Sunday, January 20, 2008

Great Love Songs (2)

The first having been A Rainy Night In Soho by The Pogues, which I posted last month. Yes - another new series here on the Barstool!

This is Gypsy, a beautiful early song (I think she wrote this when she was still a teenager) by one of my favourite singer-songwriters, Suzanne Vega. I've loved it for 20-odd years, but it has acquired particular resonances for me with regard to my great failed relationship with The Poet a couple of years ago: it speaks of being attracted to someone's creativity and eccentricity, of recognising a kinship in these things, of celebrating such a love in one's own creative output..... and of recognising that the relationship must be transient, of accepting that you must let it go.

This is a performance from Austrian TV in the late 80s. The YouTube post includes the lyrics. Well, that link seems to have been deleted (shame - a really good performance), but I've added a decent alternative from the same era, a 1989 club appearance in Madrid filmed for Spanish TV. This is also a very good performance, from nearly twenty years on, a concert in Basel in 2008 (again with lyrics provided); she seems to have that not-aging magic!




Later, this really lovely solo performance appeared on Youtube. And also this 'video' of the song, apparently shot for a Swedish TV show in the late '80s.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"and of recognising that the relationship must be transient, of accepting that you must let it go."

realization and acceptance are important.

but they don't make the actual "letting go" easier. it's still quite the struggle, painful - but necessary.