There was this sultry woman with long, black, wavy/curly hair singing. She was wearing a very form fitting black dress and had some scantily clad muscular men singing with her and carrying her around on the stage/set.
Intrigued, I sat and watched. My channel surfing ended up being a two hour long pause on the PBS channel watching this woman sing. I was entranced.
Occasionally, they would pause for a "commercial" break...but it wasn't really a commercial...the PBS channel was promoting/selling CDs and DVDs of this woman. It kind of reminded me of a telethon. They had operators sitting at tables behind the show hosts who were "ready to take your call" if you decided to order something.
Anywhoooo...this woman was Sarah Brightman. I had never heard of her before. Her voice was mesmerizing. I couldn't take my eyes off the tv...well, except for during the "commercial" breaks.
Sometime within that week I went looking at the local Best Buy store for her CD. Yes, I was too cheap to buy the one from the PBS channel...they wanted something like $40 for it. I was unable to find the CD that PBS had promoted. I ended up grabbing her CD, 'La Luna' instead. It ended up being a worthy purchase. The songs on 'La Luna' blew me away more than the songs I heard on the PBS special. I was so glad I bought the CD instead of going elsewhere to find the one I had seen on tv.
To this day, 'La Luna' is one of my all time favorite CDs to listen to. I have all the songs downloaded onto my desktop, and laptop, and they usually make it into every play list I create...even the ones that have dance music and hard rock music in them...lol. I absolutely love this woman's voice and never tire of hearing her sing.
In the fall of 2000, my sister and I took our mother to see Sarah Brightman perform. Wow, what a night. I don't think I said two words to my mom or sister that night. I was totally focused on Sarah and her singing. I do remember laughing, however, when my mom asked, "Is she ever gonna sing anything in English?". hahahahaha
The following video, 'Hijo de la Luna" is my favorite song of hers. The story of the song is quite sad, but her voice seems to make you not really care how sad it is. I'll post the lyrics in English so you can see what I mean.
A fool is he who doesn't understand,
a legend tells
that a gypsy woman
implored the moon
weeping, she begged till dawn
to marry a gypsy man
"you'll have your brown skin man"
spoke the full moon from the sky
"but in return I want
the first child
that you have with him"
one who sacrifices her child
in order not to be alone
is not going
to love it very much
(chorus) - moon you want to be mother
and you can't find a love
who makes you a woman
Tell me, moon of silver
what you intend to do
with a child of flesh
Son of the moon - (chorus)
From a cinnamon-skinned father a son
was born
white like an ermine's belly
with gray eyes
instead of olive,
moon's albino son
"Damn his appearance!
This is not a gypsy man's son
and you won't get away with this"
(chorus)
The gypsy believing himself dishonored,
went to his wife, knife in hand
"Whose son is this?
I am sure you have deceived me!"
and he stabbed her to death
then he went to the mountain
with the child in his arms
and abandoned it there
(chorus)
And on nights when the moon is full
it's because the child is happy
and if the child cries
the moon will wane
to make him a cradle
and if the child cries
the moon will wane
to make him a cradle
(lyrics copied directly from CD sleeve)
See? I told you it was a sad story. But with Sarah singing it, who cares???? I sure don't.
Some of my other favorite songs of hers are:
Figlio Perduto (La Luna)
Gloomy Sunday (La Luna)
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again (The Phantom of the Opera)
Who Wants to Live Forever (Time to Say Goodbye)
There for Me (Time to Say Goodbye)
En Aranjuez con Tu Amor (Time to Say Goodbye)
Eden (Eden)
Deliver Me (Eden)
Sarah's just kicked off another tour for her new album, 'Dreamchaser'. She'll be coming to where I live in October. I can't wait!!!!!
Think I'll let my mom and sis know. Maybe I can get them to go with Dharm and me to see her.
I like Sarah Brightman's voice! She sang Phantom of the Opera's main lead (Christine) and also married Andrew Lloyd Webber (but now separated). Good taste Thel :)
ReplyDeleteMy sister let me know, back in 2000, that she (Sarah) was Christine from PotA. My sister was also lucky enough to see PotA when Sarah was still performing in it on Broadway...that lucky bitch...lol.
DeleteYou think I have good taste huh? Well...maybe I'll have to throw you a curve with the next song I post...then we'll see...hahahaha.