Man, that voice... there's something, I dunno, iconic about it. Like, if for some reason you had to pick one voice to speak for the entire human race, you might pick this one.
Ironically she said in an interview that she began manipulating her voice electronically because she didn't like the sound of it lol. I agree, she has a very rich voice- I love it! Just goes to show...
One of the greatest albums in the history of the human race. Indisputable proof that humankind can/should aspire to create Art, Peace, Beauty and Love.
On the night we went from friends to lovers, I looked at my future wife and said, "Your eyes . . . it's a days work just looking into them." Giggling, she fell into my arms and I'm holding her still. Thanks, Laurie!
I was in New York City many years ago, probably back in late 1980s/early 90s and was walking down the sidewalk in SOHO and a limousine pulls up to the curb, the driver gets out and opens the rear door of the limo and Laurie Anderson gets out and quickly walks into the building where she was performing that evening. Perfectly unexpected surprise.
My mum just bought me the album. It's...fabulous , weird and thoughtful. I don't love all of the tracks, but every time I listen to it, another track grabs me. The lyrics are incredibly everyday, but not. They capture the banal and take that to a level of irony I have no way to express. Rhythmically, I adore her work.
Bizarre to say the least. I first heard, O Superman in 1981 or 82 and unless you had the album there was no other way of hearing more. How spoilt are we today, I love your description, sounds like the future, still. Yes it does!
I met this guy - and he looked like might have been a hat check clerk at an ice rink. Which, in fact, he turned out to be. And I said: Oh boy. Right again. Let X=X. You know, it could be you. It's a sky-blue sky. Satellites are out tonight. Let X=X. You know, I could write a book. And this book would be think enough to stun an ox. Cause I can see the future and it's a place - about 70 miles east of here. Where it's lighter. Linger on over here. Got the time? Let X=X. I got this postcard. And it read, it said: Dear Amigo - Dear Partner. Listen, uh - I just want to say thanks. So...thanks. Thanks for all the presents. Thanks for introducing me to the Chief. Thanks for putting on the feedbag. Thanks for going all out. Thanks for showing me your Swiss Army knife and uh - Thanks for letting me autograph your cast. Hug and kisses. XXXXOOOO. Oh yeah, P.S. I - feel - feel like - I am - in a burning building - and I gotta go. Cause I - I feel - feel like - I am - in a burning building - and I gotta go.
"It's a sky blue sky". For some reason that line has disturbed me for thirty-five years. "In a burning building..." Nothing. But "It's a sky blue sky" shakes me to my core. Laurie Anderson breaks you, she breaks you apart, and puts you back together.... different.
avante garde is usually a put-on, the enthusiasm is fake. but she is no fake. that is what disturbs and enraptures. To paraphrase Apocalypse Now, "she meant it. She MEANT it."
It wasn't futuristic, it was of its time. Everyone was imagining the future, but no one was right. Because the past is part of any genuine future and cannot be ignored or replaced. Understanding the past is the key to seeing into the future. Humans remain humans however many changes there are around and among them.
I just wanna say thanks, thanks for all the presents , thanks for introducing me to the chief......thanks for going all out, thanks for showing me your swiss army knife, thanks for letting me autograph your cast .....hugs and kisses xxoxoxoxo Laurie A. you are the chief.
That is a quite a blast from the past! My labmates and I listened to a LOT of Laurie Anderson and Talking Heads in the middle of the night :) She sounds just as fresh as she did the first time I heard her. Cool.
Thanks for posting in its full version ("Let X=X/It Tango" is one track.) Always loved her droll sense of humor and open-ended wordplay~~~ Let X equal X.... or as an older hippy once said to me, "When in doubt, keep heading east...."
"It's a sky blue sky. Satellites are out tonight." Wish this CD had survived the last move. I think I want "I'm in a burning building and I gotta go" on a T-shirt.
Good stuff. I'm from Chicago and I heard this on a radio station late at night in the early 80's. Didn't buy the album until the late 80's. A true artist.
The full composition: Wonderful as the CD version is truncated and just cuts off a about 3:55, thanks for letting us hear the complete work of this great composer and performer.
If memory serves, the rest of the song is called "It Tango" and is listed a a separate track.... although (as this demonstrates) it's clearly part of the same song. So... yeah, thanks for keeping them unified here.
@@edgarbucksnortesq.5106 Or arguably, two tracks with a clever segue or transition between them! If setlist.fm is to believed, they've been played separately live so that argues for the latter. Very clumsy if they just edit the (original release?) CD right in the middle with a discernible gap, but possibly a limitation of the format of the time. In which case better to keep it as one track. Seems to be listed both ways online -- too lazy to go check my vinyl copy. :)
Thanks for introducing me to the chief.....oh boy...right again....have loved this for years....Big Science is a great album. LA give us more. It's that rhythm too throughout, the clapping, so many layers.
Thank you, I looked for this song on here for years and only found bad live footage so I gave up for a while and now I'm happy I checked again. Definitely one of my favorites of hers!
just brilliant vid - on a brilliant Anderson composition ... I saw once top choreographers Hans Van Manen's splendid BALLET on this eerrroooottiicccc cadanza.... ala, not to be found on the web..
I have been searching for exactly this ballet performance (In and Out) which I saw in Stuttgart/Germany in the late 90s. Ever since I am a big fan of Laurie. Her and Nina Hagen’s music and Hans van Manen‘s choreography were pure magic.
sheer brilliance. algorythmic avant la lettre. more varied speech acts in 420 seconds than.... and the disremantling of clichés step by breath-holding step.
i don't mean to be pedantic, i'm pedantic inadvertently, but 70 miles is the width of a degree of longitude, which is how we reckon time. so, yeah, the future is to the east.
Glad you confirmed you are a women. You know I am a man. Song still impacts me, and is one of my favourite songs of all time. Best wishes to you and all you hold close. Ian
I was at work and just walked by a coworker. She is only 18. I was in my own little world and without thinking I said outloud "it's a sky blue sky...the satellites are out". And she said "that's nice". I told her who sung it. She had never heard of her. I think Laurie would appreciate that interaction and it is perfect that her art goes on and on just like that.
