Playing house in the ruins of us
I liked raspy voiced soul singer James Morrison's debut single "You Give Me Something," but I never in a million years would have guessed that his second album would contain a song this well-done. The song instantly picked out by the album's listeners as the highlight, it's no surprise that "Broken Strings" has gone on to become James's biggest hit in his native United Kingdom. Sometimes ballads just strike magic, and here, that's what James and Nelly, whose rich and clear sharp voices respectively work together in a heartbreaking way I'd never have expected, have done. With a stronger beat than James's light guitar strumming in the video would lead you to expect, "Broken Strings" sounds made for radio--it had to be a hit, in that way--but that's never taken away from the poignancy of its lyrics or the emotion of the song for me.It does, however, have the worst single cover of the year.
Find it on: Songs For You, Truths For Me
3 comments:
this is one of those bona fide pop hits, that without huge amounts of money behind it, or massive amounts of hype, or without even being particularly cool, has triumphed against all odds and become a proper smash. And totally deserving.
Great song, brilliant performance...and America yawns. No justice, I tell ya.
Did it not have lots of hype? That just makes its success even better.
John, this would make for a great American radio hit. Sigh.
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