Best people to play eye-spy with, while waiting for a concert to start?
Sass and her sister Zippy.
I saw Brooke Fraser in concert last night. I originally said I'd go because Sass didn't want to go alone, and I've been meaning to get to more live performances and Brooke's music is very pretty.
Brooke is adorable. I love her singing voice and all, but her manner between songs was what really drew me to her. She'd tell weird stories and then get embarrassed about it. She talked about her ovaries. She sang us the song she sang on that same stage when she was nine and performing in the Buzz O'Bumble show. ("Greta Whetu Weta in the Macrocarpa tree") She laughed and got overwhelmed by the home crowd and by the end of the night I felt like I was watching a friend perform a concert. I felt like I could go up and give her a hug afterwards and it wouldn't be weird.*
I don't really know Brooke's music. I've heard both albums but never really thought about them, or listened to the words or anything. I liked hearing it live, although I found her Christianity a bit confronting. I liked hearing the lyrics and smiling and appreciating the power of the rockier songs and watching her move about the stage between instruments.
All of these things combined with the song "Albertine" and when Brooke asked me to sponsor a child via World Vision I found it hard to resist. After all, I am a bleeding heart liberal who is trying to save the world. When she mentioned we'd get a free signed album if we signed up at the concert she had me. Bribery works!
So. I have a Cambodian child called Net. He is one of six boy children and lives with both parents on a farm.
Like everyone, I've heard the rumours that most of this charity money goes to line the pockets of CEOs, but Brooke has been to Rwanda and seen the money make a difference. I also reason that if it were true and it was a rip-off, wouldn't World Vision have been exposed by now?
So. I'm putting my money where my heart is. I'm giving it a go. It's $18.50 per fortnight, which is not much more than I was paying my union. I don't think I'll miss that money, especially if I am very good and stop buying DVDs and books that I don't really need.
I'll keep you updated about Net. I am excited to see if he writes to me. I might write to him first, and make sure he's real. Apparently I'll get a Christmas card from him!
PoF: first Polar Fleece of the year
CO: Albertine
*I didn't see her afterwards, so I don't know if I really would have done it.
Lyrics to Albertine c/- Brooke Fraser's official website.
I think of Angelique
Her mother's voice over me
And the bullets in the wall where it fell silent
And on a thousandth hill
I think of Albertine
There in her eyes what I don't see
With my own
Rwanda
Now that I have seen
I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you
In my own arms
I cannot let go `til you are
I am on a plane
Across a distant sea
But I carry you in me
And in the dust on, the dust on my feet
Rwanda
Now that I have seen
I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you
In my own arms
I cannot let go `til you are
And I'll tell the world
I will tell them where I've been
I will keep my word
I will tell them, Albertine
Now that I have seen
I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you
In my own arms
I cannot let go `til you are
I am on a stage
A thousand eyes on me
I will tell them, Albertine
I will tell them, Albertine
Copyright Brooke Fraser
(It's the "Now that I have seen, I am responsible" that really gets me.)
Posted by jenni at April 18, 2007 01:44 PM