This song is one of several that have been written by musicians over the years as a tribute to NYC child prodigy and genius LAURA NYRO (1947- 1997), who along with Bob Dylan is the best singer/songwriter ever produced by pop/rock. She performed at Monterey Pop in 1967 aged 19. Her first 5 LP's from 1967 - 1971 are universally rated by critics between brilliant or a masterpiece. Laura is not that well known to the public as she had no hit records, but within the music industry she is known to everyone and is revered as one of its greatest ever talents. Dozens of artists have covered her songs from Frank Sinatra to Kanye West and rappers, and have had massive hits with them. Some of her legion fans include Miles Davis, Prince, Elton John ('I idolized her'), Alice Cooper, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian, Todd Rundgren, Barbra Streisand, Suzanne Vega, Elvis Costello, Kate Bush - the list is pretty endless. Laura was inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2012 by Bette Midler. Laura passed in 1997 from ovarian cancer aged 49. The most recent tribute LP to Laura's songs was in 2014 by Billy Childs featuring a host of great famous female singers: it won a Grammy.
My initial impression of this song was that it was about a young immigrant girl making her way in Miami or another tropical climate and I thought it was really cool. It's weird but like, the more I learn about this song the more it makes me dislike it. I wish I'd never seen this video.
