Rather than making excuses about my affection for certain
singer/songwriters who have been known to show up at womyn's music
festivals, I will simply confess that I love it when a song hits me in
the chest and hard. It helps when the singer has a voice like Heather
Nova's. This 1994 album opens with "Walk This World," an
unflinchingly gorgeous track, while on "Maybe an Angel" Nova
alternates between husky depths and celestial heights. I also like
"Verona," a strange and ethereal song. I get the feeling Nova was
working out some issues when she made Oyster, but the result is
blissfully therapeutic.
I have slept beside the water and the green is growing slow
I have watched you find the places hidden by the snow
I have tripped into a valley that is blue till you can see
I want you to come walk this world with me
—"Walk This World"
I put my hands where your wings should be
I put my feet where the earth should be
And I can't see very far
And when you said that you were dead I hung on
—"Maybe an Angel"
It gets inside you like the sun
It makes you wet just like the rain
It makes you sound so sentimental
It's a lovely kind of pain
—"Verona"
| 
Heidi J. De Vries
