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Annie Lennox: Diva

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: BMG Records
Released: 1992
Time:
 50:31
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Stephen Lipson
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.annie-lennox.com
Appears with: Eurhytmics
Purchase date: 1998.02.14
Price in €: 10,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Why (Lennox) - 4:53
[2] Walking on Broken Glass (Lennox) - 4:12
[3] Precious (Lennox) - 5:08
[4] Legend in My Living Room (Lennox/Vettese) - 3:45
[5] Cold (Lennox) - 4:20
[6] Money Can't Buy It (Lennox) - 4:58
[7] Little Bird (Lennox) - 4:58
[8] Primitive (Lennox) - 4:16
[9] Stay by Me (Lennox) - 6:26
[10] Gift (Bell/Buchanan/Lennox/Moore) - 4:52
[11] Keep Young and Beautiful (Dubin/Warren) - 2:17

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Annie Lennox - Keyboards, Vocals

AKeith LeBlanc - Drums
Marius DeVries - Keyboards, Programming
Dave Defries - Trumpet
Kenji Jammer - Guitar, Programming
Steve Jansen - Drum Programming
Luis Jardim - Percussion
Steve Lipson - Guitar, Keyboards, Programming
Paul Moore - Keyboards
Ed Shearmur - Piano
Peter John Vettese - Keyboards, Programming, Recorder
Doug Wimbish - Bass
Gavyn Wright - Violin
Louis Jardim - Percussion

Heff Moraes - Engineer, Midi Manager
Ian Cooper - Mastering
Laurence Stevens - Design
Anton Corbijn - Photography

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


Those expecting Annie Lennox to come out full guns blazing for her solo debut with the high energy Euro-electro-pop-meets-American-R&B of her Eurythmics work may have to wind their pacemakers down a notch. The enigmatic vocalist who made a career toying with different notions of gender now plays on the concept of fame -- Lennox dressing up in the persona of a solitary Diva trapped by counterfeit glory. The framework offers an effective stage for Lennox's husky voice, showcasing her as much more of a chanteuse than in the past. But the music is strangely muted and understated. In fact, the album almost works best as one integrated mood-piece rather than a collection of individual songs. While Lennox succeeds in carving out a personality distinct from her Eurythmics days with Diva, one can't help but crave a shot of former partner Dave Stewart's musical muscle.

Roch Parisien - All Music Guide



State-of-the-art soul pop, annie Lennox's solo debut is sonically gorgeous; it also declares her aesthetic independence. Ace sessionmen polish "Diva"'s gloss, and producer Stephen Lipson (Pet Shop Boys, Propaganda) operates in hyperdrive, but these eleven songs are fiercely those of a sister doing things for herself. Three years after her last outing with Dave Stewart, her cohort in Eurythmics, Lennox voids any notion that he was her Svengali and she merely the MTV beauty with stunning pipes. Writing nearly all of "Diva," she manages a whirlwind tour of mainstream R&B and retains her singular persona - an ice queen thirsting to be melted by love.

With Annie as a singing Helmut Newton fantasy and Dave as composer-producer-player, Eurythmics hit in 1983 with "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," a Kraftwerk-derived study of erotic politics, but soon forged a broader sound. By the end of the Eighties, Stewart was lending postmodern hip to such old wavers as Dylan and Jagger, and Lennox had sung with Al Green and Aretha.

Diva's confessional lyrics should dismiss charges of remoteness against Lennox, and the album's sure, smooth funk confirms that among blue-eyed soulsters, she ranks high. Lennox keeps her melodies spare - the four-note motif of the album's intro, "Why," is representative. Instead, nuance and synthesizing disparate styles constitute her true skills. Sad lyrics meet upbeat tunes ("Walking on Broken Glass"); quirky instrumentation creates musical tension (Seventies staples like clavinet and wah-wah guitar juxtaposed with mandolins and strings or their techno equivalents); black-derived forms - pop gospel, pop jazz, Afro-pop - are refreshed by means of unlikely embellishments (Beach Boys-like backups on "Stay by Me," Moorish strings on "Primitive").

Lennox's gift is for pastiche; there's nothing rootsy about "Diva." This may daunt detractors who thought Eurythmics too studied to be real. But her words - self-revealing ("This is the book I never read/These are the words I never said"), mock-poetically ironic ("But I've shed my tears in bitter drops until the thorn trees bloomed/To take the spiky fruit to crown myself the Queen of doom") or self-mocking ("Pay attention to me/'Cause I'm a rich white girl and it's plain to see") - move beyond the flashy sound bites of her former band. Lennox remains a compulsively dramatic performer, but she's now parting the veil for the sake of candor. And while its songs make "Diva" her most mature music yet, it's her singing, characteristically striking and impeccable, that makes the message resound. (RS 633)

Copyright © 1968-1999 Rolling Stone Network.
 

 L y r i c s


WHY

How many times do I have to try to tell you
That I'm sorry for the things I've done
But when I start to try to tell you
That's when you have to tell me
Hey...this kind of trouble's only just begun
I tell myself too many times
Why don't you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut
That's why it hurts so bad to hear the words
That keep on falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Tell me...
Why
Why

I may be mad
I may be blind
I may be viciously unkind
But I can still read what you're thinking
And I've heard it said too many times
That you'd be better off
Besides...
Why can't you see this boat is sinking
(This boat is sinking this boat is sinking)
Let's go down to the water's edge
And we can cast away those doubts
Some things are better left unsaid
But they still turn me inside out
Turning inside out turning inside out
Tell me...
Why
Tell me...
Why

This is the book I never read
These are the words I never said
This is the path I'll never tread
These are the dreams I'll dream instead
This is the joy that's seldom spread
These are the tears...
The tears we shed
This is the fear
This is the dread
These are the contents of my head
And these are the years that we have spent
And this is what they represent
And this is how I feel
Do you know how I feel?
'Cause I don't think you know how I feel
I don't think you know what I feel
I don't think you know what I feel
You don't know what I feel


WALKING ON BROKEN GLASS

You were the sweetest thing that I ever knew
But I don't care for sugar honey if I can't have you
Since you've abandoned me
My whole life has crushed
Won't you pick the pieces up
'Cause it feels just like I'm walking on broken glass

Walking on walking on broken glass

The sun's still shining in the big blue sky
But it don't mean nothing to me
Oh let the rain come down
Let the wind blow through me
I'm living in an empty room
With all the windows smashed
And I've got so little left to lose
That it feels just like I'm walking on broken glass

Walking on walking on broken glass

And I've you're trying to cut me down
You know that I might bleed
Cause if you're trying to cut me down
I know that you'll succeed
And if you want to hurt me
There's nothing left to fear
Cause if you want to hurt me
You're doing really well my dear

Now everyone of use was made to suffer
Everyone of us was made to weep
But we've been hurting one another
And now the pain has cut too deep...
So take me from the wreckage
Save me from the blast
Lift me up and take me back
Don't let me keep on walking...
Walking on broken glass

Walking on walking on broken glass


PRECIOUS

Precious little angel
Take a look at what you've done
Well I thought my time was over
But it's only just begun
Precious little angel
You're my own sweet turtle dove
Won't you stay with us for ever
In a bundle full of love

I was lost until you came
Precious little angel
Won't you spread your light on me
I was locked up in the darkness
Now you've come to set me free
I was covered up with sadness
I was drowned in my own tears
I've been cynical and twisted
I've been bitter all these years

I was lost until you came
I was lost until you came

And wouldn't I run a thousand miles
To be with you
And wouldn't I run a thousand miles
To be with you

Precious little angel
Tell me how can it be true
That such a gift from heaven
Has been sent for me and you
Precious little angel
Don't you worry don't you cry
When this bad old world has crumbled
I'll be standing at your side

I was lost until you came


LEGEND IN MY LIVING ROOM

When I was just seventeen I ran away from home
To be with all the pretty people
To be on my own
Bright lights and trains and bedsit stains
And pavements paved with gold
And I believed in everything that everybody told me

Have mercy
Have mercy upon me

I found myself in a lonely place with a suitcase full of dreams
and I soon grew up to realise what living in the doghouse means
But everyday I told myself good things would happen soon
'Cause I knew that I was going to be a legend in my living room

Have mercy
Have mercy upon me

(Welcome to this perfect world)

Now everyday on a dead end street is where I spend my time
The dust has been collecting on the corners of my mind
But I've shed my tears in bitter drops until the thorn trees bloomed
To take the spiky fruit to crown myself the Queen of doom

Have mercy
Have mercy upon me


COLD

Come to me
Do and be done with me
(Cold Cold Cold)
Don't I exist for you
Don't I still live for you
(Cold cold cold)
Everything I possess
Given with tenderness
Wrapped in a ribbon of glass
Time it may take us but God only knows
How I've paid for those things in the past

Dying is easy it's living that scares me to death
I could be so content hearing the sound of your breath
Cold is the color of crystal the snowlight
That falls from the heavenly skies
Catch me and let me dive under under
For I want to swim in the pools of your eyes

I want to be with you baby
Slip me inside of your heart
Don't I belong to you baby
Don't you know that nothing can tear us apart
Come on now come on now come on now
Telling you that
I loved you right from the start...
But the more I want you the less I get
Ain't that just the way things are...

Winter has frozen us
Let love take hold of us
(Cold cold cold)
Now we are shivering
Blue ice is glittering
(Cold cold cold)

Cold is the colour of crystal the snowlight
That falls from the heavenly skies
Catch me and let me dive under
For I want to swim in the pools of your eyes


MONEY CAN'T BUY IT

Money can't buy it...baby
Sex can't buy it...baby
Drugs can't buy it...baby
You can't buy it...baby

I believe that love alone might do these things for you
I believe in love alone yea yea
Take the power to set you free
Kick down the door and throw away the key
Give up your needs...
Your poisoned seeds
Find yourself elected to a different kind of creed

I believe that love alone might do these things for you
I believe that love alone might do these things for you
I believe in the power of creation
I believe in the good vibration
I believe in love alone yea yea

Won't somebody tell me what we're coming to
It might take forever till we watch those dreams come true
All the money in the world won't buy you peace of mind
You can have it all but you still won't be satisfied

Money can't buy it...baby
Sex can't buy it...baby
Drugs can't buy it...baby
You can't buy it...baby

Now...
Hear this
Pay attention to me
'Cause I'm a rich white girl and it's plain to see
I got every kind of thing that the money can buy
Let me tell you all about it
Let me amplify
I got DIAMONDS
You heard about those
I got so many that I can't close my safe at night in the dark
Lying awake in a sick dream

I believe that love alone might do these things for you
I believe that love alone might do these things for you
I believe in the power of creation
I believe in the good vibration
I believe in love alone yea yea


LITTLE BIRD

I look up to the little bird
That glides across the sky
He sings the clearest melody
It makes me want to cry
It makes me want to sit right down
and cry cry cry

I walk along the city streets
So dark with rage and fear
And I...
I wish that I could be that bird
And fly away from here
I wish I had the wings to fly away from here

But my my I feel so low
My my where do I go?
My my what do I know?
My my we reap what we sow
They always said that you knew best
But this little bird's fallen out of that nest now
I've got a feeling that it might have been blessed
So I've just got to put these wings to test

For I am just a troubled soul
Who's weighted...
Weighted to the ground
Give me the strength to carry on
Till I can lay this burden down
Give me the strength to lay this burden down
down down yea
Give me the strength to lay it down

But my my I feel so low
My my where do I go?
My my what do I know?
My my we reap what we sow
They always said that you knew best
But this little bird's fallen out of that nest now
I've got a feeling that it might have been blessed
So I've just got to put these wings to test


PRIMITIVE

Sweetheart
The sun has set
All red and primitive above our heads
Blood stained on an ageless sky
Wipe your tears and let the salt stains dry
Let them all run dry
All run dry...

Sweetheart
Take me to bed
That's where all our prayers are said
Whispered silent in the night
That's how all our dreams take flight
Let them all go by
All go by...

For time will catch us in both hands
To blow away like grains of sand
Ashes to ashes rust to rust
This is what becomes of us

Sweetheart
Send me to sleep
Pray to God our hopes to keep
Take our fears and make us strong
Lead us to where we belong
And let it all go by
All go by...


STAY BY ME

Stay by me
And make the moment last
Please take these lips
Even if I have been kissed
A million times

And I don't care if there is no tomorrow
When I could die here in your arms
Even if the stars have made us blind
We're blind we're blind
So blind in love

Sweet darling
Don't you know that we're no different to anyone
We stumble
We falter
But we're no different that anyone

And all the winter snow has melted down
Into a pool of silver water
And we're standing in a thunder cloud
Dark as your hair
Dark as your hair


THE GIFT

Darling don't you understand
I feel so ill at ease
The room is full of silence and it's getting hard to breathe
Take this guilded cage of pain and set me free
Take this overcoat of shame
It never did belong to me
It never did belong to me

I need to go outside
I need to leave the smoke
'Cause I can't go on living in this same sick joke
It seems our lives have taken on a different kind of twist
Now that you have given me the perfect gift
You have given me the gift

For we have fallen from our shelves
To face the truth about ourselves
And we have tumbled from our trees
Tumbled from our trees

And I can almost...
I can almost feel the rain falling
Don't you know it feels so good
So let's go out into the rain again
Just like we said we always would


KEEP YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL

What's cute about little cutie?
It's her beauty, not brains...
Old father time will never harm you
if your charm still remains...

After you grow old baby,
you don't have to be a cold baby...

Keep Young and Beautiful,
It's your duty to be beautiful...
keep young and beautiful,
if you want to be loved.

Don't fail to do your stuff
with a little powder and a puff.

Keep young and beautiful if you want to be loved.

If you're wise, exercise all the fat off,
take it off, off of here, off of there...
when you're seen anywhere with your hat off,
wear a Marcel wave in your hair...

Take care of all those charms,
and you'll always be in someone's arms
keep young and beautiful if you want to be loved.

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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