When popular music was first introduced to Annie Lennox as part of the New Wave duo, the Eurhythmics, Lennox was a shocking symbol of androgyny. Dressed in a suit with hair dyed orange that was cut short in a buzz cut, Lennox’s image in the video for the Eurhythmics’ most famous song, “Sweet Dreams” was cold and unfeeling. Her vocal performance over plodding synthesized beats was cold and robotic. However. in the depth of her tone, you could only hear hints of the blue-eyed soul that lied beneath the cold corporate image.
In 1992, Lennox released her first solo album Diva. Lennox lived up to the pretension of the album title and proved herself to be one of the most unique and powerful voices in popular music. While her first single “Why” was a powerful ballad, mournful, desperate and intimate, it was her third single “Walking on Broken Glass” that caught my attention.
Maybe it was music video based with 118th century costumes feature John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie or maybe it was the fact that the song sounded like nothing I had heard before.
The opening of the song starts with a piano line that is quickly joined with a string section. The piano and strings are not only used as a harmonic basis but provide and rhythmic momentum like in Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida.” The pattern starts on the beat but is quickly thrown off the beat hopping around like someone dancing gingerly through broken glass. The acoustic sound of the piano is layered on top of a pulsing dance beat that adds more vitality to the song creating an organic fusion between classical instruments and modern pop music sounds.
Female singers are divided into two main groups, sopranos and altos. Almost every single female pop star is a soprano. Sopranos in general sing higher than altos but it’s the tone that they sing with that defines the different types of voices. Sopranos have higher lighter voices while altos sing with a darker depth to the sound. Alto’s aren’t as popular as sopranos because often their voices are heavy and not as easy to sing along with because of the range that they sing in. However, Lennox’s voice has the depth of the alto voice but the lightness of soprano resulting in a sultry mix of soul.
Where other sopranos belt and force out higher notes (like Kelly Clarkson), Lennox flips into a light head voice during the bridge of the song. This is a gutsy move exposes a thinner tone in her voice but only adds to the vulnerable feelings expressed in the words.
If one Annie Lennox wasn’t enough, she builds up into the final chorus with cascading overdubs breaking up the phrase “can’t keep walking on broken glass” into a chaotic chorus that erupts into a beautiful celebration musical euphoria.
The lyircs of the song are dark and full of pain but the music is joyful foreshadowing the feeling the protagonist will feel when she finally lets go of this man that is hurting her. It's a powerful statement of optimism through pain, a little desperate but more than anything a lot of fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment