I have a love-hate
relationship with time. When you’re young, you never think about it, do
you—except maybe in terms of it moving too slowly for the speed of your
activities. But then, when you’re young, you think you’re immortal, so why
would time have any significance for you?
As you get older…
Yeah; different story. You come to realize that the days are long but the years
are short, and you start feeling that bastard eating away at your joints and forming
wrinkles around your friends’ eyes. It’s not theoretical any more.
To kick things off,
let’s hear Tracy Chapman sing “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, as part of the
30th Anniversary Concert honoring Bob Dylan. First of all, I don’t
think I could have got through the month without Dylan; his songs framed the
infrastructure of my childhood and youth; this one has to be The Anthem of the
Sixties.
You hear lots of
overblown, over-produced versions of it, but Chapman just comes out with her
guitar and that extraordinary voice, and she completely commands it.
Second up is Cyndi
Lauper’s “Time After Time”. I know people who dismiss Lauper as an 80s
lightweight, but she has serious songwriting chops, and her career has been strong
for going on four decades, thank-you-very-much. Earlier this year her score for
the Broadway hit Kinky Boots won her a
Tony. “Time After Time” is one of her early efforts.
This video is definitely a golden oldie, direct to you from the 80s.
I confess that I
prefer Eva Cassidy’s cover of this, but since my next Voice-on-time is Cassidy,
I’m giving Lauper her props. She deserves her interpretation of her own song.
And that closing
piece is “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?” by English singer-songwriter Sandy
Denny. Really, Denny knew what she was talking about, even though she was only
19 when she wrote this.
Many singers have
covered “Time”—you’ve probably heard Judy Collins’ version, or maybe even Nina
Simone. But Cassidy has captured my heart on this one. For one thing, her voice
has echoes of Denny. But her interpretation crystalizes that one line, “I do
not fear the time.”
I don’t know that I
can make that same statement. But I love how Cassidy makes it real.
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