I run my hands through what’s left But we’re getting older, baby Don’t have much longer, baby The least they could’ve done was let him down gently, but unfortunately we’re not always granted that luxury. And what hurts more is how callously his partner ended things. The end of this relationship hasn’t exactly emotionally destroyed him, but damn - it hurts. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t devastated But you could’ve held my hand through this, baby Rather than directly performing the original lyrics, Frank uses this as an opportunity to further the themes of Blonde and write a brief but heartbreaking letter to an ex-partner who ended their relationship. And luckily, the genius doesn’t stop there. It’s an excellent homage which managed to grow legs and morph into its own thing. This adds such an incredible layer to the track and I can think of no other artist who could’ve pulled it off in the way Frank and his co-producers did. As the song progresses, it almost feels like a duet: two voices from different eras captured on the same track, interpreting the same song. So, how can we be so sure that this is the version Frank is covering? Well, it’s directly sampled in his song.Īs Frank gently delivers his vocals in a style reminiscent of the talk box (made possible using Francis and the Lights’ prismizer), we can hear Stevie’s voice chopped and looped in the instrumental. And that transition from Close to You to Never Can Say Goodbye? Chills. Armed with raw talent at 21 years of age, he guides Frost and the crowd from humorously enjoying the performance to being in absolute awe with what they’re witnessing. Utilising the talk box to perform the vocals, Stevie provides a beautiful and remarkably human rendition of the song which sounds far ahead of its time. I could gush about this performance forever. To be specific, he’s covering Stevie Wonder’s rendition of the classic hit on The David Frost Show in 1972. In short: it sounds like a personal interpretation of the original.īut what if I told you Frank is actually covering a cover? If you’re familiar with the original song, you may think he’s purely paying homage by adding his own, unique twist via new lyrics and ghostly background vocals layered with spacey synths and a punchy drum machine. Listening to Frank’s version with this in mind, the interpolation becomes clear: “why do birds suddenly appear” turns into “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t devastated” and so on. Why do birds suddenly appear Every time you are near? Just like me, they long to be Close to you At this point, the opening lyrics are unquestionably iconic: I’m sure almost everyone has heard Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s Close to You, widely popularised by the Carpenters. On first listen, avid listeners may recognise said melodies… It’s littered with heartbreaking lyrical observations and shrouded in sounds of familiar melodies and ethereal sampling. Close to You is a song I feel deserves more love when we discuss Blonde’s legacy.
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