Judee Sill - Crayon Angels

[Chesescake 3,928]

Wiki

Judee Sill (Judith Lynne Sill) was born in Studio City, California on October 7, 1944. When her father died, Sill's mother Oneta moved with Judee and her older brother Dennis to Los Angeles, where Oneta soon met and married animator Kenneth Muse. Sill describe her home life after her mother's remarriage as unhappy and frequently violent due to physical fights between Sill and her parents (which is an adversely affect of her.) After transferred to a private school, she met other rebellious teenagers then later she had committed a series of crime. Until her soon arrested and spent nine months in reform school, where she served as church organist and "learned a lot of good music" including gospel music.

But it's not the end, she later briefly attended collage as an art major. Played piano orchestra in collage whilst working at a piano bar. After her mother died, she leaves step-father's house and started doing drugs. She married pianist Robert Maurice "Bob" Harris, lived in Las Vegas for a time, but both developed crippling heroin addictions within months. When Sill moved back to California, she resorted to sex work, scams, and check forgery to support her habit. A string of offenses sent her to jail, and she learned that her brother Dennis had suddenly died of a liver infection. When she got out, she immediately set to work as a song composer.

Crayon Angels is the first track of Judee’s debut album, the sadness, and tenderness wrapped up the eagerness to escape the realm. Even though tell from her lyrics, it is not hard to found the LSD influence and Christian references.

Lyrics:

Spoiler

[Verse 1]
Crayon angel songs are slightly out of tune
But I'm sure I'm not to blame
Nothing's happened but I think it will soon
So I sit here waitin' for God and a train
To the astral plane

[Verse 2]
Magic rings I made have turned my finger green
And my mystic roses died
Guess reality is not as it seems
So I sit here hopin' for truth and a ride
To the other side

[Verse 3]
Phony prophets stole the only light I knew
And the darkness softly screamed
Holy visions disappeared from my view
But the angels come back and laugh in my dreams
I wonder what it means

 

[Chesescake 3,928]

I think this song is about younger her dreamed of escape the reality whilst doing drugs. "Crayon angel songs are slightly out of tune" may alluded her problematics childhoods/life, that's why she thought she's hot to blame. A despaired-rebellion personality shape by the changed of environment, violation, death of relative and maybe fake love (mystic roses.) Waitin' for God and a train to the astral plane/other side.

I don't know what magic ring referenced to. But I notice there're also other angels come back and laugh in Judee dreams, since it isn't directly point out it's crayon angel so I think we can assume it's other kids/people same age with her, may laughed at her tragic life or just simply had the healthy-happy life she crave for. But there's no way to know.