Saturday Symphony
Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 12:59PM Beautiful melodies. Stunning voices. Deeply moving lyrics.
It's a combination you don't always get in music - sometimes you have to sacrifice one to get the other two - or worse.
With Annie Lennox - you always get all three ... and so much more. She is an aural feast. I have loved her voice since her days with The Eurythmics. They introduced a militant sound to music, yet still retained the melodies, the emotional impact of their lyrics. Lush arrangements filled with that sound - Annie Lennox's voice is definitely one for the ages.
One of my fave songs from the Eurythmics is Missionary Man. All embedding is disabled by YouTube for any decent version of this song, so go here if you aren't familiar with this tune. It's aggressive and erotic. The video is classic 1980s style - lots of fun to watch.
As a solo artist, Annie Lennox continues to outdo herself. This version of Why is haunting - spare in its arrangement and filled with the howling emotions of the song. And there is that voice. There are over 20 years between what you hear in The Eurythmics and what is here - and her voice retains that gorgeous deep tone, resonating with every heartbeat. Tempting you with the promise of the next note, the next emotional wave.
One more for today - this from the soundtrack of the The Lord of Rings: Return of the King. Listen to the incredible control of her instrument - feeding the words to you thru a lens of rich experience. Into the West is a melancholy song about passages - and it suits my current frame of mind.
Reader Comments (1)
"Why" cuts too close to the bone for me... if not well into it. I still can't listen all the way through even after all this time. But I CAN listen to "Walking On Broken Glass." Go figure.
I agree with you on Annie... she and I go all the way back to when she began and there's lotsa her stuff in my collection, both solo and Eurythmics.