Random YouTubery: Rufus and Martha

I've been enjoying the Sundance channel series Spectacle: Elvis Costello With.... It's an interview show in which Costello traces the careers and musical influences of his guests, which so far have included Sir Elton John, Renee Fleming, Herbie Hancock, The Police, and others. Even better, Costello plays and sings with his guests.

I recently saw Costello with Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. It's a great hour; at one point Rufus is talking about his lifelong dramatic flair and he tells this cute story about himself, his mother Kate McGarrigle, and his sister Martha (hyperlinks mine):

I was always hamming it up—in fact, there’s a funny story about me, that involves a ham. Which is that my sister, when my sister was born, my mother apparently had this incredible kind of vision, of her life, the moment she was born, this kind of glorious, sad, but just, profound, sight of her existence as a human on earth, and saw her crying after that happened. But then when I was born—that was my sister Martha, the great Martha Wainwright (claps) —so when I was born (earlier than she was) her big thing was that the day before I was born she went out and bought a nine-pound ham, and I was exactly nine pounds.

Rufus sings "Vibrate", from his 2003 album Want One, on Spectacle:




Martha has not yet been on Spectacle, though I hope it's only a matter of time. Here she is on Later...with Jools Holland singing "B.M.F.A." (Lyrics NSFW!) and "Far Away":




Wow. These are singer-songwriters who aren't holding anything back. I'm not always in the mood for Rufus' rather piercing, slightly nasal voice, but I'm always in the mood for a Rufus song. This is great song-writing all around. Bravo, Wainwrights!

Super Bonus: Rufus Wainwright with his and Martha's mother Kate McGarrigle, Renee Fleming and Elvis Costello singing "In The Pines" on Spectacle:



Awesome!
And just for fun, here are the lyrics to Martha's "B.M.F.A.":

Poetry is no place for a heart that's a whore
And I'm young & I'm strong
But I feel old & tired
Overfired

And I've been poked & stoked
It's all smoke, there's no more fire
Only desire
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are

You say my time here has been some sort of joke
That I've been messing around
Some sort of incubating period
For when I really come around
I'm cracking up
And you have no idea

No idea how it feels to be on your own
In your own home
with the fucking phone
And the mother of gloom
In your bedroom
Standing over your head
With her hand in your head
With her hand in your head

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
When all I wanted was to be good
To do everything in truth
To do everything in truth

Oh I wish I wish I wish I was born a man
So I could learn how to stand up for myself
Like those guys with guitars
I've been watching in bars
Who've been stamping their feet to a different beat
To a different beat
To a different beat

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
When all I wanted was to be good
To do everything in truth
To do everything in truth

You bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody...

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are