{"id":5117,"date":"2013-05-15T22:27:57","date_gmt":"2013-05-16T02:27:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/blissblog\/?p=5117"},"modified":"2013-05-16T09:18:33","modified_gmt":"2013-05-16T13:18:33","slug":"magdalene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html","title":{"rendered":"Magdalene"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

As I listened to the sophomore release (her first CD\u00a0 which debuted in 2010 is called Red\u00a0Dress) \u00a0of New York City by way of Baltimore singer songwriter Karyn Oliver, I thought of it \u00a0as ‘the many moods of KO’ , since her vocal stylings are reminiscent of Crystal Gale, Eva Cassidy\u00a0and Norah Jones and the songs range from the light and playful to the poignant and painful, from the wistful to the sweetly seductive. A hybrid album: country-folky-bluesy; altogether gutsy.<\/p>\n

The cover and liner note photographs reflect those emotions as well, with the effervescently tumble curled, black leather clad\u00a0song-bird gazing in a beckoning ‘come hither’\u00a0look that greets the listener initially and then welcomes them through the lyric pages\u00a0with images of Oliver playing her guitar,\u00a0staring in profile out her high-rise window, looking heavenward, smiling playfully and then, revealing perhaps a wee bit of sadness.<\/p>\n

Another photo that peeks out from underneath the CD is of \u00a0her furry four legged\u00a0companion. According to Oliver:\u00a0 “The cat has a few names. I named him for the Steve Miller song “The Joker”, so his name is Maurice – we call him Mo. So we also call him The Gangster of Love and The Space Cowboy.”<\/p>\n

The title song tickles with clever references to the historical namesake: “Your name for me was Magadalene. I am the keeper of your sin. I will always be your martyr. I’m not strong enough to call your bluff. I’ve never learned to walk on water. I can’t even swim, but I dive right in.”<\/p>\n

A piece that powerfully points to the impact of domestic violence is entitled Weeping Willow Road<\/em>. “Mama said it was all her fault. Every blow was lessons taught. A preacher’s wife must follow every little rule.”<\/p>\n

Slip Away With Me<\/em> which appears twice (once in accoustic form), is a tantalizing little treat; that invites a friend-into-lover\u00a0 into an interlude “Slip away with me, slip away with me. Give me one long night….”<\/p>\n

A love song that questions the nature of\u00a0 a relationship and her place in it, called Before You Came Along<\/em> offers the\u00a0lines:\u00a0“I was happy by myself before you came along. For all I know, you only want to live inside my songs.”<\/p>\n

The cooing Fooling<\/em> has the glorious recognition “Even if you’re miles and miles away from me. Even if we never touch again. Your heart turns up on my doorstep. And I let it in.”<\/p>\n

All of the pieces, except for two were penned by Oliver.\u00a0 She covers Baby Come Back\u00a0<\/em>with her own sultry style. Written by J.C. Crowley and Peter Beckett, it is typically\u00a0performed\u00a0by Hall and Oates\u00a0and Player.<\/p>\n

The version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah<\/em> that Oliver has made her own, is now one of my new favorites. Rising and falling\u00a0vocalizing carresses the ear “There’s a blaze of light in every word, it doesn’t matter which you heard. The holy or the broken hallelujah.” It ends with one long sustained note.<\/p>\n

The sensual imagery of Water<\/em> paints\u00a0a word picture with “I remember the evening swims. Laughter and long\u00a0 tangled limits…..I’m dry,” sung in an eyes closed throaty moan that is utterly irresistable.<\/p>\n

A heart melting\u00a0dedication by the newlywed Oliver is to ” ‘The Frenchman’, without whom these songs would not have been possible. You make me want to sing. I love you.”<\/p>\n

Magdalene is indeed a religious experience as Oliver holds up an overflowing chalice in a sonic salutation and worships at the altar of love.\u00a0The listener is blessed.<\/p>\n

www.karynoliver.com<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I listened to the sophomore release (her first CD\u00a0 which debuted in 2010 is called Red\u00a0Dress) \u00a0of New York City by way of Baltimore singer songwriter Karyn Oliver, I thought of it \u00a0as ‘the many moods of KO’ , since her vocal stylings are reminiscent of Crystal Gale, Eva Cassidy\u00a0and Norah Jones and the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,2,33,15,9,376,16,32,10],"tags":[3126,2310,3136,3135,3127,3129,3123,2410,3125,3134,653,3128,3124,3131,3130,3133,3132],"class_list":["post-5117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-bliss","category-creativity","category-living-their-bliss","category-music","category-music-review","category-my-personal-bliss","category-sharing-their-bliss","category-spirituality","tag-baby-come-back","tag-baltimore","tag-crystal-gale","tag-eva-cassidy","tag-hall-and-oates","tag-hallelujah","tag-karyn-oliver","tag-leonard-cohen","tag-magdalene","tag-new-york-city","tag-norah-jones","tag-player","tag-red-dress","tag-space-cowboy","tag-stever-miller","tag-the-gangster-of-love","tag-the-joker"],"yoast_head":"\nMagdalene - The Bliss Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Magdalene - The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As I listened to the sophomore release (her first CD\u00a0 which debuted in 2010 is called Red\u00a0Dress) \u00a0of New York City by way of Baltimore singer songwriter Karyn Oliver, I thought of it \u00a0as ‘the many moods of KO’ , since her vocal stylings are reminiscent of Crystal Gale, Eva Cassidy\u00a0and Norah Jones and the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bliss Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-16T02:27:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-16T13:18:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/554931_10151428564423878_1991175735_n.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EdieWeinstein1\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Magdalene - The Bliss Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Magdalene - The Bliss Blog","og_description":"As I listened to the sophomore release (her first CD\u00a0 which debuted in 2010 is called Red\u00a0Dress) \u00a0of New York City by way of Baltimore singer songwriter Karyn Oliver, I thought of it \u00a0as ‘the many moods of KO’ , since her vocal stylings are reminiscent of Crystal Gale, Eva Cassidy\u00a0and Norah Jones and the…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html","og_site_name":"The Bliss Blog","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","article_published_time":"2013-05-16T02:27:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-16T13:18:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/554931_10151428564423878_1991175735_n.jpg"}],"author":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@EdieWeinstein1","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html","name":"Magdalene - The Bliss Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/554931_10151428564423878_1991175735_n.jpg","datePublished":"2013-05-16T02:27:57+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-16T13:18:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/554931_10151428564423878_1991175735_n.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net\/hphotos-ak-ash3\/554931_10151428564423878_1991175735_n.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/2013\/05\/magdalene.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Magdalene"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/","name":"The Bliss Blog","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Edie Weinstein","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/edcd643a643a9ca91adb1e8f9e177386","name":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/0d6\/0d6cd7619da51a9a40cc705280e88f9cx96.jpg","caption":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW"},"description":"Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a colorfully creative journalist, inspiring transformational speaker, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, editor, radio host, BLISS coach, event producer, Cosmic Concierge, the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary and co-author of Embraced By the Divine: The Emerging Woman\u2019s Gateway to Power, Passion and Purpose. She has also contributed to several anthologies and personal growth books. Edie has interviewed such notables as Ram Dass, Wayne Dyer, Debbie Ford, don Miguel Ruiz, don Miguel Ruiz, Jr. Marianne Williamson, Grover Washington, Jr. Noah Levine, Shirley MacLaine, Dennis Weaver, Ben and Jerry and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She calls herself an Opti-mystic who sees the world through the eyes of possibility. Edie is the founder of Hug Mobsters Armed With Love, which offers FREE HUGS events on a planned and spontaneous basis. www.opti-mystical.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.opti-mystical.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/snuggleyoga","https:\/\/x.com\/EdieWeinstein1"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/author\/eweinstein"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5117"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5121,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5117\/revisions\/5121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/blissblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}