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

By: rabdrake

rabdrake — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:37:14 +0000

Hi Taylor Long:

The CBS archives claim that both “DÃ©siree” 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,â€ I felt that they were related. Lauraâ€™s personal attribution, â€œDÃ©siree,” 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

By: rabdrake

rabdrake — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:37:14 +0000

Hi Taylor Long:

By: Lost MP3 of the Week: Huey Lewis & the News, “I Never Think About You” | Popdose

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:30:48 +0000

[...] The chorus goes, “Now I’m living by myself without a care in the world / I never think about you / And I’m happy as I’ve ever been — well, I pretend I am / I never think about you.” In my version, that third line went, “And I’m as happy as I’ve ever been — without pretending I am.” This makes for a huge change in the song’s message. In actuality, Lewis thinks about this person all the time and is singing all this for show, where I had thought he was genuine. I probably should’ve guessed I was hearing it wrong, because it’s not exactly a happy song. I suppose I just assumed that he was sad to see it all go, like that quote from Swingers I love so much. [...]

By: TaylorTSides

TaylorTSides — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:28:19 +0000

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.

By: TaylorTSides

TaylorTSides — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:27:25 +0000

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.

By: EricGrubbs

EricGrubbs — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:43:21 +0000

Wow. Great song. Thanks for sharing!

By: MichaelFortes

MichaelFortes — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:07:12 +0000

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.

By: Ken

Ken — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:05:30 +0000

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.

By: WHarrisBullzEye

WHarrisBullzEye — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:48:51 +0000

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.”