Singer-songwriters popped up from all quadrants of the US in the 70s. Kate and Anna McGarrigle stood out because they were a sister act who could each write and sing to an extent that, on their own, either would have been successful.
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As a duo, however, they were doubly devastating. They could deliver music that was sometimes quirky, sometimes whimsical, and often achingly pretty. That last description certainly fits “(Talk To Me Of) Mendocino”, a stunning combination of travelogue and heartbreak song.
Sisterly “Talk”
It was a long road for Kate and Anna McGarrigle for them to reach the point where people could hear their music. That road started in Canada, where the pair were raised in a musical family. They performed at a local level in the 60s, before Kate headed to New York to try to make it professionally.
Kate met Loudon Wainwright III, himself an acclaimed singer-songwriter, and the two soon married. In the meantime, Kate convinced her sister Anna, who had largely given up on any thoughts of a music career, to join her in search of a record deal.
Little by little, songs written by the sisters started to make their way into the world via cover versions by other artists. Most notably, Linda Ronstadt made Anna’s “Heart Like A Wheel” the title track of her 1974 hit album. With that exposure, the two secured a deal and released the album Kate & Anna McGarrigle in 1976.
“(Talk To Me Of) Mendocino” provides one of the emotional highlights of that record. Kate wrote the track about her relocation from New York to California as the sisters’ careers started to take off. She also sings lead, although Anna chips in on backing vocals, the pair showing off their trademark harmonies.
Exploring the Lyrics of “(Talk To Me Of) Mendocino” by Kate and Anna McGarrigle
You can enjoy “(Talk To Me Of) Mendocino” just for the descriptions of the narrator’s journey. And you can also wallow a little bit in the sorrow that she feels as she remembers a special relationship that’s now in the rear-view mirror, along with all the miles she’s travelled.
In the first verse, we find out that the narrator is leaving New York, her “home away from home,” the place she landed when “first I started roaming.” She describes the trees towering above her before admitting that it hasn’t always been a happy stay. “Never had the blues from whence I came,” she sings. “But in New York state I caught ‘em.”
The second verse sends her hurtling across the country, as Kate takes advantage of the mellifluous sound of “South Bend, Indiana” before landing “Out where only the rocks remain.” There, she resigns herself to whatever befalls her. “And let the sun set on the ocean,” she wails. “I will watch it from the shore/Let the sun rise over the redwoods/I’ll rise with it till I rise no more.”
She uses the refrain to reach out to her wayward lover. The titular location represents a kind of Edenic existence, but only if she can be reunited with him. “Must I wait? Must I follow?” she asks. “Won’t you say, ‘Come with me?’”
When you combine these solemn utterances with the beauty of the melody and those two shimmering voices intertwined, the aural results are overwhelming. “(Talk To Me Of) Mendocino” takes the narrator on a journey. We, the listeners, can’t help but follow every bittersweet step of the way.
Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
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