Maybe it's just these cool, hazy evenings we're having, or maybe it's just a random fit of nostalgia, but for no good reason I've spent the better part of this evening listening to various versions of a song that came to me again, after many years. In its day, it seemed the height of romantic longing, white street lamps, stray cats, clicking meter, and all. Now it feels like young romance remembered, and although I've since found that one to "keep with me forward, all through the night" on what would seem to be a permanent basis, it's rather nice from time to time to remember how strange and wonderful it felt, the first few times around...
Here's one version I especially like; I don't think of Cyndi Lauper as an especially Celtic sort of performer, and yet here's she's turned her '80s staple "All Through The Night" into a lovely number for dulcimer, fiddle, and assorted mostly acoustic instruments. Judging from what one finds on YouTube, she's been doing it this way, with variations, for a few years now (this one's from 2007; I wish I could have found a good quality, more recent one, as if anything her voice seems stronger on the concert videos (alas too shaking or full of screaming bystanders) from 2011 or '12. It's nice to see that she's still going strong, as idiosyncratic as ever, and treating her back catalogue with more respect than some of her peers do theirs.
What old song kicks your nostalgia-meter into overdrive?
A-Ha's Take on Me was playing on the radio the first time I kissed a boy who really meant something to me. Beginning of junior year of college. I was still fairly new to any type of relations. I was invited to spend the night but decided to go slow (why?) and not stay over. I remember the walk home as clearly as if it just happened last night. The sky was so clear. Stars and a bright moon. A new world of possibility was opening up. I was so happy. I fell hard. He had a change of heart after that night and just wanted to be friends. It was a rocky year. There was a falling out. We reconnected after college and have always stayed in touch. He lives west coast. I'm east. He's been partnered 20+ years, me almost 10. We both have very happy lives. But my heart aches a little for what might have been whenever I hear that catchy Norwegian synth pop tune.
ReplyDeletethat's easy....."with each beam, same old dream."
ReplyDeleteOh honey, I am such a sucker for any Roxy Music
ReplyDelete"Opportunities" by the Pet Shop Boys. As a smart skinny kid with a partially reciprocated crush on the high school jock, it resonated. He also used to sing it to me as "I've got the brawn, you've got the brain, let's do something funny". Like Bill above, he also had a change of heart. Sighhh.
ReplyDeleteWhere does one begin? I suppose, if we are keeping to a thread about the early gay days, it should be "In The Evening" by Sheryl Lee Ralph - the song that played through the haze of poppers and smoke as I tip-toed into my first gay club all those years ago... Jx
ReplyDelete