Cindy Tears

Just a few months ago I wrote my first crusade. It was about Everything But the Girl and their fourth album, Idlewild. Since then they've released a single in England called "I Don't Want to Talk About it." And Sire added it to the Idlewild CD in America. I believe it's a cover of an old Rod Stewart song. (Editor's note: it was written by Danny Whitten of Crazy Horse.) It's real soft and pretty, unlike most of the stuff I usually listen to. The first line of the song is, "I can tell by your eyes that you've probably been crying forever." Just the other day Autumn said to me, "I've known you for seven years now and I don't think I've ever seen you cry." She's right. I don't cry very often. It's not cause I don't ever have anything to cry about. It's not cause I'm so tough I don't ever need to cry. Oh no. I think maybe...well I had kind of a rough time growing up. I cried a lot when I was a little girl. I guess maybe now I'm all cried out. Not many tears left in these wild brown eyes. Like if I'm fighting with Billy and I get to a point where I'm all upset and want to cry, I usually stop myself cause tears can be used the wrong way. If I start crying Billy's gonna get all, "shit Cindy, I'm sorry" and come over to my side. Men simply cannot deal with a woman's tears. Well I don't need that shit. I can tough out the fight without crying if I have to.

But you know there are those rare times when I do cry and usually it's one big mess. Cindy tears and blubbering nonsense pouring out all over the place. But it has to be a pretty big emotional deal before these tears will start flowing. And it sure is a lot nicer when there's someone else there, you know? It's obvious that Tracey Thorn of Everything But the Girl knows all about these kinds of things. She has a lot of songs that deal with emotional complexities. So after you've checked out "I Don't Want to Talk About it," you might want to go back to the album and listen to "I Always Was Your Girl" or "These Early Days" or "Apron Strings." These are really amazing songs. And if you ever need to have a good cry, go right ahead. It's good for you. Just don't get your boyfriend's shoulder too wet. They really hate that.

Album Network, October 10, 1988

A Distant Shore - Tracey Thorn

Cindy Jacobson. Leather Trio Productions/San Francisco.
I guess I'm one of those dreamy, beach walking types. Sometimes I'll ride my motorcycle to the Golden Gate Bridge, then go down Lincoln Avenue along the Pacific coast. I'll stop at Baker Beach or that little China Beach, which is always pretty quiet. Whenever I ride down to Carmel, where they have a beautiful beach with white sand, I always stop at this place called Pelican Point. It's near Half Moon Bay. It's not a really incredible beach or anything, but there's hardly ever anyone there. You can stand on a bluff that overlooks the ocean. Ever since I was a little girl I've always liked the sea and fog. Whenever I hear a foghorn out on San Francisco bay I just get all warm and dreamy. It makes me feel, I don't know, my friend Autumn says, "safe." I like that word.

One of my favorite albums is Tracey Thorn's A Distant Shore, which came out in 1982. She expresses so much about the way I feel about being in a relationship. My favorite song is "Seascape" which is the dreamy, long walks on the beach song. I just love the line, "thought I knew the sea and all its secrets too." After A Distant Shore Tracey formed a band called Everything But The Girl with her boyfriend Ben Watt. They have four albums out now. I haven't liked everything they've done, just a few scattered songs here and there. But their new album, Idlewild, is their best so far. On "These Early Days" Tracey sings about the difference between being a small child when you unknowingly live in a world that seems safe (there's that word again) and being an adult when you know better. I know "These Early Days" is sentimental and mushy, but to me it's like hearing a foghorn at night when I'm all alone. It makes me feel safe. Like a child feels with his mother. I like living in a world where we have things like beaches and foghorns and people like Ben and Tracey who can express my feelings in music.

Album Network, April 15, 1988
Tracey Thorn released a great solo album, Out of the Woods, in 2007.