Punk rock's poet laureate, Patti Smith ranks among the most influential female rock & rollers of all time. Ambitious, unconventional, and challenging, Smith's music was hailed as the most exciting fusion of rock and poetry since Bob Dylan's heyday. If that hybrid remained distinctly uncommercial for much of her career, it wasn't a statement against accessibility so much as the simple fact that Smith followed her own muse wherever it took her — from structured rock songs to free-form experimentalism, or even completely out of music at times. Her most avant-garde outings drew a sense of improvisation and interplay from free jazz, though they remained firmly rooted in noisy, primitive three-chord rock & roll. She was a powerful concert presence, singing and chanting her lyrics in an untrained but expressive voice, whirling around the stage like an ecstatic shaman delivering incantations. A regular at CBGB's during the early days of New York punk, she was the first artist of the bunch to land a record deal and release an album, even beating the Ramones to the punch. The artiness and the amateurish musicianship of her work both had a major impact on the punk movement, whether in New York or England, whether among her contemporaries (Television, Richard Hell) or followers. (Source-All Music Guide-abbreviated because of length and a little content)


Farewell Reel

[this little song is for Fred: it's G, C, D, and D minor]

It's been a hard time
and when it rains
it rains on me
the sky just opens
and when it rains
it pours

I walk alone
assaulted it seems
by tears from heaven
and darling I can't help
thinking those tears are yours

Our wild love came from above
and wilder still
is the wind that howls
like a voice that knows it's gone
cause darling you died
and well I cried
but I'll get by
salute our love
and send you a smile
and move on

So darling farewell
all will be well
and then all will be fine
the children will rise
strong and happy be sure
cause your love flows
and the corn still grows
and God only knows
we're only given
as much as the heart can endure

But I don't know why
but when it rains
it rains on me
the sky just opens
and when it rains
it pours

But I look up
and a rainbow appears
like a smile from heaven
and darling I can't
help thinking that smile
is yours