Extraordinary Melody
Mark Joseph
April 1, 2002
Sixpence None the Richer, Divine Discontent (Warner Brothers, 2002)
The British music writer Steve Turner has written biographies of Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, Van Morrison, and Cliff Richard, but recently (at the prompting of U2's Bono) he wrote the biography of a song. His book Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song reminds us how truly banal much of popular music seems when viewed through the lens of history. The Macarena may have captured the attention of the entire world a few years back, but it's almost certain that, unless America goes straight to hell in this century, no author will decide it's worth writing an entire book about one hundred years from now.
But every so often the same pop culture that gives us Vanilla Ice and Rico Suave produces something extraordinary that might just capture the attention of a music historian in the year 2100 or beyond. The alt-pop-rock outfit Sixpence None The Richer's most recent offering, Divine Discontent, and more specifically one track on that disc, "Melody Of You," could be in that category.
Sixpence None the Richer was, of course, the band whose song "Kiss Me" became a ubiquitous millennium-ending smash hit, peaking at number two on the U.S. pop charts, hitting bestseller lists around the world, and being played at the wedding of Prince Edward. The unfortunate side effect was that the band became known for little else than having written and performed a song about kissing that appeared on Dawson's Creek and in the teen film She's All That.
To be sure, "Kiss Me" rewarded close listeners, with its enigmatic references to "bearded barley" and "the trail marked on your father's map," but few seemed to hear anything beyond the title.
All of which was frustrating to ...
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