Jewel is one of the first on-country artists I started listening to in college after hip hop, grunge, and gangsta rap forced all my favorite hard rock bands into exile years before. These days, Jewel flirts with being a country music artist, so there goes any claim I might have had at broadening my horizons.Jewel has had quite a journey, going from a homeless waif living in her van while traveling from one small venue to the next during her starving artist years to receiving three Grammy nominations and selling 27 million albums.
Like most everyone else, my first exposure to Jewel was her single “Who Will Save Your Soul,” a beautiful song even a duet with Jessica Simpson has been unable to diminish. Jewel became a favorite once I heard “Foolish Games” for the first time I 1997. It is a painful song about realizing the one you care about does not care about you.
For the longest time there, Jewel was sort of a indie singer who was cute, but relied on her talent for her success than showing a lot of skin. At some point, she changed all that and appeared in midriffs and bathing suits for various magazine spreads. I confess some disappointment. I like for pretty girls to show off skin as much as the next guy, but jewel won me over early without having to do that. It felt like she had sold out.
I blame Kurt Loder. The MTV reporter pointed out to her in an interview she had misinterpreted the word “casualty,” for which she meant ’casual,” I her book of poetry, A Knight without Armor. She got enormously offended he would humiliate her on camera like that. Not a classy move at all, my chivalric nature says. It can be no coincidence she too her first drink of alcohol and began showing herself off for attention shortly thereafter.
Kurt Loder is a bad man.
Here is a live performance of “Foolish Games.” It remains my favorite song of hers after thirteen years:
