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The best thing you can do for your fellow,
next to rousing his conscience, is - not to give him things
to think about, but to wake things up that are in him...
to make him think things for himself - George MacDonald

"I Want You" by Elvis Costello.

(Around the time this was released I was getting over a broken heart and this song set my recovery back by months!!! It very sad and very dark, but it also hints at how terribly, terribly UNATTRACTIVE it is to obsessively mourn a lover who's moved on.... I've seen him do the song live... It's even more powerful.... BRRRRRRRRR!!!)

Goosebumps!

sample Lyric:

"It's the way he knows you now,

After only guessing.....

It's the thought of him undressing you

............ Or you undressing him....."

XX sf

Actually.... Fuck it, I'm a Music Journalist so here goes.... This is my day job!!!

"Elvis Costello's 'I Want You' from the "Blood And Chocolate" album is perhaps the most honest ode to unrequited, or lost, love that has ever been penned.

Over a sparse and almost desolate guitar line, (the chord combination actually mirrors the loneliness of the lyric) the writer lists the minutae of tiny memories that torment his thoughts as he misses his moved-on missus...

After an almost nursery rhyme preamble, Costello's words, (addressed directly to his ex-lover) articulately describe the break-up of his relationship and the cancerous memories that are all he has left. Despite these lyrical and almost poetic lines the writer at the end of each verse surrenders to his own honesty. "I Want You', he sings, and despite all that's gone before, you know that that's really all he needs to say. His loss has even made him inarticulate.

Like a small child picking at a scab he dissects the relationship in detail and imagines where his lover is now. He revels in self-pity, hatred and loathing as he picks apart their time together, knowing all the while that his obsessive brooding, like a child picking at an unhealed wound, will leave an even bigger scar... It's not comfortable listening...

The lyric alone is enough to guarantee this song classic status, but Costello doesn't stop there. Instead, as the song progresses and we uncover the poison in his poerty, the guitar line becomes louder and more dischordant, mirroring the turmoil in his soul. The time signature fractures and breaks, he can't even play now, and the music echoes the emptiness that he's desperate to express... (that's 'express' in EVERY sense of the word...)

And after that emotional creshendo he breaks down again and returns to the simple guitar hook he started with and the simple line, now whispered, as if he's ashamed of his feelings,"I Want You"....

It's really all he wants to say. And it's never been said better...


xx SF

(They PAY ME for this!!!!!)

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"I would do anything for love, including the thing Meatloaf won't do... (In fact, I sometimes insist upon it...)"xx SF

Such an amazing song and filled with so much emotion of love and loss....

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What a CLASSIC!!!!!

As a fan of both Julian Cope and Scott Walker I was led to Jaques Brel by investigating their influences and, of course, I discovered a treasure.....

However......

There is a vaingloriousness about "Ne Me Quitte Pas" ("Don't Leave Me" or more accurately, "Don't Give Up On Me") which indicates that Brel's forlorn Lover is still fighting in the hope that his heart's desire will stick with him until his circumstances turn around... Basically, he believes enough in himself to keep fighting for her.....

True Heartbreak, of course, only occurs when you've lost all hope... You can dream, but she ain't coming back....

Scott Walker's interpretation of Brel's "Ne Me Quitte Pas" is on YouTube titled "If You Go Away"..... It's not as good as Brel, but it gets close....

But the "IF" in the title again gives it away.....

There's no 'if' in heartbroken..... If you are, then you are.... Poor Thing.....

I'm interested enough to ask do Women feel the same or is this a masochistic Guy thing???

For example, while mostly happy now, and indeed currently deeply in love with a difficult girl I understand, I still occasionally think about lovers of old and remember, often, though not always without regret... (Although nowadays it's mostly the pleasure I remember....)

But the pain remains... Like an aching tooth that only hurts when you prod it with your tongue... Which you shouldn't... But sometimes you can't stop yourself, can you????

Perhaps only perfect love might banish such meandering musing forever...

And there is such a thing..... Right?

.... (right??????)

Personally I find energetic sex, heavy drinking, writing music, finding life ridiculously funny, dancing, writing pornography, being willing to admit I'm sometimes wrong and constantly looking on the bright side while doing good to your fellow man a great help in subduing darker thoughts... And being pretty and loved helps... As does loving pretty people...

But I'm still attracted by the dark side..... And by its beautiful soundtrack...

xx SF

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"I would do anything for love, including the thing Meatloaf won't do... (In fact, I sometimes insist upon it...)"xx SF

Not a man thing... Totally with you!!! most songs on this page I have played till they were gray and I was blue in the face.... from smoking, singing along, wining drinking... You couldn't have expressed it better Hun Mwuah !! Too bad dutch doesn't do any good here, otherwise I posted Ramses Shaffy... The Dutch Brel ... though Brel is hard to top...;)

BTW the blue link is a vid of Brel himself:)

Last goodbye, by Jeff Buckley...
Totally makes me cry - can't even sing along

What FUCKER broke your angelheart??????



(Ah, sure he didn't deserve you, so we'll let him off.....)

xx SF

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"I would do anything for love, including the thing Meatloaf won't do... (In fact, I sometimes insist upon it...)"xx SF

Have I told you ... I love you?! {}

My other Irish Love!

The lyrics are so well observed - song of desolation but also of hope

Ashanti ft Biggie Unfoolish

falls apart

Hurt

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Who would have guessed that my little tale, the very First one I ever submitted to Lush would be read by so many?
It shocks me a little to realize that it has now served over 20,000!

Charge Nurse

Thank you so very much to those who have read it!

Blue October Congratulations

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The decisions we make dictate the life we have.
Follow your dreams, for those that do not will only try to discourage others.