriting at the then-new Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and features some searingly emotional, naked and heartfelt acoustic performances with just a single guitar accompanying her.

I'm working on February amidst moving into the new home, but I wanted to put this up here as we all remember Marianne faithfully, with the sort of uncut, raw gem befitting a rare jewel such as she.--J.

12.29.1946 - 1.30.2025