Short Sharp Shocked [Remastered] - Michelle Shocked > Reviews > Short, Sharp and Shuper

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Unusual, folky, intelligent
Disadvantages:	A little serious at times

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

After the breakthrough success of The Texas Campfire Tapes mini-album, Michelle Shocked returned with a full length LP that has stood the test of time.

Born in February 1962, Karen Michelle Johnston went on to have one of the oddest, most eclectic careers in recent memory. For me the artistic peak she achieved with the album Short Sharp Shocked is unlikely to be matched, but she remains an interesting artist committed to human rights and to standing up for her beliefs.

The record kicks off with When I Grow Up. From the very start Shocked is speaking to us from an unusual sensibility. A young artist at the start of her career planning her retirement as an old woman:

“Me, my old man and a hundred and twenty babies”

Never has old age sounded so joyous and aspirational.

Later, on Memories of East Texas we learn that the future may seem bright because the past appears to have been so dismal.

“Looking back and asking myself
'What the hell'd you let them break your spirit for?'
You know, their lives ran in circles so small
Ah, they thought they'd seen it all
And they could not make a place for a girl who'd seen the ocean”

The next track contains slightly fonder reminiscences about her youth in Texas. Making the run to Gladewater tells the story of a typical Saturday night in Dry Country. The Mormons have come and banned alcohol across the county and so a toss of the coin will determine who gets to take his pickup on a beer run:

“It was Saturday night
You was sitting 'round the square
Ohh, small town Texas sons and daughters
But you lost the toss, yeah
That means you're taking up the money
Ohh, that means you're making the run
Making the run
Making the run to Gladewater”

Leaving her past behind her temporarily Shocked turns her critical eye on contemporary troubles. Graffiti Limbo is a story song in the tradition of Dylan’s Hurricane. Part of Ed Koch’s crackdown on crime during his tenure as Mayor of New York was an attempt to rid the streets of graffiti and to punish the kids who used this urban art as their only means of public expression. Shocked tells the tragic story of one artist, pausing her song between choruses to narrate the true events:

“I wrote this song for Michael Stewart. Michael Stewart was a young black graffiti artist who was arrested while writing graffiti on a subway wall in New York City. While under arrest, in the presence of eleven white transit cops, Michael Stewart was strangled to death. When his case was heard by the Grand Jury, you know, not one cop was found guilty. The coroner had lost the evidence and those cops are on the streets again.”

The song’s simple melody and plaintive call for justice attest to the authenticity of Shocked’s frustration.

Bouncing back from limbo, Shocked switches tempo for the most gloriously lascivious folk/blues song in history:

“If love was a train I think I’d ride me a long one.”

Oooh missus.

Anchorage is probably the most familiar track on the album. Released as a single back in 1988, it failed to make the top 40, but it can still be heard from time to time on Terry Wogan or Ken Bruce’s Radio 2 show. Anchorage is another story song, this time using the metaphor of Alaska’s hugeness to talk about the distances that form between friends and the passing of time.

“Texas always seems so big, but you know you’re in the largest state in the Union when you’re anchored down in Anchorage, Alaska.”

Short Sharp Shocked is refreshingly brief and always to the point. You get the idea that Shocked would never have a problem looking you in the eye without being aggressive and confrontational. In some ways Michelle Shocked is the missing link between Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos. She has something to say and she’s not afraid to say it, but at the same time she doesn’t lose her humour, her perspective or her passion.

The cover of the record is still as shocking today as it was back then. It shows Karen Michelle Johnston being arrested by several burly officers while protesting at the Democratic National Convention in 1984. These are her own words about that event:

“There had been a lot of corporations that had contributed money to both the Democratic and Republican Parties and also happened to be making a lots of money off of the arms... they were makin' a lot of money off of people dyin' that's what they were doin'. So I got arrested once for conspiring to commit a misdemeanour, which is a felony and, in Dallas, arrested for public obscenity as in, "1-2-3-4 we don't wan't your f***in' war".
Well, you have to give 'em a name when you're arrested, don't you. Well, what are they gonna do, arrest you if you don't give 'em your real name?
And, of course, I'm sure you all got the joke -- 'Chell Shocked, right.”

This is a fine album by a lesser known artist that will reward you if you give it a chance.

Short Sharp Shocked has been re-issued with a asecond disc featuring demos and live versions. It is available from Amazon.co.uk for £11.99. 

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