Crayon Angels

Judee Sill

Songwriting doesn’t get much better than this — a perfect little two and a half minute gem.

Today I was thinking about Judee’s voice and this one in particular as it reminded me of Flannery singing along with it when she was nine. I love the song’s innocence, but also the poetry and how the philosophy runs deep.

Back in 2015 I was fortunate to be the editor on a short, proof-of-concept documentary on the life and work of record producer Henry Lewy. He never got much credit for the music he engineered in the studio. I think about Henry a lot and hope his story, his work and his personality becomes more well known. I discovered some new music during the edit and Judee stood out.

So I’m going down a little rabbit hole to uncover some of my favorite Henry tracks. This is the first one, the opener to Judee’s self-title debut back in 1971. Listening to it now, I’m stunned it was not a commercial success. So love the way she sings and articulates. And the entire record holds up — Henry’s analog recording and mixing in the studio are incredible.

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 waiting for God and a train
To the Astral plane

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 hoping for truth, and a ride
To the other side

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