Monday, January 14th, 2008

Lost MP3 of the Week: Laura Nyro, “Gonna Take a Miracle”

by Taylor Long

There’s something so beautifully painful about “Gonna Take a Miracle.” In a way, she sounds almost happy about the hurt that her lover’s leaving has caused her. It’s a jubilant, upbeat song, and yet, she’s upset.

Laura Nyro – Gonna Take a Miracle

It captures such a particular point in time, such a particular feeling. It’s an odd thought, finding joy in the misery of love. Is it because that’s how we know love: when we are willing to suffer so much in its name? A quote jumps to mind, courtesy of Swingers:

Mike: How did you get over it? I mean, how long did it take?
Rob: Sometimes it still hurts. You know how it is, man. It’s like, you wake up every day and it hurts a little bit less, and then you wake up one day and it doesn’t hurt at all. And the funny thing is, is that, this is kinda weird, but it’s like, it’s like you almost miss that pain.
Mike: You miss the pain?
Rob: Yeah, for the same reason that you missed her… because you lived with it for so long.

These moments are so infrequently portrayed in art, but for some reason, so effective when it is. Does anyone else have a favorite song, quote, moment, etc., that captures this oxymoronic emotional state?

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  • WHarrisBullzEye
    I'm such a sensitive girly-man that it should come as no surprise that I really dig the Laura Nyro I've heard...though, to be fair, that's limited to the 2-disc anthology released via Legacy a few years back. Still, I get the impression that it's not too bad a sampling, and, hey, it also inspired me to pick up the biography that was written about her. Quite a woman, Ms. Nyro. Mind you, she already had my respect just for having written "Wedding Bell Blues."
  • I honestly hadn't heard much of her until I heard this song in a really cheesy, bad movie ("A Home at the End of the World"). It made me grab this album, which I have to say, is pretty fantastic, though it seems like "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession" is generally the most favored.
  • It's the title track from an album that must be heard. She's backed vocally throughout the album by LaBelle, and the whole thing is just heart-wrenching and uplifting all at once. Another standout track is her cover of "The Bells", which was first recorded by The Originals.
  • Agreed, Ken! I hadn't heard anything of hers before this album (and it's still all I've heard), but I'm loving it.
  • MichaelFortes
    You know, I have a bunch of Laura's albums, but for some reason I never got around to picking up Gonna Take a Miracle. Glad to finally hear her version of the song! As for the oxymoronic emotional state of which you speak... off the top of my head, "The Long and Winding Road" captures it for me, particularly any time I hear McCartney sing it live.
  • Wow. Great song. Thanks for sharing!
  • rabdrake
    Hi Taylor Long:

    The CBS archives claim that both "Désiree" and "Gonna Take a Miracle" were "lesser known covers."
    When I first heard these two songs juxtaposed in the film, "A Home at the end of the world,” I felt that they were related. Laura’s personal attribution, “Désiree," was a Sapphic paean and "Gonna Take a Miracle," was her catharsis. She revels in her love; even as she must bitter sweetly, accept that for now that the love must be unrequited.
    I so feel your sentiment about "Gonna Take a Miracle" being about the joy and misery of love.
    Major props to your analysis. Rabdrake
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