About the CD Women Do
Peaceful – a gentle reminder to live peacefullyWomen know that it’s sometimes better to be a clown in the Circus of Life than to balance precariously in the spotlight on a highwire.
Women love with a passion which gives all and holds nothing back.
Women mourn for the loss of much-loved friends and celebrate their memory in song.
Women think flowers and chocolates and being wined and dined are nice; but what really wins their hearts is help with the housework.
Women wait in dreary isolation, stoically doing the work of men while they wait for the return of husbands and lovers travelling for work which takes them away from home for weeks or months or years on end.
Women are enshrined in the thoughts of embittered prisoners; small bright flames that warm lonely lives of fear and violence.
Women know how to relax in real time with a glass of wine and a good book, coffee and Danish with a friend or a walk along a riverbank in the sunshine before hurtling back into cyberspace.
Women protest against the brutality of war by placing flowers in the barrels of soldiers’ guns in a silent plea for peace.
Women dare to unwrap their lonely hearts, dust them off and take them out to join in the dance.
Women get together at their local over a pint or three to drown their sorrows and commiserate with each other over their menfolk.
Women hold their secret love to their hearts and pine in solitary grief for what they cannot express.
Women pick themselves up from broken relationships and face the world proudly with heads held high.
Women fight for their beliefs the best way they can they can – and wait in hope for a better day. They laugh and sing and dream and plan and toil and strive and mend and make, hold families and friendships together, and believe in the power of love.
All these things women do.
A Review of the CD Women Do
by Julie Dendle
Women Do is Anne Infante’s new CD celebrating women and the ways we think, feel and act. Eleven of the thirteen tracks are her original songs and embody her characteristic insight and devastating wit. Anne’s extensive repertoire and knowledge of folk music assist her to write in different genres with pinpoint accuracy.
In Sheepskin Creek, Anne presents the, mostly untold, distaff side of Australia’s pioneering days – hard physical work and crushing loneliness. While Said King Willie’s Mum is a whimsical romp which gives the bad girls of English traditional ballads the right of reply – and a drink or three!
Many of us cut our folkie teeth during the Vietnam War years, heavily influenced by the peace songs of that era. Today, Australia is yet again involved with the USA in forlorn wars with mounting death and injury tolls. But where are the peace songs of the 21st century? Anne redresses this lack with Peaceful – a gentle reminder to live peacefully.
I’m Obviously Well Out of That! (my theme song) and Good Cleaning Man (my fantasy) display Anne’s comedic talents to great effect. We can all relate to being dumped but who knew that housework had such erotic potential?
Clowns is for those of us who didn’t grow up to be in the spotlight – but remember, performers need an audience just as much as an audience needs performers. Real Time recalls the gentle pleasures of the time before we became enslaved by computers. I can’t remember when I last took time out to pen a letter.
I defy any listener not to sway in time to the lilting strains of The Maybe Waltz. Anne urges us to take a chance on love – which could lead to A Very Good Year... perhaps next year.
Bahama Mama commemorates the life of Anne’s dear friend and folk stalwart, June Nichols – to whom the album is dedicated. This track concludes with Terry Jacob playing June’s Silver Wattle Waltzon concertina.
I was initially disturbed by the inclusion of The Devil’s On St Helena. It is not about women and there were no female prisoners on the island. Eventually, I realised that the brutality it depicts underlines the lack of female influences.
Two non-Infante songs feature on the CD. The plaintive Lass from the Low Country is a tale of unrequited love by American collector/songwriter John Jacob Niles. Andrea Baldwin’s powerful Women Do explores the different ways men and women handle conflict. The song provides the album title and the concept for its theme.
To make this CD, Anne took a bunch of muso friends off to Mark Smith’s Real Productions studios. The sensitive arrangements beautifully complement Anne’s vocals and the CD has a lovely clear sound. Mary Brettell designed the cover and liner notes and also sings harmonies.
Women Do is a CD for all women and all men who have had a significant female in their lives. It is available from Anne at anne.infante@bigpond.com or wherever she is singing (eg: the Kookaburra Folk Club on Wednesday nights).
From Anne Infante
Tel: 61 7 3366 2248
Email: anne.infante@bigpond.com
Cost $25.00 (Outside Australia $30.00)
Includes postage/handling
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