Album of the Day — November 6
Schuyler Fisk — The Good Stuff
Schuyler Fisk — The Good Stuff
05.November.2020
Schuyler Fisk
The Good Stuff
2009
Given her pedigree, it’s no surprise Schuyler Fisk (pronounced SKY-lar) began her career as an actress. She has acted in some rather high profile projects, including:
The Baby-Sitters Club
Orange County
Law & Order: SVU
One Tree Hill
Rest assured, The Good Stuff isn’t the vanity project of an actor deciding to become a recording artist.
It’s worth noting that not only does Fisk bear a striking resemblance to her mother, but one of her mother’s most famous roles was that of a singer/songwriter.
Schuyler Fisk’s mother is Sissy Spacek. There — that’s outta the way.
While she still acts, Schuyler Fisk really excels as a singer-songwriter. The Good Stuff might be one of the best folk albums you may never have heard of.
Digitally distributed in January of 2009, the record did make its way to #1 on the iTunes Folk Chart. But don’t be misled by the marketing label of “folk.” This isn’t folk in the sense of Joan Baez or Peter, Paul, and Mary …think more modern folk.
Frankly, if this album were released in 1978, it would’ve been categorized as rock, maybe folk-rock. Think “California Sound” like Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt.
Don’t be turned away by marketing labels.
Released when Fisk was 27 standing at the precipice of maturity while still having youth's coy playfulness. Her songs have the innocence of youth, written with the blossoming understanding of maturity. It’s a brilliant confluence of purity and adulthood.
It’s got all the boxes checked for both women and men.
Ever loved a bad boy? CHECK.
You’re Happenin’ To Me
Light me up like the sun,
Shake me down like an earthquake,
Gonna ride with your love going no place.
I’m hanging on like a hero,
And dragged like a fool,
And nobody can tell me I’m crazy.
You make me feel like I’m high,
Like I’m low,
Like ya know what I don’t,
Like I’m here then I’m gone,
Like you’re singing my song.
You can’t love me like I need,
But baby you’re still happening to me,
You don’t see the things I see,
But baby, you’re still happening to me.
Ever loved the freshness of falling in love? CHECK
Sunshine
Sunshine, sunshine
I was lost before,
Now I've found everything I'm looking for,
And every step I take,
Turns everything to color, where everything was gray,
'Cause I can say
You got me, I got you on my mind,
When I see you, I'm smiling on the inside,
'Cause everything is alright,
You are my sunshine, sunshine
Rain, rain's gone away,
There's nothing here but blue skies every day,
Lucky, lucky me,
If only everyone could feel so weak in the knees,
We'd all be happy
You got me, I got you on my mind,
When I see you, I'm smiling on the inside,
'Cause everything is alright,
You are my sunshine, sunshine
Oh, you are so far from what I had,
Sunshine, sunshine,
And I never thought that I could feel this
You got me, I got you on my mind,
When I see you, I'm smiling on the inside,
'Cause everything is alright,
Never thought I'd feel this fine
You got me, I got you on my mind,
When I see you, I'm smiling on the inside,
'Cause everything is alright,
Never thought I'd feel this fine,
You are my sunshine, sunshine
Sunshine, sunshine
Ever been gutted by a love affair that ended when you didn’t want it to? CHECK
Fall Apart Today
I don’t want us to fall apart today or ever
You’re the one who said you’d never leave
There’s no good reasons for giving up
All this mess is just bad luck
So please don’t lose your confidence in me
I wish I wasn’t so fragile
’Cause I know that I’m not easy to handle
Baby please
Don’t forget you love me
Don’t forget you love me today
Oh my baby please
Don’t forget you love me
Don’t forget you love me today
I don’t wanna feel like this
But I’m so tired of missing you
I don’t wanna beg for your time
I want you mine, all mine
I wish I wasn’t so fragile
’Cause I know that I’m not easy to handle
Baby please
Don’t forget you love me
Don’t forget you love me today
Oh my baby please
Don’t forget you love me
Don’t forget you love me today
I bet you smile when you think of me
You love me messy in the morning
Freckles on my knees
Oh baby please
Oh my baby please
Don’t forget you love me
Don’t forget you love me today
Oh my baby please
Don’t forget you love me
Don’t forget you love me today
Oh baby, sweet baby, oh
Oh my baby, sweet baby
Don’t forget you love me
Ever wondered where you stood in a relationship? CHECK
(a personal favorite, which is no easy pick on this record)
Who Am I To You?
Quiet lies beneath the blue moon
Couldn’t say much less now could you?
It’s on your mind
It’s in your eyes
But you disguise it you’re so charming
If it’s not me you need
To sleep beside
If I’m not the thought that’s always on your mind
If I’m not the reason why you dream at night
The love you’ll never lose
Who am I to you?
I’m awake but your still sleeping
Not some secret you’ve been keeping
You’re hard to see
Missed a green’
Soon the sun will come and save you
If it’s not me you need to sleep beside
If I’m not the thought that’s always on your mind
If not the reason you why dream at night
The love you’ll never lose
Who am I to you?
I was here locked out
My head so conflicted
Everything I am
I’m contradicted
I’m so caught up
I can’t let you go
I need to know
I need to know
If it’s not me you need to sleep beside
If I’m not the thought that’s always on your mind
If it’s not me you need to sleep beside
If I’m no the love that’s always on your mind
If I’m no the reason why you dream at night about the love you’ll never loose
Then who am I to you
Who am I to you?
For a 27-year-old, Schuyler Fisk had done some living by the time she wrote and recorded The Good Stuff. She’d also done a lot of loving, and like any good artist, a lot of feeling. Perhaps her heart hasn’t benefited by all the pain and hurt, but her art has, and our ears do. The Good Stuff is an astounding album that somehow went largely unnoticed.
CRITICS:
Aja Gabel wrote in Virginia Magazine — “It’s full of folk-rock songs in Fisk’s distinctive clear-as-a-bell, breathy voice accompanied by guitar and piano. The record is smart and sassy, but also has a stripped-down sincerity missing from many debut albums. Even songs like “You’re Happening to Me” and “Miss You,” while based on snappy guitar riffs, stand out because of the confessional quality of the coming-of-age lyrics.”
This isn’t a review, but it’s a profile of her from the late New York Times media critic David Carr on her performance in 2009 at The Bell House in Brooklyn. It’s lovely, and like everyone who read him, I miss him.
Don’t be misled by the fact that a woman is singing these songs.
If you’re a human being and you’ve had a romantic entanglement with another person, there is a song on The Good Stuff that represents that.
And the album is aptly titled because, at the end of the day, relationships are really the good stuff …most of the time anyway. When they’re good, it makes all the other bullshit worth muddling through.