Balarama Music

Carbon Leaf Countdown #18: November (makebelieve)

Feb 10

Doug1990s carbon leaf 1 Comment

Shadows In The Banquet Hall creeps into the top 20 with easily one of Carbon Leaf’s finest winter songs. At #18, it’s “November (makebelieve).”

A while ago, I talked about how Carbon Leaf can conjure up feelings, times, and memories perfectly with their songs. I also said they really shine in reference to the seasons and winter surely shines most of all from them. Well, outside of their Christmas album for obvious reasons, no Carbon Leaf song is more evocative of winter or even a season than this one. I recall Barry saying he wrote the lyrics to this in his room on a cold winter day all bundled up and looking at the window. Or something along those lines. Either way, the meaning behind the song is clear and it comes out in full force here. Never mind the November, Jack Frost, and other miscellaneous references, it’s the feeling of being trapped inside in the dead of winter with not much else but your mind to occupy your time. The line “recess with my mind” sums up the song better than probably any other single line in a Carbon Leaf song. All I want to do listening to this is bundle up next to a fireplace and read some crazy fantasy book where my images of the characters are almost obscenely off-base. I know I’m weird, deal with it…

The best part about this great song is the second half. First off, I love songs with two distinct parts. I love some songs with three too, but two’s probably the limit if you don’t want to seem overly pretentious and trying to do something grand. “Venice Queen” & “Layla” are two songs with excellent two parts that complement each other extraordinarily. That second half though is so amazing here and there’s really only one word I can use to describe it: trance. The second part is a true musical trance to me. It’s so naturally hypnotic that it’s almost frightening. They take the frantic guitar rhythm and slow it down with a punctual end to every musical phrase. Then there’s vocalizing above it before ending slightly off beat with a “make believe.” It’s really easy to get lost into this part of the song and again almost it’s almost eerie how trance-like it truly is. But it’s amazing and definitely the best thing off the 1997 album. I think a strong case could be made that this is the best Carbon Leaf song of the 90s too and I would be the flag-bearer for that conversation. No doubt.

Song: November (makebelieve)
Album: Shadows In The Banquet Hall
Year: 1997