Canary in A Coma

When my best friend Marilyn & I first heard The Police's "Canary in a Coal Mine" we misheard a critical word for the comprehension of the song.  We thought the canary was not in a “coal mine” but rather in a “coma.” This was 1981 and The Police was one of the few “new wave” bands sandwiched between Rush and Bob Seeger on the commercial radio stations of western Massachusetts.  The nonsensical image of a little canary in coma fit right in with our burgeoning appreciation for the new music we were slowly learning about via our friends’ older siblings or from reading Rolling Stone. That semester our art teacher was on sabbatical and we had a very laid back substitute who let us use all the art supplies. No more line drawings with charcoal pencils; we were allowed to break out the oil paints and canvas!   Marilyn, who went on to study art at RISD was inspired to paint a canary with little "x" over its eyes. Once we learned the real title of the song, it just didn't carry the same amount whimsy.

Marilyn continued to be a gifted visual artist until her death from cancer in 2009.